Square Foot Gardening

I started building the frames for my raised-bed square foot garden.  www.squarefootgardening.com

I got the idea from Mel's website and what sets it apart from other raised beds is his particular formula for the soil.  1/3 parts compost, vermiculite, and peat moss.  He has experimented and claims that only 6 inches of soil are needed to grow most plants.

I made three 4x4 frames out of 2x10s.  I used untreated pine and stained them a nice brown color (the gallon pail was on sale at Lowes for $10 (normally $30).  No pics yet - the kiddos broke my camera- so it might be a while before I have photos on my site again. :)

I am getting the vermiculite and peat moss from a garden center, the compost (I don't have any) from the city compost.  I have 16 square feet per box and three boxes.  That's 48 plants!  If this goes well this summer, I'll add more frames next year.

Also, I purchased the mini-greenhouse peat moss kit from Lowes to start my seeds.  For most of Texas and the South, now is the time to get the seeds sprouted and the garden prepped.  Seedlings will be ready to go into the ground in about 3 weeks.  The little peat moss containers are handy.  I know I can make them myself out of newspaper too.