Square Foot Garden

This is the season that I pay attention to my gardens.  Roses from a few years back are now on autopilot with no plans for additions.  My focus has shifted to plants for my kitchen.  These will be a combination of vegetables and culinary herbs, planted in square foot format in the back yard or containers near my front door.  Spearmint has revived from last year.  New container herbs planted, some sprouting.  Aerogarden revived with some painstaking cleaning of the plastic tubes, new soil, and cleaning the hydroponic tub beneath.  First germination on its way.

I spent some time looking at square foot gardening options on the internet, though my familiarity goes back a ways to the original paperback and the show with its somewhat kooky host.  completely outlined all 32 squares in the two 4x4 foot beds, purchased the seeds I will need, the tomatoes and rosemary that I have never been able to grow by seed, and planted the near bed over the last couple of days.  Major rains headed our way so I'll let nature provide the hydration for now.  Each bed has weed block which I find mostly positive, though it really prevents me from including root vegetables in the garden.  Weed control has been a more troublesome task.  I've never made much effort at pest control.  Insects can be examined and sprayed.  Birds and mammals have been more difficult to address though they did not seem to harm my cucumbers or bush beans last year.  protective wiring seems more of a bother than I would like to undertake.

So far, off to a good start.