Home vegetable gardening is easy using the square foot method.

Intensive gardening is practiced in several forms in home vegetable gardening. One method is called square foot gardening and is the invention of Mel Bartholomew, who invented it to grow more crops in less space.

The premise of square foot gardening is to grow crops planted close together, grouped by the square foot. Within each square foot the plants are spaced depending on their mature size.

Vegetables are planted in raised beds that are constructed with wood or masonry sides and are filled with rich garden soil, compost, peat moss and manure. The soil at ground level can be left as is, tilled or turned over to increase the depth of the garden bed.

The beds are worked from the sides and the soil is never walked upon. This is important in all types of intensive gardening. Compacted soil requires the roots of plants to struggle to spread out, while loose, fluffy soil that is never walked upon makes it easier for plants to send their roots out.

Home vegetable gardening using the square foot method takes advantage of succession planting, intercropping and vertical growing methods.

Succession planting is the practice of planting another crop in the space where a crop has just been harvested. No area of the garden is allowed to lay fallow; warm season crops follow cool season crops for continuous use of the available garden real estate.

Intercropping is the practice of growing two or more crops in the space where one would usually be grown. The best example of this practice is the three sisters method, used by Native Americans. Planted in the same bed, pole beans climbed up corn stalks, while squash vines rambled along the ground, providing a living mulch that discouraged weeds and kept the soil evenly moist.

Another practice of square foot gardening is to stagger the planting of specific varieties of vegetables so they come into maturity in stages, rather than all at once. Large crops of vegetables that mature at the same time create a surplus of produce, some of which is inevitably wasted. Staggering the planting of all types of vegetables produces a continuous harvest and very little, if any, goes to waste.

Larger vegetables such as tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and eggplant all require more space than one square foot. They are usually spaced 18 to 24 inches apart. This gives them ample space to grow and produce a mature crop.

Vertical crops are grown on the north side of the garden bed on trellises constructed of PVC pipes and black nylon garden netting. Peas, pole beans, cucumbers, melons, squashes, and tomatoes are planted along the trellis, taking up much less space in the garden than if grown on the ground.

Because crops are planted one square foot at a time, it takes very little time or effort to maintain the garden, including weeding, fertilizing, and planting an additional crop after harvesting another.

To use the square foot method for home vegetable gardening, construct beds that are 4 by 4 feet or 4 by 8 feet. If not against a fence, they can be 4 feet wide by whatever length you desire. Speaking from personal experience, beds longer than 12 feet can tempt the gardener to tip-toe across the bed, rather than walking the length of the bed to get to the other side.

Just sayin’.

Cabbage, beans, petunias and peppers planted intensively.

Intensive gardening has its roots in 16th century France. Market gardeners used the tons of manure, left on the city’s streets by the vast number of workhorses, to improve and fertilize the soil in their garden beds.

The high fertility of their soil enabled them to grow ultra-high-yielding crops, planted close together to maximize the yield even more.

They also buried fresh manure 2 feet beneath the surface, with rich garden soil on top of it. The fresh manure heated up as it decomposed, heating up the soil in the bed above it. This enabled them to extend the gardening year and grow crops out of their normal growing season.

The beds were just a few feet wide so they could be worked from the edges without walking on the soil. Soil that is walked upon becomes compacted and the roots of plants have a harder time growing.

Intensive gardening as practiced by the French market gardeners also used plant protectors to protect young seedlings during early spring, in order to get a jump on the season and harvest an earlier crop.

The most widely used plant protector was a glass, bell-shaped jar, called a “cloche.” They were individually placed over tender young seedlings when freezing weather was expected.

The cloches were removed during the day, as the sun is magnified by the glass and can burn the tender young plants. On cold, sunny days, a small rock is placed under the bottom rim of the cloche to allow air to circulate. It keeps the hot air from building up, but keeps the cold air from damaging the plants. On hotter days, the cloches must be removed completely.

French market gardeners recognized that in order to grow healthy plants that produced a large quantity of vegetables, they needed loose, rich, friable, garden soil. They took advantage of the fertility of their soil by growing plants very close together and extending their gardening year with plant protectors.

