Four Steps to a Square Foot Garden - Step One: Supplies 8
I’ve been sold on raised bed gardening for a while now. I’ve seen great results year after year. What I have never gotten around to trying is Square Foot Gardening - even though I own the book:
What is Square Foot Gardening?
Square foot gardening is an intensive raised bed gardening technique where you build a box about 6″ deep and fill it with a specific soil mix. Then you greate a grid on top to form 1 foot squares, pick a crop for each square then put a new crop in whenever you harvest. Think of it as gardening for control freaks.
There was one reason for me not trying out this type of gardening. It’s a dastardly ingredient that is required for this technique. A material so elusive that no home improvement store, garden supply store, giant box store, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse, doghouse (Movie Reference) or mom and pop nursery carries. Vermiculite.
Nerd Tip:
Vermiculite is a mined rock that is then put through a heating process that makes it pop like popcorn. After the heating process you are left with a very lightweight material with a ton of surface area.
Well this year I was determined to build that first Square Foot Garden so I did some research. Vermiculate is commonly used in the construction of swimming pools. So I called a pool and spa shop that is on my work commute and they told me they would have it in a day. $27 per 4 cubic foot bag. I bought two.
Everything else is easy to find, here is the supply list for a 4′ x 8′ 6″ deep box and enough of the mix to have some to spare for other containers:
Supplies:
Lumber: I bought A2 treated lumber. It contains no arsenic. To be really safe you can use untreated if you like. 2 2"x6"x8', 2 2"x6"x4'.
Vermiculite: 8ft³ If you can't find it in your garden center, call a pool supply shop. You need it in bulk to be cost effective.
Peat Moss: 8ft³ This isn't a renewable resource like you would think, but you only need it the first year.
Compost: 8ft³ and as many different kinds as you can find. Most of mine was bought in bulk from a landscaping company. This is the ingredient you will have to replenish yearly. Remember, variety, variety, variety.
Here are the small supplies you will need to build your box like I did:
- Cordless drill with philips screwdriver head and a drill bit appropriate for the screws you are using.
- 12 3″ - 4″ Deck screws.
- Landscape fabric.
- Staplegun & staples.
That is it for supplies. When you have your supplies gathered continue reading our post: Four Steps to a Square Foot Garden - Step Two: Construction
Looks good so far. Interested to see the grid lay out and what plants you will be choosing. Also at what ratio was the vermiculite used? I did not know of vermiculite but it looks to be a very good form of fertilizer.
Thanks Bill! The next post should be up on Friday showing how I put the grid on. Seems sturdy so far, so I think it’s a winner.
The vermiculite is interesting stuff. It’s not a fertilizer, it’s more of a substrate for you to use instead of clay or top soil or sand or some combination of the three. I could not believe how lightweight it is!
Ive been using Square Foot garden beds for my veg for a few years now and am sold on them. like you, I had gardened with raised beds, and didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I started small, with one bed the first year as a trial.
The vermiculite really just provides volume, and more importantly, moisture retention. With any raised bed, they tend to dry out, so it really does help — not sure that it helps more than adding lots of compost, but it sure helps you fill a lot of beds quickly when you are starting out. I get my vermiculite at the local feed & tack store. Nurseries charge way too much, and the feed store has both the fine vermiculite like the greenhouses use, as well as the larger, agricultural grade.
Looking forward to seeing things grow in your beds!
anyone have mole issues or suggestions on how to prevent them digging up into the raised bed? We have lots of grubs and I don’t wanna spray for them, but also don’t want moles to eat my garden… suggestions?
I’ll post construction instructions next and I’ll mention something about it. I think some people have had luck attaching two layers of chicken wire to the bottom.
That is another nice feature of raised bed gardens. You have access to the bottom!
[...] that you have read part one in our series and you have collected all the materials that you need, you are ready to assemble your Square Foot [...]
I somehow found your website, I wish to thank you tremendously for all the information that you freely gave, especially the excel idea. I want to try to square foot garden this year. I think I can promote a lot of interest here in Little Rock, I applaud your enthusium and willingness to share.
God Bless YOU
Thanks for the kind words. I am no expert, but I am a relentless researcher, and I love to garden. It’s great to meet people that feel the same way!