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The Seeds Have Been Planted...

Before doing anything, I had to visualize my garden. I'm normally a big-time planner but this time my excitement won and I started planting with a lot less planning than I usually do.  Next year I'll do better on that front. In my initial plans, I used a 2x7 box because I forgot it was a 4x7 box so there are only two rows of seeds initially.

The first row (left to right): Thyme, Lettuce, Broccoli, Beets, Summer Squash, Pumpkin, Summer Squash
Second row (left to right): Oregano, Pepper, Spinach, Lettuce, Broccoli, Spinach, Chives

See my picture for a rudimentary drawing of the boxes.  Most are filled with seeds that required you to have 12'' or more space between them.  I tried to denote boxes where I could fit more than one seed into a square foot space by dotted lines.  I have to say, Square Foot Gardening (SFG) made it so easy to figure out how and where to plant all of the seeds I had.  For example the spinach packet said to thin seedlings to 4'' apart.  Instead of planting a whole mess of seeds and then having to cut out some of the seedlings to allow the 'strongest' to survive, I only had to plant a pinch of seeds 4'' apart. Continue for more pictures of seed soaking and planting.

A few days later, I conducted an experiment and buried a few garlic cloves in the garden.  Crazy, I know, since most people will tell you to plant garlic in October to harvest them in July.  I couldn't resist because we've been getting these amazing heads of garlic from the Honey Brook Organic Farm and I just had to try putting some in the ground! Here's anothing thing I should have read more about before forging ahead.  I removed the cloves from their skins, soaked them in rubbing alcohol, and the shoved them in the garden.  Looking back, I probably should have kept the skins on.

S. S.

7:31 am on Thursday, July 19, 2012

I wonder if there's enough room in the boxes for the plants, once they are full-size.

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Stephanie Kong

9:25 pm on Thursday, July 19, 2012

I believe/hope they should. (explanation to follow - which hopefully isn't too incorrect) In the traditional method, you plant a lot of seeds and then thin them to, for example, 12 inches when they sprout according to the package. This means you're removing seeds that have sprouted to allow the strongest to get the most nutrients. With SFG you plant a pinch or two of seeds already spaced out to 12 inches. So that means the plants should already be spaced out to allow them to grow to full size without me having to do much!

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