We may not have access to tons of manure to make our soil as rich as theirs, but we can amend and improve it using compost, peat moss, perlite and vermiculite. And a wide variety of plant protectors currently on the market has replaced the expensive, cumbersome bell cloches.

One or another of the various methods of intensive gardening can be used successfully by most urban gardeners, especially those with little garden space.

This spring lawn can use a little rejuvenating by overseeding.

Spring is the second-best time—autumn being the first–to either plant a new lawn or rejuvenate your existing one. For those of us in shorter-season areas in the northern latitudes, choosing varieties of grass seed that are suitable for our climate is essential to successfully grow a lush, green lawn. Read on to find out about the four types of lawn grass that are best suited to growing in cool northern climates.

Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) is a fast-growing perennial grass that spreads by underground runners. It is best planted in full sun or light shade. One of the most widely planted cool season grasses, Kentucky bluegrass is rugged and tough enough for sports fields when combined with perennial ryegrass. It requires a lot of water and will go dormant and turn brown during minor summer droughts. Once rainfall or irrigation resumes, Kentucky bluegrass will regrow from its roots if the drought was not prolonged.

Fine fescue (Festuca spp.) is a grass that is well-adapted to shady sites. It blends well with other grasses, particularly bluegrass. Tolerant of low moisture and drought, fine fescue continues to grow when other types of lawn grasses are brown and dormant. Because it also tolerates low soil fertility, it is a good choice for a low-maintenance lawn. Plant fine fescue mixed with Kentucky bluegrass and perennial ryegrass because a pure stand of fine fescue is difficult to mow well.

Tall fescue (Festuca spp.) is a coarse, clump-forming grass with a deep and extensive root system that is excellent for soils with poor drainage or high salt content. It will also perform well in shade and in areas that receive little artificial watering in summer. Tolerant of drought and insects, it stays green all summer in most northern areas. Because the seedlings of tall fescue are less hardy than established tall fescue grass plants, it should only be seeded in spring to early summer. Tall fescue is a fast-germinating grass that quickly becomes established in your lawn.

Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perrene) is a cool season bunch-type of grass that is not tolerant of extreme cold. During severely cold winters with little or no snowcover, perennial ryegrass will often die out. It requires a lot of maintenance to maintain a lush, full lawn of perennial ryegrass. It prefers full sun and will germinate and mature rapidly. Because of this, perennial ryegrass is part of grass seed mixes that include the fescues and Kentucky bluegrass where it functions as a “nurse crop,” crowding out lawn weeds until the other grasses in the mix can germinate and become established. It is also widely used to revamp and overseed existing lawns. Plant perennial ryegrass in your backyard for a tough turf that will withstand children and pets quite well.

All of these types of grass seed are available in a wide range of cultivated and hybridized varieties. Contact your local County Extension Agent for recommendations as to which varieties to plant that will produce the best lawn in your particular micro-climate.

Juniper berries can take up to two years to fully ripen.

Found on every continent except Antarctica, junipers (Juniperus spp.) are a species with over 200 varieties and growth habits ranging from small prostrate shrubs to small trees with a mature height of 10 to 25 feet, depending on growing conditions.

Although they require full sun in order to grow, juniper varieties are suitable for nearly every type of soil condition, from hot and dry to moist. They all have in common the trio of needle-like leaves that are arranged in whorls on their stems. Their dark blue berries ripen slowly, often taking up to two years. It is not uncommon to find berries in various stages of growth on a single specimen. The juniper in the photograph at left, which was taken today, shows dark blue berries that have fully ripened.

They are at their best when allowed to assume their natural growth habit without pruning. The tree varieties form the trademark juniper pyramidal shape. Prostrate juniper forms a thick mat that can grow three feet high. The trunk of juniper trees is often twisted and contorted.

Junipers grow slowly and rarely survive forest fires. However, it is not uncommon for a juniper tree to live up to 2000 years if it escapes drought, disease, predators and fires.

