All New Square Foot Gardening [Paperback]

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Cool Springs Press (February 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591862027
• ISBN-13: 978-1591862024
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 7 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  

 

All New Square Foot Gardening [Paperback]

 

Customer Reviews

By a happy accident, I stumbled upon the 1982 copy of Square Foot Gardening. I was very pleased with his concept. However, having a full acre but not a tiller, I was even more pleased when I came across his All New Square Foot Gardening. "What an ingenious method!" thought I. No $50 fee for a tiller and borrowing a truck and all that mess! That's until I tried to actually put it into practice. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic concept, and it works very well and you should get this book if you want to garden smarter not harder, but there are a few hiccups I wanted other readers to know about before they got started.
For those of you who have not perused the book or are familiar with the new method, I'll sum it up for you: you build these four by four boxes--no tilling required--cover the bottom with weed blocker material, and then fill it with a particular mix that Mel says works like a dream. The boxes are easy, the method is brilliant, but the mix was a different story. 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 vermiculite, agricultural gauge, which means chunky bits of vermiculite, not fine.
Everything was going smoothly until we tried to find vermiculite. We checked all the Home Depot type megastores, the little stores, gardening supply, everything he says to do in the book, to no avail. When we did find it at a pool supply company, we were informed we would have to pay $125 shipping to get it here from Atlanta. Online did not prove much better because we are growing a garden to save money, not spend more.
Finally, we had to settle for the fine stuff from a pool supply company which was pretty fine grade, but made the most luxurious and easy to work with soil I have ever seen. It was worth the search, but here's the problem I had:
Now Mel addresses the vermiculite availbility on his website, saying that it is now available in Utah, with no shipping. Utah, huh? No problem! Except we live in Memphis. When we wrote the website explaining our trouble finding it at a reasonable cost, we did get a quick reply (to all our questions, btw) and they sent us a pre-formatted response telling us to check at the home supply mega-stores because he's never found one that didn't carry it. My question is if it's everywhere then why have the pre-formatted response? And when he addresses finding a substitute, says that yes, you can substitute perlite (which is much easier to find) but he says don't do it because it makes him sneeze, it doesn't hold moisture as well as vermiculite, and he doesn't like the way that it feels or how it makes the garden look.
Well. Aren't we a just a bit Martha. Lemme just write that check for $185 to the pool supply with the agricultural grade.
So that being said, why did I give it five stars? Because other than finding the vermiculite--which we finally did in fine grade for $28 for four boxes--I've rarely seen a more reader-friendly book! It comes complete with layout pages, very consise planting guides, even planting time tables for your area and the amount of time you can store your seeds! If you have never gardened before or started a garden that eventually left you frustrated, then this is the book for you! I just think that you should check your area for agricultural grade vermiculite before you buy the book. But once that little snafu is over, you are going to be amazed at how brilliant and easy this book makes successful gardening.
I highly recommend this method for busy people and parents like myself. It is wonderfully easy to maintain, makes loads of produce, and looks very attractive. Two green thumbs way, way up.
To see my boxes and my experience with the All New Square Foot Gardening method, check out my frugal/tipping blog at http://moness.typepad.com.

I rarely buy books, to be honest--it's a matter of money + space - great library = few purchases. However, I have bought several copies of this book because this method is superb: it's neat, it's clean, it's extremely--and I mean extremely--easy to manage. This is--by far--the easiest, best-laid out, user-friendly books I have EVER seen, complete with charts, pictures of each step--you name it. And personally, as a frugalholic, I love a book where someone who doesn't have to worry about cost remembers that other people do--Mel writes this for the frugal at heart complete with LOTS of money-saving tips! This book is SO thoughtful it even carries a plan for rooftop gardening and handicap accessibility! It is well worth your money even if you choose another method like lasanga or traditional rows (but why? My goodness--never again!)
It calls for you to--basically--container garden in a four by four foot space and unlike the original square foot method, you do NOT have to til.
Repeat: no tilling. That should cause you to one-click right there. You use a specially made soil called "Mel's Mix". Wonderful stuff. It calls for 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 agricultural grade vermiculite in these very easy to construct 4 x 4 boxes, which are easy to cover, protect, and even make into mini-greenhouses if the need arrises.
The one little caution I want to give is please be aware that the vermiculite is not as easy to find as the author seems to think it is and check in your area before making any real plans. I wound up buying a fine grade from a pool supply company, and then after the fact was informed by an older gardener that I should have looked at the co-op. Start there first, and make sure you always ask if it's agricultural grade. The fine works great for us, but the large pieces will break down over time and work at greater efficiency longer. And remember, you're looking for 40 pound bags, not the little $3 numbers at the home improvement store--that will break the bank before you get the first plant in and the author--again to his credit--recommends avoiding this costly route.
Be sure and stop by the website, squarefootgardening.com for a great in-depth view of the method--it's a great site and includes a gardening plan for home-schooled children. Mel is a friendly author and one truly gets the impression that he is doing this because he loves it and the advantages this type of gardening can give the average joe (who usually has planting fever in the spring and burns out by the summer) and not because it sells gardening books. You would be well-advised to purchase this book--it'll change your view of gardening forever--in a good way.
I have recieved several questions on my blog about purchasing this book, all of which are answered at moness.blogspot.com, all of which were posted in March of 2006, and I include our progress as well. One of which is no--don't buy the old book at a cheaper price. They are apples and oranges, and after having read both, this is far and away the best way to go.
Did I mention no tilling?

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