Obelixx a square foot garden can grow decent cabbages in a one square space. also square foot gardening system was designed for raised beds. second you obvious have not tried using the system properly.
Maybe it's just that my soil is fertile enough to grow big cabbages. I couldn't get a Savoy to grow in one square foot without being squished but pointy cabbage would be OK. Broccoli and PSB certainly spread more than 30cms/12".
I find 40"/1m10 wide beds planted in a chevron pattern are a more efficient use of space and give each plant more room.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
2. it might be helpful if you gave full dimensions of the beds in you diagram on each side 3. it also would be helpful if you included a list of vegetable you like to eat. 4. you need to find out when your frost dates are. 5. the best book for you would all new square foot gardening by Mel Bartholomew
I will add more once you give more information.
Thank you to everyone who has posted so far.
I don't have exact dimensions at this point. I have some mobility issues (hence the raised beds) and there's been a mini digger flattening/terracing the garden for me so at the moment it's a muddy soup that I'm not willing to risk. There are standard fence panels though. 2 panels on either side of a wide path (which I think works out to just under 4m) and coming forward there's at least 3m, maybe 4. Hopefully when the builders are done next week so there's paths again and there's a frost or the ground dries out I can actually measure the space.
The height is based on measuring my bed side table, which is around the height I'm comfortable I can bend to or work at on a stool. I can't get up and down easily and want to be able to maintain these independently. Measuring reach I think I can comfortably manage 1.2m at that height. I wouldn't be able to get around to the far side of these beds, which is why I thought u shape so everything could be reached from the middle. Maybe worth saying that this is for fun and mental/physical therapy - I'm not looking to maximise production or self sufficiency
I love squash, I could eat it every week. Sugar snaps, garlic, onion, beetroot. Mostly veg that can be roasted and keep well. I cook a lot with tomatoes, but mostly tinned. Courgettes can be nice or taste like soap/bleach... Parsnip is a bit hit and miss as well. I like peppers (sweet or bell), though I don't think I've got the climate for them without a greenhouse. And then my plan is herbs or spinach in any gaps. There's already a cherry, pear and a couple of apples elsewhere in the garden, and I was thinking about getting a thornless raspberry or rhubarb for a spot that's kind of off by itself near the bins.
I think we're due the first frost any time now. This is my second winter in this house and from October it tends to be cold, but not frosty until November (but it was quite mild last year) - As I said before, I'm in North Wales but not exactly on the coast if that helps?
I got the veg in one bed recommended earlier and bought a book by Mel Bartholomew but it's square metre gardening?
Sounds like you know what you want and need.🙂 I would suggest a V shaped bed rather than a U as it will be accessible from sitting, think along the lines of garden tubs height, as that will be ok to plant in and not too high when harvesting, plants get big! 🙂 I too cannot get to the ground so all my beds/ tubs are this height. Hubby built this for me . I use a closhe to start seedlings a bit earlier than the temperatures allows, which helps to get them ripe before seasons end. This is a large one, but they do come in smaller sizes. I do have a greenhouse, but alot of people start their tomatoes and cucumbers inside, before putting them out in May. Hope this gives you lots to think about @dibblersan45357
You mentioned about courgettes being soapy, l do grow traditional courgettes but have now started growing Italian courgette Tromboncino, see photo, there are 6 plants in an old potato box. It has a more solid creamy texture and when you find one of those you have missed and it’s huge it is still edible. I grow what is expensive in the shops or things that you need fresh like lettuce, salad leaves and herbs. The amount of times that half bag of supermarket leaves goes to waste, saves a lot of money growing your own.
