Square Foot Gardening With Mel's Mix?

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

I did a search of the board before making this post on square foot gardening. Does anyone here actually use Mel's Mix? I heard the book mentioned and recommended here first and I am thinking of trying it out. However, I haven't read anything on here as a praise or otherwise for the soil Mel makes. I just want to hear that it is worth the cost of the vermiculite to set a bed up that way.

 

[Texas Fluffy Feet]

Well I've done some searching online and I found a message board where it looks like a number of people here in the DFW Metroplex use the Square Foot method and Mel's Mix with great success. I have no replies here yet, so I don't think many if anyone on here has tried it. I'm gonna do it. Just one square and see what happens. I'll post back as time goes by and let you know how it works.
I still can't believe you can grow so much stuff in so little soil! It's kinda like my potato and carrot top growing in my window sill, I'm just to curious not to give it a go.

 

[sheps4her]

definately keep us posted...I am very interested in this method of growing and have looked into it a little myself.

 

[amyquilt]

I'm wanting to try this method, once we are moved in a couple of months.

 

[simple life]

I have been using the square foot gardening and all is well so far. I don't know anything about Mel's mix so I did not respond to the post orginally.
I just used a mix of loam and compost that was delivered by a local company when I put my beds in.
I use the wooden raised planter beds for my vegetable gardens.
I use the companion planting protocol along with the square foot planting to get the most out of my space and to increase my chance of success with the square foot method.
I love this system. I know some people don't ( there are other threads where this is addressed and people have a different opinion than mine) but if you are limited in space and want to plant a decent amount of plants and still have a broad variety it can be the answer.
I believe the thinking is that you will have less production on your plants than if they were planted conventionally spaced out, but you will have alot more plants in your garden so it evens out.
I would suggest though that having very fertile, nutrient rich soil will make all the difference in the world. You will have so many plants drawing from the same soil and vying for nutrients that I believe a good portion of your success will depend on your soil.
I had a great quality soil to start with and I side dress with extra compost now that things are really taking off.

I have a total of 180 square feet planted this way with
several varieties of each of these vegetables:
lettuce
carrots
peppers
onions
tomatoes
cucumbers
potatoes
cabbage
watermelon
pumpkins
corn
beans
peas
winter squash
summer squash
strawberries
spinach
garlic
various herbs
I would like to add that( and this is just my opinion) doing the square foot gardening might work better in the raised bed planters.
My reasoning is that, you have better access for weeding, picking and such. I could be wrong, but if you do the square foot method in a regular garden bed it would be harder get down on the ground to weed without trampling something or to instead fit weeding tools in between the plants.
In the planters you really don't need to do any of that, I just lean over a little and reach in to do whatever I need.
Now for all the people that have alot of land, square foot gardening wouldn't appeal to them and they wouldn't need it since they have the space for a nice big walk through garden and plenty of room for all their crops.
But for those of us who have limited space it really increases our options.
I have the room to do a small walk through garden but it would only be approx. 18 X 22 feet and wouldn't allow for the amount of varieties I wanted to try.
I have 9 beds right now and would like to increase it more for next year.Its so hard to stop planting
I would only have been able to plant a third of what I wanted to this year if I hadn't used this method.
Honestly, I was holding my breath until I picked my first vegetable. There are no guarantees with any type of gardening though with so many variables.
I think the weather played a big role in my (still early) success, along with the new soil brought in.
I think it would be a good idea for anyone else that is doing the square foot method to keep this thread going to report your results.
Please keep us posted.

 

[Tutter]

May I ask what's in the mix?

 

[simple life]

His website says, 1/3 compost 1/3 peat moss 1/3 course vermiculite.
If you type in square foot gardening it seems like every page brings you to mel bartholemew's website.

 

[Nubsmum]

I had researched the square foot method as well and the problem I ran into with the mix, is that I could not find a quantity of peat or vermiculite. I called all over and no one sells it by the yard. You have to buy small bags. I also was told by one garden store that vermiculite is not used any more due to asbestos and that they don't like peat because it really does not do a great job of moisture control. This was by a very reputable garden store. They told me to get a good compost mix from a garden center.

I put in 12 raised beds and filled them with the 4 way mix our garden center sold. 1 part sand, 1 part soil, 1 part compost and 1 part small bark. So far the garden is doing well. (except for the cold we have had in Oregon). I followed the square foot idea with my boxes. We have plenty of space but our soil was poor as there were Christmas trees on the property for many years. The first garden I tried did poorly. I love the raised beds. An initial investment for sure but They are so easy to keep weed free and the drainage is great. I don't have lots of time to work on weeds.

I would also be interested to see if anyone has used mel's mix with success.

I also just completed 8 bucket containers following the earth box method. I wanted to see how they would do. I planted 7 pepper plants this way so I am interested to see how they do compared to the pepper plants I have in my garden bed. I was out of space and got some free buckets so other than my time and dirt, I am not out much.

 

[simple life]

I tried the buckets and small wood boxes too and so far so good. I think as long as the soil is good and you water its the same as the raised beds.
I am not sure why he recommends that particular mix but I bought mine from a local company and that was just loam and compost and its been great.

 

[Iowamom]

Hi,

I am new to gardening and decided to try square foot gardening b/c I hear horror stories of how gardens get away from people and the intensive work involved in prepping the garden, weeding, etc. So far, it has been incredibly easy. (btw, I live in the country in Iowa - have great soil and loads of space - just looking for something productive and easy)

We built three beds, 10 feet x 3 feet x 6 inches. We went with the length b/c that is how long the boards were when we bought them. So then all we had to do was cut up a couple of boards into 3 foot lengths.

We did find vermiculite in 4cu ft bags for $25 at a local garden store. We bought two and split them up between the 3 beds. I remember reading that if you couldn't do 1/3 of each, then err on the side of more compost, so that is what we did. I think we put about 4 cu ft peat moss in each bed and the rest is compost.

We didn't plant our garden until late May. So far, so good. We put in strawberry plants that have been producing really well, and I can hardly keep up with the four squares of mesclun mix I planted. A lot of my vining veggies I put 2 seeds in one square, then transplanted the extra plant to another bed. All but one plant survived the transplanting. Right now I have yellow squash, zucchini, and cucumber all flowering. I have one bean plant (out of 4) that has grown almost all the way to the top of the five foot trellis.

This is a big adventure for me as I have never gardened before and I have no idea how much harvest to expect. But I have loved how easy it is to keep the weeds out and it does hold moisture really well. I may spend a total of about an hour a week on my garden doing watering and weeding, and that is a high estimate.