You gave an excellent account for SFG. I was a SFG follower all the way back to the early 1980's, when the original book and PBS TV series was on the air. Through the years, it became a passion for me to find ways to replicate Mel's systems without spending money. Today, I think I have done a decent job. For my raised beds, I went into our woods and gathered a couple hundred rocks of various size and built dry stack walls 18 inches high. For the Mel's Mix, I used 75-80% home-made compost and 20-25% leaf mold. The leaf mold does what the peat moss/coconut coir and coarse vermiculite do. I add worm castings from a home worm bin that started in a small container and grew to a large container when the worms became fruitful and multiplied. I add rock dust from smaller rocks found in our woods. It is good exercise to grind rocks into powder. For the Grids, I use bamboo from the woods, and I use larger bamboo for staking. I buy organic produce at the grocery and save the seeds. After not being satisfied with the number of squares I had, I began adding 3 or 4 new containers a year, until there are about 60-70 containers outside. Some of them come inside every November to winter indoors, and with enough light and hand-pollination, we have small harvests indoors all winter (peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes + new plantings of lettuce, kale, other greens). It is a healthy addiction.
Thank you for the compliment and taking the time to share all of the refinements to SFG that you have discovered. I am impressed with your healthy addiction. It's contributions like yours that make a RU-vid video great.
@@katieschaller4199 When I did the regular SFG, I took one shovel full of peat, one shovel full of vermiculite, and 1 shovel full of compost, and then I just repeated it over and over. If you aren't exactly 33.3% with each, it isn't going to wreck your garden. I probably was more like 30% peat, 30% vermiculite, and 40% compost.
That's a good idea to make it deeper. If there is one regret I have is that I think it should be a little deeper, though is it fine for most vegetables. Carrots are a problem. I did find some that are short in length.
If the raised bed doesn’t have to be made of cedar, here’s a video I just watched on one option for cheap raised beds: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c6bobv93AN4.html
So newbie gardener here. I made my.box, and have gophers and rabbits, so I am making a bottom and a wire cage. But how do I water this? I wanted to use a drip system but can't figure out how that will work. I ordered vermiculite off Amazon
I've found that mel's mix dries out quickly in warm weather. I've considered installing a drip system, but have not done it yet. You might try making the top cage so that you can easily remove it for watering. Melvin, my indoor outdoor cat patrols the yard, so the rabbits stay away. I did have a ground hog try to move in under my shed. When I saw the newly dug entrance, I took action. I stuck a radio, playing salsa music in the shed & played it 24/7. The neighbors must have thought I really was crazy! Apparently, the ground hogs don't like to dance, nor did they like the music and promptly moved out. lol.
@@Know-How-Now Mels mix doesn't dry out quickly. You needed to water in the mix as you added it to the box. Otherwise, you think you have enough water on it initially because it turns dark, when you've only wet the first little bit of your soil. Vermiculite holds a tremendous amount of water. Very few people remember to do this, and it sets you up for failure in the future. The amount of water these gardens hold is very, very large. Maybe I should say very few people are taught this because it happens a lot.
Hi Jim, I did as instructed in Mel's book and watered the mix thoroughly as I added it to the box and shown in the video. Maybe we have different concepts of the soil drying out quickly.
Great work. I had a garden several years ago. I found Mel's mix to be expensive but I will try a pool store next time since the vermiculite was the most expensive ingredient.
Hi Frank, Melvin has not used the garden for a litter box. He does walk on the grids. If he wants some attention (bad attention is OK with him), he sits in one of the squares.
Great video but you do realise that it's 4x4 on the inside not the actual size of the bed? this is why you don't get the correct square foot size spacing. You have to take into account the thickness of the wood that you are using. Barry (ENG)
Yes, Barry I do understand that wood shrinks as it dries, as did Mel Bartholomew, the retired engineer who took up gardening when he retired and wrote the book which changed the way many people gardened. The book, called Square Foot Gardening, which this video is based upon would have an awkward title if he had used the actual dimensions. I am using his design as stated in the book. Gardening is not that precise and the slightly different dimensions have no effect on the plants ability to grow.
