Our Organic Square Foot Garden

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I have wanted to do a garden for years. Each Spring I say I am going to do it and then I never prepare.

For 8+ years my Dad did an awesome garden. He always grew tons of squash, okra, zucchini, cherry and grape tomatoes, peppers, you name it. He has a green thumb indeed.

But the last two years he has not done the garden. It is a lot of work and I know that. I saw the time and money he invested every year. This year I bought my seeds and started a bit late– mid-June. I wanted my kids to be a part of the grow-what-we-eat-experience. I love the idea of being thrifty and growing our own vegetables. Plus, the kids have been begging to grow something.

Lenny and I decided a raised bed/square foot garden would be best.

Lenny built this in our backyard and we filled it with organic soil.

I wanted to start everything in these garden starter kits first.

They are biodegradable and you just plant them right into the ground once the growth has started.

You add the soil to the containers and then soak it.

You add enough water to fully drench the biodegradable containers.

The kids helped me add the seeds to each container.

We did a row of each veggie.

We put the seeds in each hole and then covered the seeds back up with the muddy mushy dirt.

I also used popsicle sticks labeled accordingly.

Then, you pop the clear lid on the container and place it in a warm spot and leave it be until you see things starting to sprout.

It took well over a week before there was any growth.

After 7-10 days I started to see things sprout.   At this point I took the lids off and left them off.

This is what the plants looked like at 10 days:

The squash, zucchini and watermelon were the first to sprout.

At 26 days this is what they look like and they are ready to be moved and planted into the ground.

Here is the squash and zucchini.

Here are the cucumbers.

Here are the carrots.

Here is cantaloupe and banana peppers.

Here is the basil.

And radishes.

Tomatoes.

Lettuce.

It looks sad and not capable of a salad….

The red-tip lettuce did not even sprout.

This is labeled pumpkin, but Lenny and I  think it is squash and zucchini.

The kids were helping me when I planted and I know some things got mixed up. We will see once there is a veggie on the vine.

We are excited to watch our garden grow and then enjoy it at our table.

There are some seeds that never sprouted… we still have hope.

I do have some okra seeds to plant which Lenny found after lots of searching. I hear okra grows like a wild fire.

Have you done a garden this year?