All New Square Foot Gardening Grow ...

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Contents
Introduction
9
SFG, New and Improved
27
Plan Your Garden
41
J Building Boxes and Structures
53
Mel's Mix, Essential for Square Foot Gardening Success ... 87
How to Plant Your All New Square Foot Garden
107
Growing and Harvesting
131
Vertical Gardening
145
Extending the Seasons
165
Special Gardens & Gardeners
179
Appendix
188
i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i i I i i
^Why write an updated version of the best selling gardening book
of all time? The old saying goes, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Well, Square Foot Garden isn't broken, but the
all new
model is
so superior, so much simpler, and so improved that you can now
forget all about the original book and the original Square Foot
Gardening method!
What's so new about the
All New Square Foot Gardening
book?
The original can be considered the Model T of Square Foot
Gardening. This new one . . . like the latest Cadillac! They are both
cars and they both move down the road . . . but—oh boy—what a
difference!
In this expanded and revised book on Square Foot Gardening,
you too can learn, as millions of others already have, how to become
a successful gardener the simple and painless way. This easy-to-
understand method will revolutionize the way you think about
gardening; and the new ideas found in this revised edition will awe
and inspire you as I share insights on how the Square Foot Gardening
method can, and is, changing the world.
For Experts Only
A reporter once asked me if I thought I had invented "gardening
for dummies," referring, of course, to the popular Square Foot
Gardening method I developed in 1976. "No," I answered.
Actually, when I invented the Square Foot Gardening (SFG)
method, I thought it would be for expert gardeners. My method was
very precise and detailed, yet very simple and easy to understand,
and it provided all the conditions necessary for successfully growing
a broad variety of plants in a very different way. It also eliminated
all of the wasteful, inefficient practices of traditional single-row
gardening. I thought the experts would shout "Eureka!" and
immediately bless all of the new ideas and advantages of this new
home gardening method.
Beginners Understood
As it turned out, the experts never understood this unique method.
Apparently it was too simple and easy. But the beginning gardener,
10
ALL NEW SQUARE FOOT GARDENING
and those discouraged by previous failed attempts, understood it
completely. They immediately saw the simplicity of SFG. The begin-
ner's instant response was "I can do this!" while the experts continued
to question every aspect of this revolutionary gardening method.
They just couldn't admit that home gardening could be that easy.
Two Hours or Two Weeks
In my lectures, I like to reassure audiences that if they are new at
gardening, or perhaps afraid or overwhelmed by the idea of starting
a garden, they will be able to learn this simple method of gardening
in just an hour or two. However, if they are already "expert"
gardeners, it will probably take them about two weeks! After the
laughter dies down, I remind my audience that beginners readily
accept the minimal amount of technical information needed to
become successful gardeners because they want to know how to
successfully garden.
The "experts," on the other hand, are so entrenched with the idea
of single-row gardening as used in farming, with all of its wasteful
methods, that they just can't see it any other way. You might say,
"They are stuck in a rut." As a result, I've learned to leave the experts
alone and concentrate on the beginner, or the tried-but-failed,
gardener, and even the afraid-to-start person.
SFG appeals to other large groups of would-be gardeners. Years
ago, I read some very interesting statistics (and I'm sure the percent-
ages are similar today) about these gardeners.
75 Million vs. 10 Million
Every year there are about 15 million people who:
• would like to begin gardening.
•
tried the traditional single-row gardening method, but failed.
•
don't want to begin gardening because they have heard of all
the hard work, time, and cost associated with gardening.
•
are doing single-row gardening but are tired of the hard work,
time, and cost associated with this impractical method.
•
are unable to continue caring for their big single-row gardens.
Combined, that's an estimated
75 million
people ready for a
gardening revolution compared to about 10
million
single-row
gardeners who are content with their method and don't want
to change.
Twenty-Five Years and One Million Books Later
The first book I wrote on SFG in 1981 lasted twenty-five years and
sold over one million copies, becoming the best selling gardening
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]