Secondly, the plant nurseries and big box stores want you to hurry up and plant so when the April cold snap comes through and damages/kills your plants, you have to go back and buy more. While I usually resist the initial planting when we get that beautiful 80+ degree week that fools everyone that this April will be different (although it never is), I was searching for some specific varieties that usually go fast.
Now normally getting the specific varieties that I want isn't a problem because I normally start my own transplants from seed. But, this year I decided to do majority transplants from the stores because a) it takes a lot of work to start from seed at the scale that I plant and b) my attention span always bites me in the butt every year and I decided to stop beating myself up every year about it.
Now that is the 1st of May, you can do a majority of planting, but realize you can still get some vicious weather coming through, so you may have some casualties. My secret weapon for transplant shock and damaged plants: Vitamin B1 or sometimes known as Transplant Shock Tonic. I always have a gallon container on hand. You can find this at Lowe's or Home Depot, but you may have to search for it. Don't be afraid to ask store personnel to find it for you, because it will become your best friend! Just follow the directions and you will be amazed at the results! Following are pictures of my 6 raised planters that contain all my vegetable/fruit/herb plants. And of course, they were all done with the Square Foot Gardening Method.
This is Planter 1 which contains the following from left to right. Row 1: 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums, 16 Crimson Giant Radishes, 1 Peppermint, 8 Crimson Giant/8 Cook's Custom Mix Radishes, 1 Peppermint, 16 Cook's Custom Mix Radishes and 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums. Row 2: 4 Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 1 Greek Oregano, 4 Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, and 4 Rosalita Lettuce. Row 3: 1 Sugar Baby Watermelon, 1 Sugar Baby Watermelon, 1 Hale's Best Jumbo Cantaloupe, 1 Cantaloupe. The next 3 squares will contain 2 cucumber plants each totaling 6 plants. The back row will have netted trellises for the melons and cucumbers to climb.
Planter 2 Front Row: 1 Marigold/2 Nasturtiums, 2 Cilantro, 9 Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, 1 Sweet Marjoram, 9 Teton Hybrid Spinach, 2 Cilantro, 2 Marigolds/2 Nasturtiums. Row 2: 1 Serrano Pepper, 1 Serrano Pepper, 1 Jalapeno pepper, 1 Jalapeno pepper, 1 Bell Boy Green/Red Pepper, 1 Bell Boy Green/Red Pepper, 1 Golden Cal Wonder Pepper. Row 3: 1 Anaheim pepper, 1 Toma Verde Tomatillo plant in the next 5 squares, and 1 Golden Cal Wonder pepper.
Planter 3 Row 1: 2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums, 16 Sweet Treat Carrots, 1 Large Italian Flat-leaf parsley, 9 Bloomsdale Long Standing spinach, 9 Teton Hybrid spinach, 8 Red Cored Chantenay Carrots, 2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums. Row 2: 16 Parade Green Bunching onions, 4 Parris Island Romaine, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 4Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce, 4 Rosalita Lettuce, 4 Parris Island Romaine, and 8 Georgia Sweet Onions. Row 3: First 4 squares contain in each 8 Super Sugar Snap Peas totaling 32 plants and next 3 squares contain 8 Snowbird Snow Peas totaling 24.
Planter 4 Row 1: 1 Straightneck Yellow Squash, 1 English Thyme, 1 Dill, 2 marigolds/2 nasturtiums, 1 basil, 1 purple basil, 1 butternut squash. Row 2: 1 spaghetti squash, the next 5 squares will contain 3 varieties of dwarf sunflower (Happy Smile, Teddy Bear & Zebulon) and each square will have 2 plants each, and 1 butternut squash. Row 3: 1 Zucchini Squash, 1 Mammoth Sunflower, 1 Zucchini squash, 1 Mammoth sunflower, 1 Zucchini Gold squash, 1 Mammoth sunflower, and 1 Zucchini Gold Squash.
