Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Square Foot Advantages:
Chemical Free:
Because of the nature of this intensive gardening system, there is little or no chemicals in-
volved either with the fertilization methods, or the pest control methods employed. Both are
organic in nature and the planting rotation is done in such a way as to avoid the use of arti-
ficial stimulants or chemical sprays.
CompanionplantingmethodsareemployedtoalargeextentinaSquareFootGarden,toen-
sure that each plant gets the 'best of all worlds' when it comes to growing conditions. This
means that plants are grown together for mutual benefit, to control pests and to ensure prop-
er nutrition and excellent quality produce free of chemical contamination.
Convenient:
As mentioned earlier, this method requires such a small space (4 foot x 4 foot) that it opens
upthepossibilities foralmost anyonetoconsider growingtheir ownveg.Evenifyoulive in
a city apartment and do not have any garden ground, there is the possibility to erect a SFG
on the roof perhaps, or maybe even to join with a local authority gardening scheme - or cre-
ate one if it does not already exist!
People who have busy work schedules can also find this way convenient in that it is much
easier and less time consuming than traditional gardening methods. Weeding is reduced to a
minimum as you are not using soil contaminated by weed seeds, and even when they finally
raise their heads they are easily pulled out because the growing medium is not packed hard
by footsteps.
Economical:
Especially relevant forthose already involved ingrowingtheir ownvegetables -aSFGsys-
tem means that you are no longer growing heaps of veggies that end up in the compost heap
because you cannot consume them fast enough! This is often the lamentable situation with
regards to conventional gardening, where rows of vegetables are grown all at once; leading
to wastage and a lot of hard work for nothing.
Included in this “wastage” must be not only be the expense of the seedlings or seeds, but
alsothecostinvolvedincompost,fertilizer,pestcontrol,weedingandmaintenance-wheth-
er organic in nature or not.
With SFG, the vegetables are grown in an intensive yet rotational manner which is aimed at
providing a
reasonable amount
ofthe 'green stuff'right at the time whenyoucan appreci-
ate it most and put it to best use. This avoids needless waste - though it does mean that the
compost heap may grow hungry!