@@Know-How-Now I do the SFG myself so i know exactly who wrote the book to mels mix to what gets planted in each square, i don't need a lecture on SFG. I was mentioning that your video is showing the method of SFG, yet you show in one picture the size on one end isn't 12" square, also it may not effect the plants ability to grow, but it does effect the amount you can grow in a 12" square. Carrots for instance is 16 per square according to your picture you wont get 16 in that square growing 3" apart. All i am saying is to explain the sizes when building a raised bed to take in account the wood thickness. That was all.
I understand your point, Barry and you are correct, the squares are not exactly 1 foot. On page 59 of the 2nd edition states: "It is not critical that your garden box be exactly 48 inches either inside or outside, it should be square so each square foot planting area is the same size." The inside of my box measures 95" (7' 11") X 47 3/4" ( 3' 11 3/4"). That's only 1/8" per square per side. People would be howling if I had them buying 10" lumber to gain that small amount of space per square. It's simpler and cheaper to use the 8 foot length lumber. Since you have Mel's book, I'm sure you understand, Mel was trying to make gardening simple and fun for a novice.
@@Know-How-Now No apologises needed we are both trying our best to grow stuff, as you said 'the world is a bit more stressful place at the moment'. Stay Safe, Barry (ENG)
Great effort! And looks so very organic! In my area I had to learn the hard way about using wood outdoors. Around here wood has to be heavily treated to last more than a year or 2. Poor folks may want to try leaf mold, shredded cardboard, rotting branches, and vermiculture manure. Peat Moss is apparently headed for becoming illegal. In some areas manure is difficult to buy or expensive. Artificial fertilizer may be easier to purchase online. But how much does artificial fertilizer mess up the soil? How much is every household prepared to grow their own food? Thank you for sharing informative videos!
Hope the raised bed remains Melvin-free...lol! Great tip on buying the vermiculite at a swimming supply store. When I saw the big box price, I knew there had to be a better alternative.
So far the bed is Melvin-free! He was really bummed out when he saw that grid work on top of his "litter box" (at the end of the video). I had a hard time finding the vermiculite in large/cheaper quantities. If the SFG bed is low maintenance as Mel's book says, I plan to convert some flower beds to raised beds. I'll be buying it from the pool supply store. If anyone finds a good cheaper source, please comment. I will try to find cedar for the other beds, I don't know how long the wood in the video will last. I did find cedar kit for a 4x4 bed at True Value Hardware for $39.99.
With Melvin around, would that rule out hugelkulture as an option? If you could create a raised gardening area without the frame/border, that would be another cost savings. I remember seeing on a permaculture channel that the guy was already starting to harvest food a month after creating his hugel bed. You probably have a year or two with the cedar beds. I’ve seen people plant directly into composted hay bales (though you may have a weed seeds to contend with), with productive results, if we’re talking about biodegradable options. Again, with Melvin around, I don’t know if that would work for your garden…lol.
I had to look up hugelkulture. I've accidentally discovered that concept. I love winter squash (and some other vine/gourd type food) and was throwing the seeds onto my much neglected compost pile. One Spring some gourd type plants started to grow in the pile. I left them go to see what they would produce. I got 27 winter squash. After that I arranged what ever was left of the Spring compost pile in a row and planted squash seeds. It's been a no work way to get free squash. I have failed to be able to train Melvin. He has trained me though. I guess that's why there are not any cat obedience/training schools. lol.
Know How Now - Nature did a great job of making the squash and melon family so hearty and independently-prolific. I don’t have a green thumb, but even for me, those seeds ALWAYS sprout from neglect. Wow...what an amazing squash yield you got! 😮🥳 I love that kind of “serendipity,” when nature’s left to do its thing. I don’t have any pets, but I’ve heard that about cats. 😹😹😹 😼