Planter 5 Row 1: Super San Marzano paste tomato, 4 marigolds, 1 Sweet Dani lemon basil, 1 parsley, 1 basil, 4 marigolds and 1 Sweet 100 cherry tomato. Row 2: 1 Super San Marzano paste tomato, 1 Black Beauty eggplant, 1 Black Beauty eggplant, 1 Greek oregano, 1 Gretal eggplant, 1 Ichiban eggplant, 1 Large Red cherry tomato. Row 3: 1 Brandywine Pink tomato, 1 Early Girl tomato, 1 Hawaiian tomato, 1 Cherokee Purple tomato, 1 Roma paste tomato, 1 Roma paste tomato and 1 Sweet 100 cherry tomato.
Planter 6: all squares will contain 1 Silver Queen corn plant which I just planted via seed.
As you might have noticed, just about every planter contains marigolds and nasturtiums. They are a very important defense against insects. Both of these flowers repel bad insects and attract the good ones (honestly, there are good insects!). You can use just about any variety of nasturtium, but you'll want to use French marigolds. They are smaller so I can fit 4 in a square foot alone or 2 in a square with 2 nasturtiums. They also have a stronger scent so they are more effective. Once the marigolds have run their course for the season, dig them into the soil so they can do double duty by repelling bad nematodes that dwell in your soil. You'll want to fit a lot of marigolds near your tomatoes. They are amazing at repelling bad bugs from them.
Some squares may appear empty because I have not planted that particular veggie/herb yet due to being too cold. It also may be because I have started that plant by seed. Some plants do better started by seed because they don't react well to transplanting and some just grow so darn fast it saves you money to start by seed. These are the following I always start by seed: lettuce/romaine, spinach, nasturtiums, radishes, cilantro, peas, beans, green onions, carrots, sunflowers, and corn.
Some varieties I use a technique called succession planting. This is a technique where you stagger the planting of seeds. For example, I can plant 9 spinach plants in 1 square and 16 carrots in 1 square. If I plant them all at once, they will be mature all at once. I don't necessarily want to eat 9 spinach plants and 16 carrots at once. So if 1 square can hold 9 spinach plants, I will plant 1 row of 3 plants within the square 1 week and the next week the next row and so on. That way they mature as I need them. And, as I pull them to eat, I plant another set of seeds in those plants' place! Another example of succession planting is placing 2 different plants in 1 square. For example, peas seeds can be started pretty early. They will germinate even in cold soil. So I will plant a row of 8 seeds per square (at the back of the square) in late February or early March. They don't like heat so they will have probably produced the majority of their pods when the heat starts to hit. Now green beans don't like as cold as soil and can produce through the summer so I'll plant 8 pole beans at the end of April/beginning of May per square in the middle of the same squares as the peas. Once the peas start phasing out, the beans will take over their spot.
Another technique I use that may be hard to see in the pictures is vertical growing. At the back of most planters and some on the sides, are trellises with netting for the plants to grow up in. I use this technique for the following: mini watermelon, melons, cucumbers, tomatillos, peas, beans, squash, and tomatoes. All of these plants either sprawled all over the garden taking up valuable space or needed to be caged of which the plants soon outgrew. Trellises keep the produce off the ground where soil born diseases and insects can get to them without you knowing. Also by growing up, the plants will get better air circulation and keep leaves drier which can be a problem especially with cucumbers. This technique also forces the plants to produce thicker stems to hold the weight of the fruit which pumps in more nutrients and flavor to them. When my melons get closer to maturity, I make a sling out of old pantyhose to hold the fruit so they don't drop to the ground and split open. For my tomatoes, I like to use trellises because some tomato varieties can get up to 6' tall and most cages are only 4' tall. Trellises also allow you to see more of the plant so you can find the evil tomato horn worm easier allowing me to feed them to my chickens and die a horrible death! Sorry, I got a bit carried away!
I think that's about it for now. Really consider giving Square Foot Gardening a chance. You'll be amazed what you can fit in such a small space. Aren't you amazed how many varieties I grow in mine? Feel free to ask me any questions, any time about your gardens. I many not be a total expert for your zone, but will do my best to answer you. Thanks and enjoy!
