Lesson 1: Square Foot Gardening Concepts
Mel Bartholomew developed the square foot gardening method in direct reaction to watching how Americans garden. He analyzed problems and found a way to solve all of those problems.
Objectives:
• Introduce students to the reasons behind developing square foot gardens.
• Motivate students to look at their own gardening practices and results and determine if the square foot gardening would benefit them.
• Introduce the basic principles behind the square foot method of gardening.
Why was Square Foot Gardening Developed?
Reading assignment: Square Foot Gardening, Chapters 1, 2
Mel Bartholomew developed the square foot gardening method after studying how Americans garden. He managed a community garden where gardeners began the season with high expectations. It was noted that by the second weekend, people were finding excuses to not work in the garden. Some were intelligent enough to give their individual plots back to the community garden so they could be assigned to those people still on the waiting list. Others simply stopped showing up.
Virtually every gardener started out eager to hoe the garden, plant seeds, and pull weeds. After the initial planting of the garden, it became difficult to find time to cart bottles of water to the plants and to pull the weeds growing between rows or in the row itself. Each week that went by resulted in tougher weeds that needed pulling because they had been allowed to grow good root systems. After a few short weeks, most of the garden plots were totally overrun with weeds. It was difficult to find and harvest the crops that managed to survive this weedy disaster.
Most gardeners planted the entire packet of seed for every vegetable, herb, or flower that they used in their garden. These seeds were spread out over the entire row and were planted thickly or thinly depending on the number of seeds in the packet. In most instances, plants had to be thinned after the seeds germinated. If the plants were not thinned, the resulting plants were scrawny looking because they lacked adequate growing room. The thinning process itself often meant root disturbance for the remaining plants. If the gardener persisted and kept their plants thinned to the recommended distance between plants, the gardener wound up with way too much produce for their needs and were faced with finding a way to get rid of the extra before it spoiled.
Many gardeners simply disappeared by the season’s end. Bartholomew noted that only 5% of the gardeners actually continued to garden the entire season. After observing private gardens, he discovered these problems held true for home gardeners too, not just those participating in community gardens. Something was basically wrong with how Americans gardened.
Research revealed the root of the gardening problem in America. Home gardeners are taught to raise crops the same way commercial farmers do. Since farmers used animals and later, powered equipment such as tractors, combines and other mechanical devices, to handle their crops, the crop needed to be planted in straight rows, with wide paths between the rows, to accommodate these vehicles. This method simply doesn’t apply to the average home gardener.
Why do home gardeners use the same methods followed by commercial farmers? This is what everyone has been taught. It is simply the way things have always been done. The university extension agents teach this method to their clients because this is the method learned in university courses. Of course, universities cater to the needs of commercial farmers rather than individual homeowners.
Mel Bartholomew combined his knowledge of engineering, his background in writing about gardening, and the common problems facing every homeowner and developed the “square foot” garden method. For the first time in United States history, individual homeowners have a garden method developed just for them.
Gardening the square foot way will permit you to have an attractive garden with less expense, and 20% of the land and labor. Truly, gardening can be an enjoyable hobby for people.
