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We moved into our current house last summer and inherited a vegetable garden on the sunny side. When I was a kid, my parents rented garden space out in the country. I recall many long Saturday afternoons helping to weed and pick vegetables.

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That garden was at least an acre. Half of it was potatoes. The rest was carrots, kale, beets, rutabagas, endive, brussels sprouts, red cabbage, green beans, string beans, peas. Oh, and then, come to think of it, there was a third half that was all regular cabbage. (I may be overestimating the size, but when you’re seven, a single row of cabbage may as well be half an acre.) It was all destined for boiling.

I wish I could say the memories are fond, but it was a lot of work, and  surprisingly I wasn’t all that into vegetables when I was seven. Problem was, there was always the impending doom of knowing I was inevitably going to have to eat them. I’d still love to meet the first person who decided that the Brussels sprout was intended as human food and punch him in the mouth get his line of thinking.

So, now that I’ve come into my own garden space, the romantic in me has decided it would be a great thing to work on it with my kids, to witness the miracle of growth, and to give all of us a better connection with real, healthy food. The big difference is I actually like a lot of vegetables now that I’m responsible for preparing them — although cabbage and Brussels sprouts were not included in my seed order. And my kids even like some vegetables, too.

A friend of mine turned me on to Square Foot Gardening this year (thanks, James!) and I’ve been working at setting up my own SFG since some time in April. The truth is, it’s really not that much work, but when you’re trying to fit it in among a host of other activities, it can be tricky. The Square Foot Gardening method was invented by Mel Bartholomew when he retired back in the 70s. From what I can tell, this should make him over a hundred years old. He looks younger on his book cover. Maybe it’s all those organic vegetables and fresh air.

Old Mel’s written a number of books. His latest, All New Square Foot Gardening, outlines the best techniques that he’s developed over the years. The basic idea behind the method is that it is less work and uses less space and less water than the conventional row garden. That sounded appealing to me right off the bat.

The maximum size for a square foot garden is 4 feet by 4 feet. That way, the whole garden can be accessed without setting foot in it. You start by building a square frame wooden box. Then you fill in the box with a specific mix of soil: 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost. Ideally the compost should come from five different sources. Mel is adamant about this. I used three, at my own peril. I guess we’ll see how it works out. You divide the box into single square-foot sections with a wooden grid and then you plant individual plant crops in each square. Ideally, each adjacent square has a different type of plant (I broke this rule, too). If the plant grows to be large, like a pepper or tomato plant, then you plant one in the square, or if it’s a smaller plant, you plant more in the square.

The soil mix, which he has aptly (and egoistically) named Mel’s Mix, retains moisture, provides a loose, granular soil for maximum root growth, and ensures that there will be minimal weeds. The soil can apparently be reused year after year without the need for tilling. You just add a little compost once in a while. Coarse, garden-use vermiculite was hard to find. We found fine vermiculite (used for pool construction) at a local landscaping store and asked them who their supplier was. They gave us the phone number of a company called Grace. Then Grace gave us the name of someone who bought a full skid of vermiculite for resale to other square foot gardeners. Arranging a rendez-vous point and meeting him for the exchange felt a little like a drug deal. After spreading a few grains under my upper lip to test for moisture retension, I handed him my cash.

So, after a little detective and setup work, I’ve built three 3×4 boxes, with a small 2×2 box for the girls. They’re growing strawberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers, all staples in their diet. I’m growing green and yellow beans, snow pease, rutabagas, baby spinach, leaf lettuce, baby carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, red onions basil and parsley. And I’m going to try watermelons, honeydew and raspberries in regular soil. Mel’s got all kinds of simple plans for building things like cages to keep out animals, tents to keep out the cold and trellises for climbing plants (I MacGyvered my trellises out of copper piping and garden mesh and I’m pretty pleased with myself).

My parents still have a garden. It’s considerably smaller now, but they still grow all their favourites. One sad twist is that despite my respect for my dad’s knowledge of conventional gardening techniques, Mel’s method forces me to ignore half the advice he gives me. So I have more than tomatoes at stake in the success of my SFG — although, at one level, I’ll be happy if I come out with a basket or two of strawberries and raspberries.

My plan is to provide a weekly photoblog of my garden. So, stay tuned and be sure to send along any words of advice or encouragement you may have along the way. Or send me links to photos of your own SFG.

Week 0

My girls' garden has strawberries, cucumbers and baby tomatoes. And a butterfly. We bought plants to give them a kickstart.

I planted seeds for most crops. And the winner is... cucumbers. They were the first to emerge, after just a few days. I can almost see them growing.

I got a great deal on a rain barrel (foreground) through a program run by Halton Region (the local municipal government).

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