Square Foot Gardening: See How It’s Done!

Square Foot Gardening has really caught on among preppers and food storage enthusiasts. It promises a simple method for growing your own produce, even if you’re short on gardening experience and space. I found a terrific video that goes through the basic steps of setting up your own garden. Kudos to the gals at Food Storage Made Easy and My Square Foot Garden for creating an outstanding video!

(6) Readers Comments

ILprep5
March 14, 2010 at 2:39 am

I have made two boxes so far this spring and I have everything set up to make them cold boxes for early planting. By the end of spring I will have at least 6 boxes. It seems so far to be very easy to set up and put together. The only thing is the vermiculite in order to get the size you need you may have to order over the internet to get a good price. Lowes and Home Depot carry it but in very small bags.

There is the inital expenses of the 5 different kinds of compost and the vermicuite and making the boxes but what it will save in money spent at the grovery store I think will pay for itself in the first growing season.

I would love to know if anyone has found a good source for vermicuite.

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rightwingmom
March 14, 2010 at 6:20 am

Call your local garden shops. I found a local guy, near Houston, who sells 4.4 cu ft vermiculite bags. They're perfect for one 4X4 SFG and MUCH cheaper than the little bags age Home Depot and Lowe's! Start making phone calls and ask around.

I also have 2 SFG boxes set up with plans for at least 2 more. My fall box is still producing spinach, lettuce, broccoli, onions, and herbs. My new box has snap peas, tomatoes, strawberries, and corn seeds down. Now I'm just waiting for them to sprout. Love the SFG system!

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Ravenwolf31
March 16, 2010 at 5:34 am

I kind of do this sort of gardening, since I live in an apartment. I just use containers and large pots instead the ground. What I am going to grow this year is bell peppers, lettuce, onions, some medicinal herbs and tomatoes.

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cmvantage
March 27, 2010 at 7:14 am

I just bought Vermiculite 3.5CF at Lowe's for $23. UPC #180541. If the bag is torn and repackaged, you get it for 1/2 price. Make sure you ask the right person. A friend went and was told they didn't have any so he ordered online and spent a fortune. Home Depot has big bags too. I live in Reno, Nevada. The buyers for the stores supply all the stores. The people stocking the garden dept. would know. Good luck.

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- TheSurvivalMom
  March 31, 2010 at 1:41 pm
  
  We ended up buying Mel's Mix, a pre-packaged mix of all the ingredients recommended in the SFGardening book. I don't know if we spent more money doing it that way or buying all the ingredients separately and mixing them ourselves, but in the interest of time and getting those darn veggies in the ground, we went with the time-saver. BTW, I love the Reno area and northern Nevada!! It's beautiful, and I wouldn't mind living there someday.
  
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mithreesons
March 30, 2010 at 7:03 am

Check out http://www.pureseeds.org for heirloom garden seeds!

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