My husband built a raised bed about 1.5 metres square for my daughter who has a tiny garden behind her terraced house and it is amazing what she has managed to grow in such a small space. It is quite deep, with a sitting area around the edges, and filled at the base with chopped turf from where the lawn used to be topped with a mix of compost and soil. Carrots have not been a problem because the bed is high enough to deter carrot fly and she grows calabrese plants, dwarf French beans, dwarf broad beans, a few shallots, parsley, a Coucourzelle courgette which is not too spreading, a bush tomato which trails over the edge, kohl rabi, spinach, pak choi and a range of cut and come again mustard and salad leaves. Sowing little and often and enriching the soil with home-made compost seems to be the important thing to keep the succession going over the spring and summer, and in the winter she crops Cavolo Nero Kale and a couple of Chard plants. I have a large veg plot and although this means I can grow asparagus, artichokes, climbing beans, sweet corn, potatoes, onions, garlic and the larger brassicas, I think that she probably gets more value from her tiny space in terms of picking stuff fresh for the kitchen and making the most of what she is able to grow. Because it is so close to the house she can keep an eye on how things are doing and be alert to using the space to best advantage by intercropping and clearing when appropriate. There is no waste and she grows what she likes to eat. As others have suggested, grow only what you like to eat and will use, and take the opportunity to focus on things which are expensive to buy in the shops or difficult to find. Salad vegetables and herbs are generally easy to grow and disproportionately expensive to buy, so these might be a good place to start. If you use fleece or cloches you can often get very early crops at a time when they cost a lot to buy as the soil in raised beds tends to be warmer. Spinach is a particularly rewarding plant to grow as the more you cut it the more it seems to grow. I hope you get as much pleasure from growing and eating your own produce as I have; it is worth it.
Posts
in a one square space. also square foot gardening system
was designed for raised beds. second you obvious have
not tried using the system properly.
I find 40"/1m10 wide beds planted in a chevron pattern are a more efficient use of space and give each plant more room.
I don't have exact dimensions at this point. I have some mobility issues (hence the raised beds) and there's been a mini digger flattening/terracing the garden for me so at the moment it's a muddy soup that I'm not willing to risk. There are standard fence panels though. 2 panels on either side of a wide path (which I think works out to just under 4m) and coming forward there's at least 3m, maybe 4. Hopefully when the builders are done next week so there's paths again and there's a frost or the ground dries out I can actually measure the space.
The height is based on measuring my bed side table, which is around the height I'm comfortable I can bend to or work at on a stool. I can't get up and down easily and want to be able to maintain these independently. Measuring reach I think I can comfortably manage 1.2m at that height. I wouldn't be able to get around to the far side of these beds, which is why I thought u shape so everything could be reached from the middle. Maybe worth saying that this is for fun and mental/physical therapy - I'm not looking to maximise production or self sufficiency
I love squash, I could eat it every week. Sugar snaps, garlic, onion, beetroot. Mostly veg that can be roasted and keep well. I cook a lot with tomatoes, but mostly tinned. Courgettes can be nice or taste like soap/bleach... Parsnip is a bit hit and miss as well. I like peppers (sweet or bell), though I don't think I've got the climate for them without a greenhouse. And then my plan is herbs or spinach in any gaps. There's already a cherry, pear and a couple of apples elsewhere in the garden, and I was thinking about getting a thornless raspberry or rhubarb for a spot that's kind of off by itself near the bins.
I think we're due the first frost any time now. This is my second winter in this house and from October it tends to be cold, but not frosty until November (but it was quite mild last year) - As I said before, I'm in North Wales but not exactly on the coast if that helps?
I got the veg in one bed recommended earlier and bought a book by Mel Bartholomew but it's square metre gardening?
I would suggest a V shaped bed rather than a U as it will be accessible from sitting, think along the lines of garden tubs height, as that will be ok to plant in and not too high when harvesting, plants get big! 🙂
I too cannot get to the ground so all my beds/ tubs are this height. Hubby built this for me .
I use a closhe to start seedlings a bit earlier than the temperatures allows, which helps to get them ripe before seasons end. This is a large one, but they do come in smaller sizes. I do have a greenhouse, but alot of people start their tomatoes and cucumbers inside, before putting them out in May.
Hope this gives you lots to think about @dibblersan45357