Simple Solution to Low Sunshine in a Square Foot Garden

I was disappointed when I realized that I would not be able to grow vegetables in the courtyard planter in front of my house. It was the obvious place. It’s close, has water handy and is even rectangular. I worked out how to put in a grid despite the garden edge being brick. Unfortunately there just isn’t enough sunshine however “perfect” it seemed. So I gave up and went the easier route…roses.

But then I went for a walk. It wasn’t the first walk I took in my new neighborhood. The view of the coastline is spectacular here, making it a good place to go. Maybe that’s why I didn’t notice my neighbor’s patio. But this week I did notice. They have a wall like mine with a cover like mine. Their patio even faces the same direction as mine, and it’s in full sun! Look, they have flower boxes on the top of the short wall. What a great idea. I even know how long the area is sunny, because I have been adjusting my window coverings on that side of the house during the day to protect my new floors.

When I turned the corner and walked by the front of their house, my neighbor was outside. Good timing. I chatted with him and asked where he bought the flower boxes on his patio. I told him I thought the location would be great for my vegetables. He thought it was a good idea too, and asked his wife where she bought the containers on their patio wall. Target. Terrific. There’s one not too far away. When I went home I called them. No luck there, so I asked about other Target locations. She talked to her supervisor who informed her that all Target stores removed their garden departments.

That started a search that took three days and lots of driving to complete. I looked online first, of course, but only found very small or very large rectangular boxes. They were either inappropriate due to their size or very expensive. So I got in the car and went to an Armstrong Garden Center, Wal-Mart, Lowe’s and two Home Depot stores. I didn’t have any luck until I visited the Green Thumb nursery in Lake Forest. Bingo! They had exactly what I was looking for. It even came in three sizes. I bought four of the medium sized boxes and drip trays for underneath. My mistake. I’m going back for two more.

Here’s my lesson for lack of sunshine in a square foot garden, look elsewhere before giving up. Take a walk around your neighborhood. See what they are doing. Talk to them, find out the solutions they came up with for the “not enough sunshine” problem. I’m new to this area. My neighbors are not. Later this morning I’m going back to the Green Thumb nursery and buying two more flower boxes and drip trays. Then I’m going over to Lowe’s for two bags of square foot gardening soil.

Tomorrow I’m going to the nearby Armstrong Garden Center for vegetable transplants and marigolds. They are having a 15% off sale this weekend. I also like the people there. They have been extremely helpful. They are the ones who located my small copper garden hose pot when I couldn’t find anything the right size. They also had beautiful Double Delight roses, two of which are sitting in my front courtyard awaiting planting in what was going to be my square foot garden. I guess that’s another lesson. Although I will be at two other stores where they sell vegetable transplants, I’m making a separate trip to the store where the employees went the extra mile and helped me out.

Although I have grown my own food in a huge raised square foot garden in the backyard of a suburban home in the past and gardened in containers on wheels on the third floor of a condo, this is the first time I have planted a square foot garden in flower boxes on a short wall. It will be much easier, I think, since there is water right there, abundant sunshine and I won’t even need to bend over to harvest my vegetables. This may be the easiest way to garden yet. I’ll keep you informed.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Keeping Gardening Simple

In the last few years I have tried to redefine my living situation by making everything as simple and easy as possible. This has been a pretty painless path for me, since solving problems is what a public school teacher does for a living. Sure, we all teach the curriculum, but anyone who has children, or remembers what it was like being one, knows that if you have children around, you have problems.  The Square Foot Gardening method makes growing plants of all sorts really pretty easy by eliminating many of the usual problem causing suspects, like weeding, fertilizing and repeated dirt moving. But, the basics still apply.

The location of any garden must provide the basics in order for gardening to be both simple and easy. When I grew my produce in containers I had plenty of sun, but no water nearby. So I moved water to my garden once a week and stored it in large plastic buckets. It was simple and even easy, but annoying. In my current home, the watering situation is perfect, since there is a hose right next to the planter in my front courtyard. But there is still the nagging question about the amount of sunshine. My courtyard is, of course, surrounded on all four sides by walls. That is the nature of a courtyard. The planter is tucked up against one of the walls.

