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One Square Foot at a Time ONE SQUARE FOOT AT A TIME Newsletter of the Square Foot Gardening Foundation Summer 2019 LETTER FROM THE FOUNDATION SAVE THE DATE! Greetings Join us for World Square Foot Square Foot Gardeners! Gardening Day! It’s high summer and our gardens are growing like gangbusters! It looks like yours are too, judging from the photos you’ve been sending us for the World SFG Day photo contest. We’ve highlighted a few of those on page 12. We know you’ll be inspired! Speaking of World SFG Day, we hope you’ll join us on our Facebook page on July 21 for a full day of all things Square Foot Gardening. The jam-packed schedule is on the last page of this newsletter. A big part of Square Foot Gardening around the world is gardening with kids, and we have an entire newsletter page with activities just for them this Sunday, July 21, 2019 summer, as well as a spotlight on a few school Square Foot Gardening groups. They’re doing some great stuff! We’d love to hear about your kids’ initiatives. Sunday, July 21 from 12 a.m. Please email us at: [email protected]. to 12 a.m. on the Square There’s lots of other great info about summer gardening within the pages. We Foot Gardening Foundation hope you enjoy! Facebook page. Happy Gardening! • Videos Laura & Steve Bartholomew • Tips • Free downloads NOW AVAILABLE! Do you have your copy of the All New • Adding automatic watering systems #WorldSFGDay2019 Square Foot Gardening, Third Edition? • “Thinking Outside the Box” with Don’t wait! creative configurations and shapes • Square Foot Gardening in dense With over 150 new photos and urban areas with little or no yard illustrations, this new edition makes • Square Foot Gardening with kids it easier than ever to achieve nearly • Protecting crops foolproof results in virtually any situation. Remember: CLICK 100% of the produce 20% of the water HERE 5% of the work ORDER! You’ll love the new info inside, including: • Adding trellises and archways • Substituting with new materials www.squarefootgardening.org #squarefootgardening 1 SFG GOES TO SCHOOL We are always thrilled when we hear about young SFGers learning how to get their hands dirty. Let’s check in with Junaluska Elementary School and Excelsior Academy, to see how they’re doing. Junaluska Elementary School Digs In Junaluska Elementary School in Waynesville, North Carolina, has Teacher Miss Christina Roberts and four of her an extensive program that begins students enjoy learning the SFG method. in the first grade and extends The school’s purpose of teaching into the second. Not content gardening is to instill in the with providing five square foot students a sense of appreciation beds, their fantastic sponsor, the and respect for nature in addition NC Extension Master Gardeners, to teaching math and science has gifted the school with a concepts. The program begins in variety of other raised beds and first grade as the young students specialty gardens including: a plant the gardens in spring. strawberry pyramid, an herb During the summer, rising first wheel, a bean teepee, Three Marcia Tate teaches first graders about Square and second graders (and their Sisters gardens, a fragrance bed, Foot Gardening. parents!) are invited to help tend a pollinator bed, a sweet potato bed, a popcorn bed, a Trail of Tears the gardens and harvest produce cornbread bed, potato bags, blueberry bushes, and flowers. and flowers. Later, as returning second graders, the kids harvest what they planted in spring. It’s a great opportunity to teach the entire gardening cycle. The program is large, involving more than 150 students, 7 teachers, and as many parent volunteers as possible. In addition to the hands-on gardening, the NC Master Gardeners teach a variety of educational programs. We love this! What a win/win for all!! Master Gardener Julie Taylor, Steve Bartholomew, Master Gardener Marcia Tate, Principal Mr. Alex Masciarelli, Certified Instructor Hughes Roberts, and Laura Bartholomew pose with four first-grade students and their Square Foot Garden.. Not pictured: Teacher Miss Christina Roberts, Teacher Assistant Miss Lynn Presnell. www.squarefootgardening.org #squarefootgardening 2 Excelsior Academy • What is companion planting? Another school program • What is the difference between featuring Square Foot Gardening cold- and warm-season crops? is Excelsior Academy, located • How can I extend my growing in Erda, Utah. The name of the season? SFG group is “Greenthumbs.” • What crops can be started indoors According to its sponsor, Brad and later transplanted, and what Hendershot, the Greenthumbs crops should be sown directly? Program built a brand-new • What is a spring planting four-season