Growing your own vegetables is very satisfying and is a great way to produce fresh organic food for your family. However, vegetable gardens can be very time consuming as it takes a lot of hoeing and weeding, especially if you have a large garden. By using square-foot gardening methods for your vegetable garden you can reduce the amount of work you have to do and produce even more vegetables in a smaller space

What is Square-Foot Gardening?

A large amount of the typical garden is wasted in rows for the gardener to walk down. Typical gardens take up a lot of room and need a large amount of work to maintain. Square-foot gardening helps to cut down on weeding and allows for more plants in a smaller space. Square foot gardens are raised . Each garden area is usually 4 feet by 4 feet. This area is cut into sixteen 1 foot squares. Each square is filled with a different crop. One square can be filled with carrots, another with beans and another with your favourite herb, whatever you like best.

To make a Square foot garden you will need:

- Four 4 feet long 2x6 wood boards

- Six lattice strips or thin boards that are 4 feet long and about a 1 ½ -2 inches wide.

- 4 inch long nails or screws

- 1 inch long nails

- Newspaper, cardboard, or landscape fabric

- About 60 litres of compost (best is a combination of several different types- sheep or cow manure, household compost, mushroom compost etc.)

- About 60 litres or peat moss

- About 60 litres of vermiculite

1. The first thing you need to do when setting up a square-foot garden is build the garden box. Nail or screw the 2x6 boards together to make a four foot square box.

2. Once your garden box is made, you need to prepare the ground where you are going to put your garden by covering it in old newspapers, cardboard boxes or landscape fabric. Cover a 4 foot square area. This helps to prevent weeds or grass from invading your garden. Lay your box on top of the ground coverings.

3. Now that your box is set in place you are ready to fill it with soil. For best results filled your square-foot garden box with a mixture of vermiculite, peat moss and compost. Be sure to mix well.

4. Once your box is filled with soil, you need to split it into 16 sections. Take strips of lattice and nail them to the box sides diving the box area equally. You can also divide your garden with string, but the lattice will save your time and headaches in the end.

5. Now you are ready to plant! Fill each section with whatever type of crop you would like and then care for them as you would normally. Never walk on your soil, do all your gardening from outside the box. Square foot gardens also works well for flowers.