This past week, I was stuck inside because of the poor air quality where I live caused by the fires in San Diego County and the wind coming from there. I have been able to watch the movement of the sun in my courtyard. Although the geranium in the large planter near my proposed square foot garden is doing well, and is covered with blooms, I’m not sure there is enough sun for vegetables. When I spoke to an expert at a local nursery, he was certain that my success with the geranium meant that the location received enough sun for a good harvest. I’m not so sure.

Simple and easy is my overall goal. Moving forward with putting in vegetables where there may not be enough sunshine could result in lots of activity, but poor results. I cannot control the amount of sunshine received in an “in ground” garden. With containers, I could and did move my plants around to follow the sun. I just put the pots on little trolleys with wheels. It was both simple and easy. But this planter is built into the courtyard. Gardening with good results is fun. Gardening with poor or no results is not. I remember a few years ago when the weather shifted unexpectedly and my beautiful bean and pea plants gave me almost no harvest. That was no fun at all.

In order to keep my life simple and easy with a goodly amount of fun, I will continue to buy my produce instead of growing it. It doesn’t taste as good as home grown, but I may not get home grown, so what’s the point? So once again, what to do with this lovely brick planter so visible from three rooms of my new home? Cutting the first roses from the bushes I discovered at the side of the house and putting them in several rooms to enjoy reminded me how much I appreciated them in the past.

My favorite rose is Double Delight. I had one in my rose garden in Alta Loma, along with twenty-three other varieties. Although I took pleasure in the entire rose garden, she was my favorite bush. The colors are beautiful. Each of the blooms is unique, and the fragrance is intense and sweet.

I’ll return the materials I purchased to make my square foot garden grid and buy two Double Delight rose bushes, if they are available now. If not, I’ll fill the bed with annuals and remove them when my favorite rose is in my local nursery. But even with two bushes, there is plenty of room for other perennials. I’m going to research companion plants. I’ll find something that will look good, encourage hummingbirds and discourage pests. Most of all, I will keep it simple and easy.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Too Hot and Windy for Gardening? Shop Online Instead.

The Santa Ana winds showed up in Southern California early this year. The temperature reached over ninety degrees (ninety-nine yesterday). It’s too hot to be outside, let alone plant anything. If I tried to set up my square foot garden grid, I would burn in the sun. If I tried to put in transplants, they would wilt and die. None of this sounds like the way to go. So I have spent the last few days inside, in the air conditioning.

I’ve read and refined the plans for my food and flower garden. I also took stock of what I have on hand in my new garage. When I moved to Hawaii last year, I gave all my garden tools and supplies to my sister. I didn’t need them anymore. Now, I have a patio, a courtyard (with my square foot garden in it) and a rose garden. I could use some tools. But, since I was starting over so to speak, I decided that I would not just be practical. I would also treat myself to what I really want. What I want is pretty and practical tools.

I looked online and found this set of Bloom garden tools. I don’t need most of them for my square foot garden, but I do for the rest of my home. I could use a hose out on the back patio. There’s a faucet, but with nothing attached. A new hose and nozzle would take care of that. I want to protect my knees when I am putting in transplants (once it cools off), so a garden kneeling cushion is a good idea. I did buy a pair of pruning sheers when I first moved here, but the handle is red, not my favorite color. I don’t know if I will ever need the shovel that comes with the set, but if I do, this one is my size. That’s how I justified spending the money. Most of the items in the set are practical. I definitely don’t need another pair of gloves, but hey, they match everything else.

As you can see, the new tool set arrived before the cooler weather. I haven’t done anything with them yet. In a couple of days, I will switch out this new hose and nozzle for the ones in my front courtyard, and put the old, white hose and nozzle on the patio. I’ll go buy two pieces of scrap two by fours and a sheet of peg board and attach them to the garage wall. I intend to display my new colorful tools there to enjoy even when they are not in use. The only thing I am doing outside in this unseasonable, horrid heat and dusty wind is to make sure my potted plants have the water they need. Then I dash back inside, where I can enjoy viewing them from the comfort of my air conditioning.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

What Doesn’t Work for a Square Foot Garden Grid

My Square Foot Garden is bordered with brick, as you have seen in my other blog pictures. It would be easier to make a traditional square foot grid, if my garden was made out of wood. But, brick is what I have. It came with the house. So instead of making a wooden grid, I looked online to see what other people have used in place of wooden slats. I tossed out several of the ideas I saw there because they were not “pretty” enough. Since my garden is at the front door, which is very convenient, it needs to be neat, tidy and pleasing to the eye.

