September Gardens

OK Guys, it's time to start getting ready for fall gardening. Plan out your garden and buy your supplies, because September is the perfect month to start planting (in Arizona anyway!).

Here's what to do:

1) Build your box: 4' wide by as long as you want. Just make sure you can walk on all sides of your garden!
2) Fill it with the perfect soil mixture: 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss.
3) Divide it into 1' x 1' squares.
4) Plan out what you want to plant. Each square can grow something different.



Remember:
-Pick a flat area for your garden that gets at least 8 hours of daily sunshine.
-If you choose vegetables that need a trellis (peas, tomatoes, etc.), place them together on an outside row of your foot-by-foot garden.

And now, everything you need to know about September gardening:

September
Rainfall...
Average: 0.66 inches
Record: 5.5 inches (1939)

Temperature (degrees F)...
Average High: 98.3 degrees
Lowest High: 66 degrees (1895)
Record High: 116 degrees (1950)
Average Low: 72.8 degrees
Highest Low: 90 degrees (1982, 1983)
Record Low: 47 degrees (1895, 1965)

Vegetables...
Plant seeds: Snap Beans, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collard Greens, Cucumbers, Endive, Kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce (Head & Leaf), Leeks, Mustard, Green Onions, Peas, Radishes, Spinach, Turnips
Plant Transplants: Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Lettuce (Head & Leaf)

Stay tuned for information on how many of each vegetable to plant in each square!

***note from Jill:

The soil comes in big bags and can be expensive if you are planting a small garden, because you won't use it all. (I have 2' x 2' boxes I got from someone" The nursery on Baseline just west of Lindsay (I think it's A&P Nursery) has a pre-mixed bag of soil that has the exact mixture as above. It is the square foot gardening mix. Also, if you can't make your own box (which is the cheapest way) You can buy a square foot gardening set up at this same nursery.

--shout out to Amber for hooking us up with this info, I'm pretty stoked about it.

Why a Square-Foot Garden?

Before I post all about the hows and whats of square-foot gardening, I thought I would tell you why I LOVE this gardening method:

-Requires very little space; 80% less than conventional gardening.
-Can be done in as little as 4 feet by 4 feet, — or as large as you want.
-Your existing (bad) soil doesn’t matter because we don’t use it. Start with an ideal soil mix that is weed-free and requires no tilling.
-Uses much less water; only about 20% compared to conventional gardening.
-No fertilizers or pesticides to handle — it’s all natural!
-The planting method requires no thinning and very few seeds.
-All the hard work has been removed in the Square Foot method – only the enjoyable part remains.
-Can be started in any season.
-Produces 5 times the harvest of a conventional garden.
-Can be done by those with physical or mental limitations. If getting down is a problem, raise the boxes to a higher level.
-Makes a great family project, all ages can participate - kids love to garden.
-No Weeding! No Thinning! No Heavy Digging

Square-foot gardening really is SO easy! If you want to know EVERYTHING about square-foot gardening, go buy the book Square-foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. Otherwise stay tuned and I will get you started with the basics!

Amber- Contributor

Hi Everyone- I'm Amber. I don't know a lot about "going natural" yet, but I am definitely excited to learn. What I do know is Gardening- and I absolutely L.O.V.E. it! Just thinking about what to plant next in my garden gives me a little rush of adrenaline... dorky, I know.

Things you should know about me:

-Much to the dismay of my husband, I wear a T shirt and jeans just about everyday.

-I have 3 kids. I am a SAH Mom.

-I love to read almost as much as I love to garden. My favorite book today is The Host.

-Dr. Pepper runs through my veins.

-I graduated from BYU in 2006.

-After reading The China Study two years ago, I try and cook only vegetarian meals.

-I am an entrepreneur. I have started 8 businesses in the past 6 years.

-My favorite show is The Biggest Loser.

-Someday I want to move to Colorado. Arizona is way to dang HOT!

I can't wait to teach you what I know about Gardening!