All New Square Foot Gardening | Mel Bartholomew | I really LOVE this book

All New Square Foot Gardening | Mel Bartholomew | Excellent Book - What a Great Idea!

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All New Square Foo...

	All New Square Foot Gardening Mel Bartholomew Cool Springs Press, 2006 - 272 pages average customer review:based on 126 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I really LOVE this book - a great guide for the horticulturally challenged

I love this book so much that I went from checking it out at the library just to see what it was all about (because I was skeptical about my ability to handle even gardening labeled "easy"), to checking out both the new and previous editions, to renewing both books until I could renew them no more, to finally buying a copy of each one for my permanent collection. The All-New SFG book simplifies many of the steps featured in the original, esp. when it comes to preparing the garden for planting. The original version goes a little more into the philosophical aspects of SFG'ing and features I think a slightly more extensive section on planting certain varieties of veggies, herbs, and flowers. I've built one box to start with this year, planted the first group of items on June first, and finally planted the last of my summer crop seeds today -- at first, it didn't seem like 16 squares was going to be enough, but it turns out I had trouble deciding what to finish it out with. Although we've had a significant drought here in southwest Ohio this year, with a little extra watering and a heavy application of mulch, I've only suffered one or two minor casualties -- everything else is growing quickly and orderly and true to his words, I've had to do ZERO weeding in the first 3+ weeks of SFG'ing. I will say Mel doesn't go into pest control very much, and I've had to take the initiative to start periodically treating my plants due to the abundance of pests in this area. (I went with an organic pesticide -- Earth Tone -- because my kids are doing a lot of hands-on helping in the SFG, but you could also use periodic treatments of Sevin with good result, as long as you abide by the number of recommended days between spraying and harvesting, and wash thoroughly.) My two boys -- 8 and 2 -- LOVE helping me with this garden, and thanks to the size, there's just enough to do to keep them interested then it's on to the next activity. I have, by far, had my best experience with gardening based on this book and the SFG method -- and it's not eating up all of my free time (of which I have very little) with the chores, etc. that go into a larger, traditional garden. I'm really excited to look forward to harvesting my first crops and planting my squares again for a fall crop and even some winter items. I strongly recommend this book!

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Excellent Book - What a Great Idea!

I've always wanted a garden but hesistated because of the amount of work involved in preparing the ground, and the ugly chore of weeding. This book gives me my garden without those costly hassles! Excellent book!

Smart gardening

I found this book to be well-written with practical information for people who love to do gardening but have limited time and space for a traditional garden. Mr. Bartholomew did very well in his presentation of the history of square foot gardening, and of how to develop one for yourself. The photos were good aids on the how-to of the different projects. The additional information about plants, planting schedules, and the glossary in the appendix was appreciated. I was surprised at what can be grown using this system. I would recommend this for amateur and seasoned gardeners.

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All New Square Foot Gardening

This is an amazing book and well worth the reading time. It has given me confidence in a new-found hobby....gardening. The charts and explanations are the best.

Ready to get started

The book is informative and easy to follow. I have not started my garden but I have aquired the materials for the boxes and I have scouted out the soil components. One complaint I have read in other reviews was the vermilicite was hard to find. Home Depot carries the big bags of it here locally so that was not an issue.

reviews: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, page 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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