Square foot gardening facts for kids
Square foot gardening is a special way of gardening that was made popular by a person named Mel Bartholomew. This method is based on a simple idea: the wide rows used in traditional gardening often waste time, effort, water, and space. Square foot gardening shows that you can grow great vegetables in a smaller area with less work.
In this method, your garden space is divided into "beds." Each bed is usually 4 feet by 4 feet (which is 16 square feet, or about 120 cm by 120 cm). Paths separate these beds. Inside each bed, the space is further divided into smaller squares, each about one square foot.
You plant different numbers of plants in each square, depending on how big the plant will get:
- One plant per square for larger plants like broccoli and basil.
- Four plants per square for medium-large plants like lettuce.
- Nine plants per square for medium-small plants like spinach.
- Sixteen plants per square for small plants such as onions and carrots.
You remove weeds from the beds and water the plants from the pathways. This helps keep the soil loose and stops it from getting too packed down.
Contents
Why Square Foot Gardening Is Great
Less Work for Gardeners
- Normal gardening often needs heavy tools to loosen the soil. With square foot gardening, the soil stays loose because you never walk on the beds.
- Weeding takes much less time because the plants grow close together.
Saving Water
- The loose soil in these gardens holds water better. This means you don't need to water your garden as often as with other methods.
- Water is placed very close to the plant roots, so less water is wasted.
Fewer Weeds
- The vegetables grow close together and create a "living mulch" (a cover over the soil). This shades out many weeds, stopping them from growing easily.
No Need for Harmful Sprays
- You usually don't need pesticides or herbicides (chemicals to kill pests or weeds).
- Natural ways to keep insects away, like companion planting, work very well in a small space. For example, planting marigolds can help repel pests.
- Having many different types of plants in a small area also helps stop plant diseases from spreading quickly.
See also
In Spanish: Huerta a cuadros para niños