I even walked around hardware and garden center stores looking for materials I might repurpose. Nothing seemed quite right. Then, one day I was chatting with my sister about this, and an idea came to me. Why not use tent pegs and some sort of rope or line? I was sure there would be several options at camping supply stores. There were. I found the yellow pegs you see in the picture online at REI. Very cute and functional. I bought three bags of six pegs. They cost less than $15.00 delivered. Then I found the clothes line you see above. It is almost the same color as the pegs. I ordered two, also less than $15.00.  The yellow grid will look so cute in my garden, or so I thought. The problem is that the rope is made of a polypropylene material. This is good, in that it will not rot in the elements. However, it is almost impossible to attach to the pegs. It is too stiff and too slippery. Oh, well.

So my plan was to create the grid today, while I am waiting on a FedEx delivery, but that won’t happen. I now need to find another material to use. I’m keeping the pegs. They give me a flexibility that a rigid grid would not give me. I can also rinse them off with a hose and pack them up in a plastic bag when not in use. I have two places in mind to search for cord of a different material, the local hardware store, and the large home supply store. I’ll take a peg with me, so I can experiment with what I find, before making a purchase.

Hmmm. Another brain storm. Maybe I can just wrap this yellow clothes line material around each peg, and only have to worry about attaching it to the last one? The pegs have a hook on each side. If I can get the rope to stay under one of the hooks, as it is wrapped around the peg, perhaps it will stay in place? After all, the grid is not there to support anything. It is just a way to delineate each square foot, making it easier to plant. I’ll experiment with this idea. After all, FedEx isn’t here yet, I have plenty of time! I’ll let you know how this works out, so you might use the same idea, if your garden does not lend itself to wooden grids.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

The Perfect Square Foot Garden Soil and How to Get It Home

I started using the Square Foot Garden mixture recommended by Mel Bartholomew back in the 1970’s. I bought the three ingredients (compost, peat moss and vermiculite) and mixed them myself. But in the past few years, since I began gardening while living in a condo instead of a huge house on a half acre, I have bought it in bags at the garden store. It isn’t available everywhere. The last time I needed the soil; I went to Lowe’s and bought it there. This time, I tried Home Depot. My sister, who lives in Ventura County, bought fifteen bags at her local Home Depot for her large square foot garden. This would save me time, since my Home Depot is closer than Lowe’s.

I didn’t need that much, my garden is smaller. But then, she has six living under her roof. She also has help. I don’t, and I don’t. I do it myself. But I have experience on my side. This morning I went to my local Home Depot, here in South Orange County. No luck. They don’t stock it. So it was off to Lowe’s. It was pretty early in the morning, and the employees far out-numbered the customers. I have to remember that for future reference. I had all the help I could need. One of the gentlemen in the garden center loaded five bags of Garden Time Square Foot Gardening Potting Soil Mix onto a dolly for me and waited while I paid. The five bags ran just under $50 including tax. He then brought them to my car, and loaded them for me.

He was a bit taken aback by how I had prepared my car. Before I left the house, I emptied the rear of my little SUV. I also laid down the back seats, so there was plenty of room for my purchase. But that’s not all. I have a product that makes clean up unnecessary. Several years ago I found a wonderfully versatile product at Smart and Final. It’s vinyl table cloth “fabric” by the roll. I bought it initially to cover bulletin boards when I was teaching. It’s easy to mount, doesn’t fade and costs very little. I bought blue, but it comes in several colors. Oh, there’s also so much on a roll, that it lasts me years. You can see some of it in the picture. This morning, I unrolled enough to cover the inside of the back end of my car. The garden center employee asked me about it. I told him what it was, and how durable and handy it is. Like it was this morning, keeping my car free of loose garden soil.

