Checkered Garden: Bountiful Harvest in a Small Space

In conventional beds or beds, the spaces and walkways between the rows of plants consume a lot of space. In addition, the irrigation water evaporates very quickly in the bare earth between the plants and the weeds roam freely. For all these reasons, Mel Bartholomew developed “square foot gardening” in 1980, a method that saves space, water and labor.

What is “square foot gardening”?

In the “square foot gardenias”, the square planting areas do not have gaps and each one hosts a plant. The entire bed, for example a self-made raised bed, is just the right size so that all areas can be reached from the edge.

Despite the small dimensions, a bountiful harvest is possible because the space is used optimally.

unwanted weeds they hardly have a chance to grow in a densely occupied land. And evaporation during irrigation is low, since the soil is shaded by plants everywhere.

The space for each plant is usually about 30 by 30 centimeters, which facilitates a simple design of the orchard, suitable for beginners. For example, you can prepare a square garden with dimensions of 60 by 90 centimeters (to accommodate 6 squares), which can be placed on a balcony.

Build your checkered garden

If you already have a raised bed or balcony raised bed, it is very easy to adapt it to make the “square foot garden”.

For a 60 by 90 centimeter bed, you will need:

1 flat wooden strip approx. 96 cm long and two strips approx. 66 cm long (eg remnants of skirting boards or extension bars). Alternatively you can use 3 meters of sisal or jute cord Staples or nails Plant tags to mark individual fields

Follow the next steps:

1. Make a grid

If you are using slats, place the longest one in the center of the bed, so that it rests on the short sides of the bed. Lay the short slats crosswise, 13 inches apart, so that a crisscross grid with six fields is created. Fasten the cleats with nails.

2. Attach the rack or rope to the raised bed

Position the grid at the edge of the raised bed so that it overhangs 1 inch on all sides and secure with staples or nails as well. Alternatively, cut a string into three pieces, tie a knot at each end and staple or nail to the edges of the bed raised so that it is divided into fields of 30 by 30 centimeters.

If you have a bit of land, you can do the division at ground level. You only have to “draw” the rectangle and the subdivisions with the wooden slats or the ropes.

3. Put the labels

It is advisable to mark the bed areas after planting with plant signs or writing stones so as not to forget what is growing and where.

Plants suitable for the “square foot garden”

Many vegetables are suitable for the square foot garden. The number of plants per planting field depends on the amount of space they need. In a newly landscaped garden rich in nutritious soilvegetables can be planted a little more densely than the seed sachets indicate.

Up to 18 vegetable plants can fit in a 24 by 36-inch grid with very little space requirements. These include: carrots, radishes and onions. The seeds of small plants such as cress and lamb’s lettuce can also be simply scattered all over the field.You can place 9 plants that require little space. For example: spinach, carrots, beets, green beans and lettuce, for example.Plants that require a lot of space are placed individually in a 30 x 30 cm square. These include, for example, tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.Very spacious plants such as zucchini, squash or kale are not suitable for a small square garden. If you also want to grow a square garden with these types of vegetables, you can create a bed with planting fields 20-24 inches on a side. For plants that grow as close together as in a square foot garden, it is particularly important to choose vegetables that are compatible with each other or, better yet, support each other. Good bed companions are, for example, carrots and garlic or tomatoes and lettuce.

Advanced gardeners should also pay attention to sensible crop rotation. in the course of the year.

Plant the bed so that the largest vegetables are to the north and the smallest to the south so they all get enough light. Depending on the location of the bed, it is also helpful to choose plants that love sun or shade.

Before the vegetables are large and shade the groundit is advisable to apply mulch to kill unwanted weeds and keep the soil moist.