Yesterday, walking through the Vineyard on an incredible autumn afternoon after brunch at García’s at 4th and Mountain, Joe asked how my square foot garden experiment had gone. I said I’d have to call it a success.
Wouldn't you?
That’s only a relatively small part of it – just what I picked today. I’ve harvested a bunch of Big Jim green chile peppers and a metric buttload of tomatoes already – and there’s a bunch of tomatoes, at least, still ripening. And that’s my third and final carrot!
It really is an experiment. I’ve never tried growing actual food before, much less using the SFG technique. And I got food. The tomatoes and chiles (and two prior, smallish carrots) I’ve eaten have been quiet good. A couple of friends have enjoyed the tomatoes. So, y’know … success.
Because I got a late start growing there were limits to what I could grow. Time and energy limits imposed by things like writing deadlines (those pesky, pesky devils) limited how much research on hot-weather crops I could do, and carry out the results of. So no more than about half the sixteen square-foot sections got used.
Mostly, those that got used have produced. Two tomato plants and the chiles did, obviously. I’ve got way more basil and tarragon than I now what to do with (yet.) And I’m unclear what to epxect from, or do with, my Eyptian Walking Onion, although it’s hanging in there.
The only real clunker was the Cutting Celery, which seemed born to die, and in short order did. All the above plants I got as seedlings from Plants of the Southwest, on the basis that I wasn’t sure how much I had time to try growing from seed, given my mid-Juine start. I also planted carrots and cucumbers from seed. The carrots were not a dazzling success: I got three. Or maybe four. Out of sixteen plantins in the square-foot section. One of two cucumbers did sprout and grow and even flower, although I think the flowers have died. While I haven’t given up on it yet altogether I’m pretty sure I planted it too late. Also it’s been wilty and temperamental. I may try some techniques Joe suggested for container-planting them next year.
As for Square Foot Gardening overall, I can say: do it. It’s incredibly resource efficient – and that’s counting your money, time, and effort as well as things like water and space. If you’re an urban-type gardener/farmer, as I am, it’s awesome: you could set up a 4X4 foot SFG on a largish apartment balcony. I of course have a backyard, and plan to put in at least one more SFG next year. Likely two.
And get a much earlier start.
Also, if you’re an Albuquerque area gardener, especially try SFG. We have a distinctive soil type here: shitty. Throughout the Valley, where I live, and much of the Northeast Heights, we have dense clay. It has the workability of concrete and doesn’t drain for anything. Also, after you’ve busted your ass turning the awful, and stirred in your expensive soil amendments like compost and sand to get something other than certain death for a growing medium, in a season or two, it’ll eat your soil amendments. Clay reproduces, people.
At the minimum for Albuquerque I’d advise some kind of elevated, container bed for growing. My good friend Larry had great success with the Jeavons method from How to Grow More Vegetables and Fruits (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. That’s really labor-intensive to do right, like reading through that title (whew!), but it works.
The real advantage to #SFG, even as creator Mel Bartholemew brags in his All New Square Foot Gardening, is the “Mel’s Mix” soil. You make it yourself from three inexpensive and (fairly) easy-to-obtain components. It works like a bloody charm, at least for me. And you don’t have to chisel it out of the damned ground the way you do when you’re trying to amend clay.
Our West Mesa, I’m told, is largely afflicted with sandy soil. While it’s not as horrible as the clay (it could hardly be, unless it actively attacked you) it poses its own problems. To our sisters and brothers across the river, verily I say unto you: try SFG too!
Flying Subject Change – Friday night I was up rather late after dinner and cheesy SF movies with some of the ASFS crew: Craig Chrissinger, Jessica Coyle, Steve Kubica, Randy Tinkham, and Kevin Hewett. Which was fun as always. Emma was outside, barking. Some of the neighborhood dogs were going off too. Usually that means a stray dog, or occasionally human, is wandering the alley.
But Emma seemed unusually persistent and … focused. Also she seemed to bark a lot from the north side of the house, by the gate to the backyard.
Then she growled.
That got me moving. Emma doesn’t growl without what she considers good reason. Even given her professional paranoia, it makes things more serious.
So I equipped myself with a flashlight and some other useful items, and went out back to check. Nothing.
Noting that Emma continued to bark from the gate, I went out front. And down the tree out by the sidewalk climbed – a raccoon. It ran off to the south and into a neighbor’s backyard.
So that’s like three years in a row I’ve been visited by raccoons. I like seeing the little guys. I also understand they can pose a danger to my dog. They would be well-advised not to.
So far we’ve been fine. We’ll go with that.
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