I have a garden plan! Hurrah...

So my next post will be about the actual plan, but let me introduce you to my 'square-stick-man' first. He's always with me in the garden (unless Chief has stolen him - but I'm proud to say he's survived those moments! Phew!!!)

Anyone else practice Square Foot Gardening?

Our vegetable gardens are built over a steep bank and we've built a deck around them to ensure we stay upright, and so do the vegetables....  Definitely wish I had infinite options for more gardens but we're working our land pretty well.  Small spaces isn't an obstacle to vegetable gardening!

Anyway.... this is where Square-Stick-Man' comes into it, as I tend to follow the Square Foot Garden method with our garden beds to ensure I maximise as much use of the garden space in balance with what my vegetables can cope with.

A square foot is basically a 30cm x 30 cm square, the theory of the gardening method is that in that square you can fit a number of a crop, or that crop needs a number of 'squares'  if it needs space - like tomatoes - some Toms need a 4 square space (Black Krim for example)....  Lots of people mark out their whole garden in squares with string etc.... Chief-the-Thief Labrador would have fun with that, so I have a different tool => Square-Stick-Man to achieve the same thing, in a more portable way! (I'm sure by now you're getting I love portable/changeable gardening methods and tools! 😁)

My Planning tool is an 'App' (more to come next blog) and it tells me how many of a vegetable I can fit in a Square-Stick-Man,  {including compatibility with neighbouring veggies)....

I will admit - until I did this properly last season I wasn't a believer - and then I stopped planting rows and planted squares, and my thinking changed and I was able to fit more in, and understand compatibility.......and then slipped in some interplanting, within the squares... I still need to learn to plant the slower veggies at the back - but I'm learning as we grow!

I'm still a student in this method but I really like it. It works with my structured, logical thinking. I'm very 'OCD' with some things and we have to be clever with what we grow, and where.

I can layout this square and plant out in the square according to spacing required for those crops....  For example - in a square I can plant 16 carrot seeds - 4 across, 4 down, in a grid. Corn, I can get 4 seedlings in the square. Some giant Tomatoes need 4 squares (to a container you go! 🤣)

It's another method in this wonderful world of gardening. I imagine if I could live more rural, and less restricted on space for gardens,  it would be different, but this method and resourcefulness with tight space works... 

Gardening Planning Tool blog tomorrow!! ... hopefully it pieces this together....

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend out in the Garden ... Wellington did a pretty good job with the weather....