{"id":1040,"date":"2011-07-16T14:30:31","date_gmt":"2011-07-16T14:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/?p=1040"},"modified":"2012-08-31T16:06:22","modified_gmt":"2012-08-31T22:06:22","slug":"square-foot-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/?p=1040","title":{"rendered":"Square Foot Gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1041\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 01\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-01-510x282.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 01\" width=\"510\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-01-510x282.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-01-1024x566.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-01.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hey guys! Today I thought it would be fun to do a post on our garden. We have a special garden\u2026because it\u2019s a square foot garden! And yes, it\u2019s different than just raised beds. We all love our new way of gardening so much<!--more-->, even though it\u2019s only our second year into it!<\/p>\n<p>What is Square Foot Gardening? It\u2019s a gardening system done in boxes; using a special mix of soil (actually none of your dirt is involved!) and a grid system with each box. There is practically no weeding, easy watering, and everything is extremely compact. In each box you get 100% of the crop you usually would get, but in 20% of the space. It\u2019s more efficient, very productive (the produce we&#8217;ve received last year was absolutely incredible compared to row gardening), saves time, it\u2019s prettier, economical, easy to protect from pest and the weather, and very eco friendly. The first year you use a special mix of different types of composts and every year from then, you use your own compost. It\u2019s very green, earthy-hippy type of thing (which I am not into). To learn more you can check out the <a title=\"Square Foot Gardening\" href=\"http:\/\/amzn.to\/PxQQDP\" target=\"_blank\">Square Foot Gardening book<\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1042\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 02\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-02-510x282.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 02\" width=\"510\" height=\"282\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-02-510x282.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-02-1024x567.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-02.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>These pics were taken a little earlier this year, so the plants have matured a bit more since then. This is our red leaf lettuce which I\u2019m loving in salads right now!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1043\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 03\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-03-510x329.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 03\" width=\"510\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-03-510x329.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-03-1024x661.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-03.jpg 1673w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our beautiful parsley\u2026no one has bad breath here.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1044\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 04\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-04-510x235.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 04\" width=\"510\" height=\"235\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-04-510x235.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-04-1024x472.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-04.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Broccoli plants, something we&#8217;ve just started growing. So fun to try new plants. This year we\u2019re trying leeks which I think is cool. I\u2019m obviously not familiar with them, because the other day I picked a load of the baby leeks thinking they were chives. Oh well. Maybe that\u2019s gourmet\u2026baby leeks on baked potatoes. Maybe.<\/p>\n<p>This is what I think the pros to Square Foot Gardening are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>easy watering (you can just plop the sprinkler in the middle of each box and rotate it every 15 minutes, instead of standing there for ages in the sun)<\/li>\n<li>basically no weeding<\/li>\n<li>so much more beautiful than the rows of plants\u2026I like how my Dad thought of the gravel paths to go in between\u2026also eliminating more weeds<\/li>\n<li>much more produce and it\u2019s bigger and better than with row gardening!<\/li>\n<li>more control of weather conditions (it\u2019s hard to cover a long row of carrots when you hear hail is coming, much more convenient with a small 4\u2019 by 4\u2019 box)<\/li>\n<li>easy for anyone to garden, even the for black thumbs out there<\/li>\n<li>you can put it anywhere, since it\u2019s so small\u2026it\u2019s possible for a little hutch in the middle of the city to have one box in a tiny backyard<\/li>\n<li>cost effective in the long run\u2026that saying, here\u2019s a couple cons<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>CONS:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the first year you do it, it can be a little expensive with all the soils you buy, but it definitely pays for itself and saves you money in the long run. But if you have just one or two boxes it\u2019s not bad at all. I believe we put up 8 boxes the first year.<\/li>\n<li>it probably won\u2019t stop the rebellious rabbit from nibbling at the sides of the boxes<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, not very many cons. I\u2019m in love with this style of gardening and will definitely keep using this method if I have my own family someday.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, look\u2026I\u2019m weeding the strawberry patch by the garden. How virtuous.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1045\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 05\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-05-510x277.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 05\" width=\"510\" height=\"277\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-05-510x277.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-05-1024x556.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-05.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And here are some beautiful flowers we have\u2026<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1046\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 06\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-06-510x379.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 06\" width=\"510\" height=\"379\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-06-510x379.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-06-1024x762.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-06.jpg 1451w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-1047\" title=\"Square Foot Garden 027\" src=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-027-510x340.jpg\" alt=\"Square Foot Garden 027\" width=\"510\" height=\"340\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-027-510x340.jpg 510w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-027-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Square-Foot-Garden-027.jpg 1620w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do you keep a garden? What is your favourite vegetable to plant? Have your heard of Square Foot Gardening before?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hey guys! Today I thought it would be fun to do a post on our garden. We have a special garden\u2026because it\u2019s a square foot garden! And yes, it\u2019s different than just raised beds. We all love our new way of gardening so much<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1461,243,244,1459,242,1462,1460],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1040"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1054,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1040\/revisions\/1054"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colourfulpalate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}