I have decided to try extending the growing season this year. It is quite easy to do so in SFG. Materials you will need:
1. 6 mil poly, or vapour barrier. Usually comes in a row.
2. 2x 4′ long 1/2″ PVC pipe flex. I have used plastic electrical conduit as well but pipe flex is a little bit cheaper and easier to bend.
3. some bricks or stones.
You bend the pipe flex and stick the end into each corner of your SFG bed. Then attach the 6 mil poly on top. You can use clothespin to clamp the poly with the pipe. Then use the bricks to hold down all the sides. In winter, the wind is harsh so make sure you hold down the poly securely. During a warm day, you should open a corner and let some hot air escapes.
What you plant in this small greenhouse also plays a role. Rememebr to choose cool veggies meaning lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, green onion, carrot, radish, etc.
Each SFG bed can be setup as an indiviual greenhouse.
Holding down with brick and stone.
Use a cable tie at the center to attach the pipes.
Winter is close and I have cleaned up the garden. The soil needs to be covered by something to protect it from the harsh weather. I used both straw and black tarp. Black tarp can cover large area and will kill weed readily. Straw will gradually break down and become organic compost to the soil, but I need a lot of them to properly cover the soil. Since I live in the country, I pay about $4 for 1 big square bale. I did not have time to grow oats as covering crop this year but hope to grow some next year.
To sum up this year’s harvest I would rate as average. Again, time is an issue. If you want a bounty harvest you need to invest time. That’s why I am going to experience square foot gardening next season. Here is a list of crops and my comments:
Strawberry – very good crop but a lot is wasted due to dampness.
Potato – red potato Norland grows well and large while yellow flesh Penta grows small but in large quantity. I prefer Norland.
Cucumber – good harvest and easy to grow
Zucchini – good harvest and easy to grow, needs lot of space
beans – average harvest, will try pole bean next time
watermelon – poor harvest, might be better to buy from store
herbs – easy to grow and worthwhile
garlic – good harvest and will increase planting next year
swiss chard – good harvest
cabbage – a lot of pest: slug, moth, earwig. I need to find a way to proplery cover the head. Nevertheless, after peeling off half the outer leaves we can still enjoy some organic cabbage.
chinese veggies – very poor harvest, mostly due to slug and flea bettles, still need to work on this.
tomato – average harvest, did not have time to proplery smother the weed and tie the plant to stake.
squash – poor harvest, only 2 fruit.
carrot – average harvest, taste good and the kids like to dig them out.
green onions – good harvest, easy to grow.
marigold – grows very well.
We have put black tarp over half the garden to cover the ground. I put some chicken manure on it before doing this.
I put the straw to cover the ground here. You will need at least 4 inches of straw to properly cover and smother the weed.
I purchased the book “All New Square Foot Gardening”. This is a brand new way to me about gardening. I borrowed the older version from library and read through. Very impressive. The main advantge, as stated by author Mel Bartholomew: “Square Foot Gardening is a uniquely simplified method of gardening that produces 100% of the harvest in only 20% of the space — AND — without all the hard work and drudgery of single row gardening.” So I decided to convert part of my row garden into SFG. Here are my steps to build a 4’x4′ garden block:
Cut 4 boards of length 48″. I use 2×8 spruce but you can use 2×10 or 2×6. Try to avoid pressure treated lumber because of the harmful chemicals.
Sonia is helping me to paint a natural preservative. It is called LifeTime Wood Treatment. You can get it from HomeHardware here in Canada.
Line up the boards into a square and pre-drilled 2 holes at the intersection. This is important because without pre-drilling the holes, the wood splits while you drive the screws into it.
This is what the finished block looks like. I use #8 – 2 1/2″ deck screw for the job.
Now setup the grid. Space them 1″ apart to make 16 x 1 square foot planting area. You can use wood lath or plastic strip. I took apart an old vinyl blind and reused those vinyl strips, cheap!
Put the block into your garden. Add some good soil and compost. So far, I have built 6 of these blocks. Don’t they look nice? Notice I use straw to cover the pathway.
Sadly, I notice another chicken is not eating or drinking and doesn’t want to move at all. I held it up and sure enough, it is very light. Its comb has shrinked and it looks like it wants to sleep all the time. Since I don’t want to inject medication, I am just going to wait for its death. Well, at least the kids know life and death is part of nature, because of sin. When Jesus comes back again, after the thousand years’ reign, there will be no more death, as it is written in Rev 21:4. What a marvelous thing! Lord, I wish you come back soon.
Yep, a rhode island red died today in the coop. I don’t know why. Hopefully it is not bird flu. Other birds seem OK. It could be a virus or parasite. I would give some diatomaceous earth to the bird to help. Oh well, 1 less egg.
I have noticed some corn cobs were peeled back and eaten on the ground. Some corn stalks were pulled down. I immediately know that the raccoon was the culprit. I don’t have the money to install electric fence so I put a paper bag over the soon-to-ripe corn cobs. This seems to help. Anyway the corn we grow this year is called Ashworth and it is small, about 6″ long but it tastes good. However I think I am growing to grow a different variety next year.
Recently I picked up a book called Square Foot Gardening, very interesting and I will share the result as soon as I finish and follow the instructions.
Here are the harvest from our garden at this momemnt:
Big zucchini
The sugar sanp peas
Carrots.
Fresh dug potatoes.
Of course, we continue to enjoy fresh greens like lettuce, green onion, spinach and swiss chard. The strawberries are gone a week ago. A lot of strawberries have gone moldy because of the damp weather, what a waste!
There is so much rain this year. One good thing is we don’t have to water the plant everyday. But then the bugs, slugs and mosquitoes are more abundant than last year. This year we use grass clippings to control the weeds and it is not bad. I am using the black plastic film to smother another patch of lawn beside the existing garden. This area will be dedicated to our children. I am going to build a small bed for each child so that they can explore and enjoy gardening. I hope I can finish it before winter.
