Spring planting will soon be at hand…no, really it will!! You want to grow so many
things…lettuce, and tomatoes, and cucumbers, and beans, and peas, and broccoli, and peppers,
and onions, and kale, and parsley. Oh yeah, PEAS! Must have peas! How will you fit that in your
8’x3’ BCG bed? Will your tomatoes take over and shadow out everything else? Will your lettuce
be calling for help from under the zucchini? Could be.
Enter Square Foot Gardening! This system was developed for maximizing your productivity in a
small raised garden. At its very basic level it is a system that divides your bed into 1’x1’ squares
(for a total of 24 in your 8’x3’ bed) and assigns a number of plants per square foot to each
different crop plant you want to plant. It helps to know just how much you can put in a small
garden so as not to overcrowd it so here are the guidelines for each plant:
Keep these guidelines in mind when you are planning what you want to grow so that you get
the most out of your garden this year. There are good resources on the internet for learning
more about square foot gardening, such as https://gardenerspath.com/how-to/design/guide-to-square-foot-gardening/.
Looking forward to a productive garden year!