Historically, juniper has been used medicinally for digestion problems and as an antiseptic. Its leaves were burned in French hospitals to purify the air. During the flu pandemic of 1918, juniper oil was misted into hospital wards to prevent the spread of the flu virus, with a considerable amount of success.

The astringent berries are used in cooking, primarily in southern Europe, and have an affinity to lamb and mutton. Of course, the most widely-known use of juniper berries is as a seasoning for gin.

Prepare soil in fall for spring Victory Gardens.

On this Veteran’s Day, think back to the Victory Gardens planted all over the United States during World War II. Gardeners and non-gardeners alike dug up their front yards and planted vegetables. By planting and growing their own vegetables, Americans were able to provide more fresh fruits and vegetables to the troops overseas.

The idea of saving money by growing some of your own produce has again become popular, thanks to the economy. And while most people aren’t digging up their front yards like their World War II era grandparents did, many are digging up a plot in their backyards and planting vegetables.

Fall is the time to dig up and prepare the ground for planting garden vegetables next spring. It’s also the best time to add soil amendments to your garden plot. Many additives, such as potassium and potash in the form of lime or sulfur are not immediately available for the plants to use. Adding them to the soil in autumn gives the soil time to incorporate them and change the composition of the soil. Seeds and transplants sown the following spring can immediately benefit from the soil improvements made the previous fall.

Contact your local County Agricultural Extension Office and request a kit to take soil samples. Follow the instructions and send in soil samples from different areas of your yard or garden. The Extension Office will test your soil and send you a report with the results. They will also offer recommendations for amendments that your soil needs to produce optimum growth of garden fruits and vegetables.

When adding the recommended amounts of potassium or sulfur to correct the pH of your soil, incorporate organic matter to improve the texture of your soil.

Add as much compost as you can get your hands on. Buy large bales of peat moss at the garden center. Incorporate one cubic yard of peat moss for every 50 to 100 square feet of garden bed.

Finally, plant a cover crop of clover or winter rye. Leave it until very early spring and then incorporate it into the soil with a rototiller or by turning the soil over with a garden spade. The remains of the cover crop will add more organic matter to your soil as it breaks down. By the time you’re ready to plant in mid to late spring, the cover crop will have turned into organic compost in your vegetable garden.

A self-seeded sunflower.

Sunflowers are native to the Americas and have been cultivated for over 4,000 years. They were a major food source for the indigenous population and were even used medicinally.

Botanically called Helianthus from the Greek helios, meaning sun and anthus, meaning flower, sunflowers were adopted as a major crop by the Russians. Sunflower oil stays liquid at lower temperatures than animal fats, which was advantageous in their cold climate.

Victorians fell madly for sunflowers and used their likeness in art and architecture. Early American pioneers pounded the stalks to extract the fibers. The stalks were also used as kindling and the seedless hulls were compressed into fire logs.

Plant sunflowers in mid spring about 1 to 2 weeks before the date of your average last frost. They need full sun and aren’t overly fussy about soil fertility, although they benefit from a side dressing of compost.

Thin the seedlings so the plants stand 12 to 18 inches apart, depending on the size of the variety at maturity. Many varieties will first produce a large basal flower and then branch out to produce many smaller blooms after the basal flower is cut. Some varieties naturally branch out, producing many smaller flowers.

Hybridizers have been busy and sunflowers now come in a wide variety of sizes and many colors in the yellow/gold/orange/rust family. They are spectacular planted in various heights and colors as a theme garden.

Sunflowers reseed themselves prolifically and will come up every year, even if you don’t want them to. It goes without saying that small wildlife, such as birds and squirrels, find them irresistible.

If you want to harvest the seeds for snacks or for planting next year, cover the flowers with a paper lunch bag when the seeds begin to ripen. Otherwise the local livestock will completely devour your sunflower crop.

The blooms of sunflowers turn to follow the path of the sun, beginning in the east in the morning and continuing throughout the day. They are one of the few flowers that follow this peculiar practice.

By all means cut them and use them in bouquets. Their bright, cheery colors look good in any decor.