I have used modified square foot methods for over 30 years. 26 since I heard there was a name for it and read the book.

I have longer rows and not so many paths, but with unlimited composted sheep manure the garden is very fertile. The intense planting supports fewer weeds than open beds. However, the open beds are easier to hoe.

Our vegetable garden is about 40 by 20 feet. We have 30 feet by 4 feet of potatoes, 2 feet by 30 of beans, 1 by 25 of garlic, sugar snap peas on 2 upright 8 foot long supports by 4 foot high, cucumbers on another, 24 tomatoes in 4 foot by 6 foot beds (6 to a bed) 4 pepper plants, a lot of carrots, 1 zuchuni in the middle of the asparagus bed, and a few flowers for cutting.

We don't use raised beds because our entire farm is like a raised bed. We have 40 feet of gravel subsoil, so drainage is never a problem.

WOW!
That makes my garden seem very puny indeed.I find the size I have is just right for two people for fresh eating; not so much for putting up.

Do you sell produce at farmers markets or such? Your garden must be a full time job.

I know between my flowers and veggies I seem to have enough to do with weeding, watering,and fighting with the bugs.

Happy Gardening to you :)
Gabriella

Gabriella

Before I planted a maple and ended up with a shady backyard, I used to have a garden based on the square foot gardening method. The garden was along a fence about 40 feet long by 4 feet deep. Hubby dug the garden using the double dig method and then I planted in 4 foot squares. It was amazing what I used to get out of those squares. I even had potatoes under straw and corn. My father who was raised on a farm in France told me I would never get corn in such a small plot and because the stalks were planted too close together. Well, we had a wonderful corn harvest. Nothing like eating corn that was picked seconds before cooking. Good luck with your harvest.

Danni

For years I did I guess a variation on this method which I learned from the book Joy of Gardening by Dick Raymond, put out by Gardenway Inc. the manufacturer of Troy-Bilt roto tillers. He shows you great ways to get the most crop with the least amount of back breaking work. Making raised beds easily with the roto tiller.
ie, sowing carrots much like broadcasting grass seed, then using your rake to thin them out at about 1/2 inch height, then again at an inch. and so on.. No bending over.. then as they grow you have tons of baby carrots to enjoy all the while you're thinning the patch and allowing larger carrots to develop.
It's a very good book, handy even if you don't use a roto-tiller, been in print for 30 odd years now I'd guess but still available on Amazon etc.

We do very little work in our garden. We don't till at all. We add a layer of well composted sheep manure on top in the spring and plant through that. We spend 10-15 minutes a week pulling weeds. I haven't seen bugs in the vegetable garden for 20 years. (But don't ask about lily beetles near the house.)

Most of our fresh produce comes from our CSA (community supported agriculture) membership. I find that lettuce, cabbage, kale, etc. are more trouble to produce to get an unending supply for one family, so I let them do it.

We preserve most of what we harvest. Tomatoes are canned, either as just tomatoes, or with other veggies as minestrone base. Beans and peas are frozen. Cucumbers are pickled. Root vegetables are put in cold storage.

We used to use the produce just for our family, but now our oldest daughter, who has 5 kids, is in on the project.