For years, row agriculture has been the norm when it comes to providing for our daily bread. The plow is not agile, making straight, indefinite lines lines work easy and straight lines of seeds could be laid quickly making back breaking work just a bit less painful. Since the inception of this farming format few people have questioned if this is truly the most effective way.

Until Mel Bartholomew.

The engineer noticed excessive waste in traditional farming methods and set out to find a better way. Mel soon realized that if you set up the garden on a square foot grid that you could produce more in less space. Studying seed packets he realized that only one seed needed to be planted every few inches instead of planting a whole packet then coming back and weeding out the majority of the seedlings.

And thus the Square Foot Gardening method was born. It is a simple system that is based around a four foot by four foot grid. Each square foot represents a type of plant. Some plants, like carrots, can be planted very intensely, each seed being placed less than an inch apart on a grid pattern in one square foot. This practice yields far more plants than one linear foot and cuts down on the wasted open soil that invites weeds. Many plants allow one seed per square foot, such as cabbage. And others need even more space. Climbers can be planted along the back of the plot and allowed to grow straight up a climbing structure.

According to the official site, the ten basic tenets of square-foot gardening are:

1. Layout. Arrange your garden in squares, not rows. Lay it out in 4′x4′ planting areas.
2. Boxes. Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground.
3. Aisles. Space boxes 3′ apart to form walking aisles.
4. Soil. Fill boxes with Mel’s special soil mix: 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.
5. Grid. Make a permanent square foot grid for the top of each box. A MUST
6. Care. NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL. Tend your garden from the aisles.
7. Select. Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot.
8. Plant. Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression.
9. Water. Water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water.
10. Harvest. When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost and replant it with a new and different crop.

Bartholomew’s book All New Square Foot Gardening details the system. Pages of colored photographs go step by step through the process. He provides ideas on how to build raised beds, how to create climbing structures, and how to protect your crops through out the seasons.

Before starting your own project is helps to see what other people have created. The Natural Gardener in Austin Texas has set up experimental plots to test the system. There are different soil types, arrangements, and plants all together and open to public viewing. The square foot gardens at the Natural Gardener (pictured here) are a wonderful visual for people who wish to see the system and watch it develop before attempting on their own. The staff at the nursery is very willing to answer questions.

The Victory Garden is hip again and more and more people are growing their food at home. For many this is a scary prospect since the majority of the public has been long removed from food production processes. If you are interested in starting your own garden then the Square Foot Garden method is perfect. The step-by-step guide and space saving methods found in Mr. Bartholomew’s book will surely bring you success! And if you're already practicing the Square Foot Gardening we welcome your tips, tricks, and anecdotes.

Wishing you a happy harvest,

Kate Higdon