When I arrived home, I opened the back of my car, and placed my hand truck and a plastic tub up close. I pulled one of the bags until it fell into the tub. I then rolled my loaded hand truck to the edge of my square foot garden, and stopped. I slit the bag open at the top with a box cutter. I tilted the box and dumped the bag of soil into one end of the planter. I tossed the now empty bag into the tub and evened out the soil with a long handled hoe. I repeated this process four more times. I only spilled a little, when I was careless as I emptied one of the bags. About a half cup of soil fell onto the patio, instead of into the planter. Not bad considering I was doing this all by myself (and I’m a small, female senior citizen).

I dumped all the empty bags into the trash, cleaned out a little spillage from inside the plastic tub (and the patio) and put my tools away. Then I shook out the blue vinyl I had used in the car, folded it up and placed it on the shelf in my garage to be used for some other project down the line, maybe when it is time to rotate crops? I watered the soil, so it wouldn’t blow away in the wind and scrubbed my hands with soap. I really need to wear one of the pairs of gloves that I have. I can’t seem to force myself. I like to feel the tools in my bare hands, despite the mess that makes. I guess I inherited that from some of the farmers way back on one of the branches on my family tree.

The garden is full of soil free of weeds and rich with nutrients. I have everything I need except for plants. But I’m not ready yet. I need to add the traditional Square Foot Gardening grid.

Until next time,

Elizabeth

Garden Hose Container Quest

My easy condo garden is in the courtyard in the front of my house. Anyone visiting or making a delivery enters by way of this courtyard. I want everything there to be neat, tidy and attractive. This includes my hose. How do you make a hose cute? You find a way to hide it. So began my quest to find the perfect hose holder, container, pot, bucket or whatever.

I started by going to the local hardware store. It is nearby and they usually have what I need. They didn’t. Sure, they had plastic. No, thank you. They did have one pot that was metal, but it was very dark and heavy. I think it was too big too. Next I went to several home supply stores. I spoke to employees who told me that their various store carried different products. So I went to more than one of the same chain. I found a wide variety of containers, mostly plastic (and really ugly…just saying). When I did locate one that was metal, it was usually very dark and huge. I guess most people like dark, and have very long garden hoses.

What I really wanted was something light colored and perhaps ceramic. I checked out garden supply stores next. There is a nice one in Dana Point, and I went there. They did have one that I liked, except for the color. It was painted bright silver, like a disco ball. Ultra modern and silly looking (again, just my opinion). I am more traditional in my taste. I want garden items to look more organic.

I finally broke down and made the trip to the Armstrong Garden Center in San Juan Capistrano. I love that place, but I was dreading going there. I was certain they would have exactly what I wanted, but it would be enormously expensive. I was half right. I was surprised to discover that they only had one style in stock. It was copper, very pretty, but huge. Pricey? Oh, yeah. But it was the size of the covered hose holder that made me walk away.

I then drove back to Crown Valley Parkway and visited the other local Armstrong, on Golden Lantern. This center is deceptive in appearance. Most of the nursery is tucked away in back, so from the front, it looks small. It isn’t. I was more successful here. They had three styles. I liked them all. One was a lovely shade of teal. Now, that’s more like it! But big, super big. No way could I deal with it big. But the employee who was helping me was more relentless. When she heard that this was the eleventh store I had visited, she just would not give up. She went to her computer and did a search of their other stores. She found a hammered copper hose holder in their Irvine store. She picked up the phone, and asked an employee there to measure the container. It was 18-inches wide and only 12-inches high. Perfect!  

Of course, I bought it and took it home. The weight was what I had hoped. I was able to carry it to the car myself, which was significant because I would have to carry it from the car to the spot where it is sitting now, once I arrived back home. It was simple to thread the hose through the hole in the back, wind it up and tuck it inside. It took several days of looking online, and twelve trips to various retail outlets, but I finally ended up with what I wanted. I am finished settling for what is handy. I am only buying what really pleases me. This hose holder does just that. It was worth the quest.

Until next time,

Elizabeth