greenhouse over schedule and why is it important Drip irrigation serves as the grids. the winter, complete with four to create one? 8 ft. x 4 ft. raised garden beds. In • How can I plant my bed to ensure a staggered harvest? November, the students spent a • What is vertical gardening and which plants require a trellis? month learning all about the SFG • How do I provide optimum care and nutrition for indeterminate method, and then they planned tomatoes in a SFG bed? out their beds. Now that the These lessons take about 10 to 20 minutes to teach, and the students new greenhouse is finished and spend the rest of the 46-minute class period getting their hands dirty in they’ve built the raised beds, various other ongoing agriculture/horticulture projects. After they have they are thrilled to be growing been taught the basics, each student must design his or her own 4 ft. x 4 vegetables, flowers, and herbs ft. SFG bed using the principles they learned about in the mini-lessons. using the SFG method. Hendershot has constructed Additionally, the students create a spring planting schedule to help them a program to teach the plan when and what to plant for their home gardens in the months to Greenthumbs students aspects come. There is a written exam on the SFG method. Once students have of the SFG method in the form of demonstrated mastery with the basics of the SFG method, they take over distinct mini-lessons, including: the responsibility for the raised beds in the greenhouse. They will then • What is SFG and how is it make their own decisions about harvesting and replanting individual different from traditional row squares according to SFG best practices. gardening? • What is Mel’s MixTM, and how During the summer, the beds are outfitted with a drip irrigation system much will it cost to fill a 4 ft. x 4 ft. that doubles as the garden grid (which is the black ½-inch tubing in raised bed? the photos). The drip system is set up on a timer so the beds will be • How do I determine plant watered daily. SFG instructor Hendershot comes into the school once spacing? a week during the summer to sucker the tomatoes and perform other basic maintenance. First gardens in the new raised beds. Building the raised beds inside the greenhouse. www.squarefootgardening.org #squarefootgardening 3 JUST FOR KIDS SFG Quiz How many ingredients are in Mel’s MixTM? 1? 2? 3? 4? 5? How They Say SFG History Square Foot Gardening was invented in 1976 by Mel Bartholomew, a retired That In… engineer who wanted a simpler way to garden. English: Soil He invented it, wrote a book, had a popular TV show and now millions of French: Sol people around the world use the method to grow fresh produce at home Spanish: Suelo … and you can too! Italian: Suolo German: Boden Square Foot Gardening Crossword Test your SFG knowledge and see if you can solve this crossword puzzle. After you’re done, go ahead and enjoy the rest of the activities! Did You Know? 1 What Veggies Grow Underground? Beets 2 Radishes Potatoes 3 4 Carrots 5 Guess the Veggie! 6 Across 1.) This veggie is dark red and grows in the ground. 2.) How many cabbage plants fit in 1 sq. foot? 3.) This bug crawls all over your soil and plants! 5.) This veggie grows in tall stalks. 6.) This rodent can nibble away at your produce! Down 1.) Jack climbed up the ______stalk. 4.) How many feet can most people reach into their garden? 5.) This pet can cause trouble in your garden! Down 1. Bean 4. Two 5. Cat 5. Two 4. Bean 1. Down Across 1. Beet 2. One 3. Ant 5.Corn 6. Rat Rat 6. 5.Corn Ant 3. One 2. Beet 1. Across www.squarefootgardening.org #squarefootgardening 4 WARM-WEATHER HERBS Oregano Rosemary • Better flavor in full sun but it will • Full sun. grow in part-sun. • Start seeds indoors 8 to 10 weeks • Start seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the last spring frost. before the last spring frost. • Plant divisions anytime after soil Get your herb garden plan on page 54 of All • Plant transplants anytime after the temperatures have warmed. New Square Foot Gardening, Third Edition temperatures reach 45 degrees F. • Plant outdoors in spring after the There are some SFG gardeners • Plant outdoors in spring after last frost. who devote an entire bed just to the last frost; seeds need light to • Water regularly but lightly; these herbs. And why not? Their flavoring germinate. are Mediterranean plants, and they attributes as well as their other • Don’t overwater; only when the mix don’t need lots of water. benefits are as important as food surface is dry. • Harvest or trim mature plants often crops to some people. Let’s talk about • If you only need the leaves, grab to keep them inbounds.
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