square foot gardening

as master gardeners, it is our mission to teach people the necessary skills for successful gardening.  whether they want to grow vegetables and herbs or just want that perfect golf course lawn, we have had training in these subjects and get to use our skills in the garden projects where spend our volunteer hours.  when those hours are spent in a demonstration garden, anything can happen!

for our recent gardening a-z event, we showcased several great techniques for home gardeners.  one of those techniques was a beautiful square foot garden put together by my good friend shirley.  using the square foot bible, shirley had an amazing teaching tool to share.

after making the soil mixture that mel bartholomew suggests in his book, shirley topped off an 8'x4' raised bed and then measured out the squares.  she installed screws at each mark and then tied strings to create a grid consisting of 32 squares.  then came the hard part-what to plant and where...

 after many thoughts and ideas, shirley laid out a wonderful collection of vegetables and herbs and a few flowers just for fun.  she has tomatoes and peppers, lettuce and arugula, basils and thyme, beans-both pole and bush and then there are the basics-carrots, beets, squash and kale.  since this was a demonstration, some of the plants aren't truly appropriate for zone 7a in late may, but we will see what happens.

the square foot garden is ready for the show!

we are proud of shirley's garden!  so proud in fact that i am hoping she will enter it in mel bartholomew's square foot garden contest.  they have added a master gardener category so shirley can enter this contest.  help me convince her!!!  next time you are in the neighborhood, visit the garden and see the square foot garden.