How to grow peas without a trellis

By Jennifer

Pea plants want to climb and produce best when their tendrils have something to grasp. This often involves the man-made creation of a frame, such as the simple method of stakes at the end of a garden row with lines of string running horizontally between them.

Sure, that works, but guess what? You won’t need any structure at all if you plant your peas close together in blocks instead of rows. 

Think of the phrase “standing room only,” which describes an event so packed with people that there is no room to sit. If you invite enough peas to your party they will latch onto each other as they grow upward. Even the plants at the edges will be connected to the group and not fall to the ground where blossoms and pods are more susceptible to rot and pests.

I space my peas two inches apart and planted an entire 4x8-feet garden box this way this season. (That’s a lot of peas!) Far from crowding each other out, the peas grow strong. There’s no room for weeds.  You don’t need to devote an area the scale of mine –- try planting peas in a grid of 4 seeds by 4 seeds (16 seeds in a square foot). I learned of this spacing from Mel Bartholomew’s square-foot garden approach. Although I don’t have the same soil makeup he recommends, I have had great success growing peas this way.

Also, it’s not too late in the season to plant peas –- if you choose the right kind. I recommend the seed variety Lincoln, which can withstand high temperatures. These plants keep forming blossoms well into the 100-degree days of July. Then you can plant another crop at the end of summer for a fall harvest.

Everyone a Farmer

Uncle Dale teaches a course at the University of Maryland titled Farm Management & Sustainable Food Production. He stresses that everyone can be a farmer through backyard farming. One of his students took this to heart and developed an new innovative product. 

It's called a Nourishmat and according to the University of Maryland's College of Agriculture & Natural Resources website it is a "6 feet by 4 feet polypropylene mat with pre-cut holes, labels and a grid telling would-be gardeners exactly what, where, and how far apart to plant. The UV treated polypropylene cuts down on weeds and is outfitted with a drip irrigation system that works by simply plugging in a hose."

You can read more about the ingenious Nourishmat at http://www.nourishmatbeta.com/.

Hip To Be Square

By Michael

In my previous article I discussed single row gardening and discussed the pros and cons of the method. This article will do the same for square foot gardening.

We have talked about square foot gardening in past articles by Jennifer and Megan. Marisa and I used the square foot gardening method for part of our garden on our last property. We liked it a lot and had a lot of success with it.

It seems to me that square foot gardening is the cool kid of the gardening methods. If he and single row gardening were in the lunchroom together, you would see him in a leather jacket with sunglasses surrounded by cheerleaders while single row sat in the corner doing his science homework. Right now, square foot gardening is just sexy.

Square foot gardening was made popular by Mel Bartholomew. A square foot garden is a raised bed method in which a small square area is used for a garden. The square is broken into a grid with plants planted in each grid. It is recommended that you plant different plants within each grid so you get a variety of produce in one plot.

Advantages of Square Foot Gardening

• Square foot gardening will normally give you a better yield for the area you are using. This makes it better for those with limited space.
• Weeds are easier to control since plants are compact and close together. Weeds get crowded out.
• Raised bed method means it is easier to access plants for those that have problems bending over or kneeling down.
• Compact areas with lots of plants tend to keep moisture in the soil better so water is used efficiently.

Disadvantages of Square Foot Gardening

• The recommended soil mix that is suggested is very expensive. We did 3 4x4 boxes last year and it cost about $100 to fill them with Mel Bartholomew's recommended mix.
• If you live in a windy area, large plants like corn and tomatoes will blow over easily even when staked (based on our personal experience). Megan had the same problem as us.
• Since plants are so close together, there can be less air circulation which can cause issues with mildew or disease that you might not have from other planting methods.

If you are interested in this method you can check out Mel Bartholomew's book All New Square Foot Gardening. You can probably get it at most libraries.

What are some of the pros and cons that I missed about square foot gardening? Share them with us in the comments to educate us on your experiences.

Megan's Square Foot Garden: Gone With the Wind

We too had a huge wind storm that did a lot of damage. You can see our ordeal in this video below.

I felt so depressed when I witnessed the damage one night of storms could do and how our many of our hopes for our little garden had been dashed. And I couldn't help but think of people who completely rely on their farms/crops for sustenance. I don't know what they did when that happened. Turned to what they had stored/ asked neighbors for help?

Bibbidi, bobbidi, boo!

What a difference two weeks makes!

Here are our pumpkins two weeks ago:

And here they are now:

Megan's Square Foot Garden - 6 week update

Everything is coming along really well - especially the basil, corn & pumpkins.  I haven't had to pull one weed and I've yet to fertilize.  What an easy way to garden, I'd say!  Here's a comparison of how it looked six weeks ago and today:

Megan's Square-foot Garden - Building & Planting

Ok, so you might have noticed that I've changed my plans a little. When I started the seeds a couple months ago I wasn't quite sure where we were moving to or when so I decided to go with a container garden that could be moved easily and grown anywhere. We eventually found our new place and even though we are still leasing the owners of the property said it would be fine with them if we put a garden in. Still, knowing we are only here for one year and not wanting to worry about soil amendment and the like we settled on doing a square foot garden. If you haven't heard of square foot gardening you really should check it out. The basic idea is to grow as much as you can in as little space as possible - which is great for a backyard farmer. Their website is FULL of information as well as the book. Here's a little intro from their site:

How would you like a garden filled with beautiful flowers, fresh herbs and luscious vegetables, all with NO WEEDS and NO HARD WORK? No more heavy digging or all-at-once harvest. Less watering, weeding, and thinning. What's left is a picture perfect garden you will be so proud of. Put yourself in a rocking chair and start your own Square Foot Garden!

We built boxes according the directions and filled it with the soil mixute suggested by the creator of the technique - Mel Bartholomew. The mixture, called Mel's mix, is 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. We then planted our seedlings along with some plants we got from the local nursery - tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, corn & cucumbers. Anyhow, here is the video that will explain it a little bit but if you want the full details on how to garden this way I really suggest you visit the site or check out the book.