Successfully Making Mels Mix

Have you made your own Mel’s Mix? Was it successful for you? Here are some tips to help ensure your garden thrives in Mel’s Mix. 1. Use a variety of composts! Some of Mels’ favorites are blood and bone meal. Try to include dairy and poultry manures, fine mulch and worm castings. The 1/3 compost ingredient holds the nutrients portion for your plants to grow on. Don’t skimp here, and the more the better! 2. Moisten Mels Mix well as you pour it into your box. This gives your seeds and starts a good moist foundation for the season. Mel’s Mix is easy and fun to make but sometimes the resources may not be available in your area. You may be hesitant to spend the money and do the guesswork to make your own Mel's Mix. If this is the case, we have shipped an entire truckload of the official pre made,bagged soil to Utah! Mel’s Mix is available in Pleasant Grove. Visit 1075 N 1300 W Monday-Saturday 9-5 or Call/Text 801-427-0563

How to Make Your Own Professional Growing Soil: Mels' Mix

The Square Foot Gardening method allows you to grow your vegetables in just 6" of soil, a special soil that we put together ourselves. It is called Mel's Mix and we can compare it to a professional growing medium like the garden centers use to grow their seeds and starts. We use three ingredients:
Peat Moss, Coarse Vermiculite and Blended Compost

Mels Mix consists of these 3 ingredients

The blended compost is the most important as it contains the nutrients needed for robust garden growth. We need to obtain at least five different types for this blend. If you are purchasing composts, look for a fine wood mulch or forest humus, worm castings, dairy and poultry manures, bone and blood meal, potting and garden soils are acceptable but may have peat moss in them already.

Square Foot Gardening is all about simplicity. To mix these soil ingredients just lay out a tarp near your box and roll it back and forth. We happen to be making it on a large scale in Pleasant Grove, Utah. We buy our ingredients in bulk and use a cement mixer. Our peat moss comes from a peat moss farm near Utah Lake and contains natural potassium, phosphate and nitrogen. Our blended compost sources from a local farmer who grows food and raises all kinds of animals. We are in full scale production of Mels' Mix now. Just call 801-427-0563 or visit www.squarefootgardening.com to order your Mels' Mix and get planting right away.

Mels Mix production in Pleasant Grove, Utah

Mels Mix available in 1.5 cubic ft bags

Conserving Water by Square Foot Gardening

I received some more counsel from Mel Bartholomew about WHY we use a simple bucket of sun warmed water for the Square Foot Garden. Here's what Mel says-

"Here’s WHY ? The  water right from a house faucet is cold, and filled with chlorine and any other chemicals the town uses to treat and purify home water.  I learned this when raising tropical fish at home.  You never fill a new aquarium tank with tap water and then put the fish right in. They will turn belly up and die from the cold water and 

chlorine.  Best to let the filled tank sit overnight and all the chlorine will evaporate into the air and then the water will be room temp and chemical free for the fish. (See now why we use a bucket of sun-warmed water instead of hosing  down our SFG?) 

 Same thing goes for your precious plants in your SFG. That’s why the official-correct way to water a Square Foot Garden  is from a bucket of sun warmed water.  Besides you are using only 10 % of the water needed to water a traditional row garden and best of all, your hand watering gets you close to your plants, and just like children, you are nurturing your plants.

 In addition, sprinkling the plant  tops  is just wasted, unneeded, and sometime s detrimental   so in SFG, we hand water with a cup of sun warmed water right to that slight saucer shape you created at the base of the plant so all the water goes right to the root structure where it is needed.     Doesn't  all that make sense?

 No other method of gardening tells you that. Stick with SFG and you can’t go wrong."  -Mel 

Best Materials for Your Square Foot Garden Grid

Here are some tips from Mel himself on what to use and what not to use when putting together a grid for your Square Foot Garden.

Visit a thrift store and look for venetian blinds that usually come in just the right 3 or 4' lengths. Wood lath is found at most hardware stores and very inexpensive. Some other creative recycling ideas are old ski poles and arrows. You will need six grid pieces for a 4x4 size box. Simply connect the strips at the intersections with small screws. It does not need to be secured to the box but can lay right on top of the soil.

Let's Get Growing!

I guess you could say we're lucky here in Utah. We've had a mild winter and Spring has come early. Of course, we could use more moisture, that's for sure. I wonder if the California drought is spreading this direction! Square Foot Gardening is a great way to conserve water. We water by hand from a bucket of sun warmed water that we keep near our raised bed. Its very handy and the plants respond favorably to the warmed water, just like people do.
  I've planted a number of seeds already, some outside and some in my greenhouse. The outside plantings have been lettuces, carrots, spinach, cilantro,and potatoes. The winter was so mild my parsley is still alive. My chives are getting stronger,they are perennial and I really enjoy them in my salads and other dishes for a mild onion flavor. In my greenhouse I have started several varieties of tomatoes,zucchini, butternut squash, peppers, and pumpkin. I won't transplant these until the middle of May here in my climate zone.

Today's Harvest

The sun was out today and I decided to grab my large basket and see what I could gather from my Square Foot Gardens.  I've had a great season with tomatoes this year,

especially Roma's. They are the best for making thick tomato sauces. I wash them and blend them uncooked, skin and all then store in a ziplock bag in the freezer. Sometimes I'll add garlic onion and basil as well. My bell peppers have been the best ever for me. I've learned that they need a hotter soil (more nitrogen) so I made sure they had plenty of my composted chicken manure. I let some of my carrots (growing in a 12" deep box ) get a little too large and they may be a little tough to eat raw but should be okay steamed or add to a smoothie . I've heard the carrot tops are edible too and could be tossed in the smoothie as well. Then again, my chickens really like them too.  I thought I better dig up some young onions before colder weather set in.  I still have  zucchini and crooneck plants thriving under the eave of my front porch as well as lemon cucumbers. Butternut squash  is one of my new favorites to grow.

And we can't forget our beloved pumpkins for the month of October. I'll set them out on the front porch for a little while and then bake and purée them for the freezer to add to smoothies or for homemade pumpkin pie.

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homegardenstogo.com

The Portable Garden

Here is a photo of my garden layout that I took about 3 years ago. It got plenty of sun at this time and the boxes were retaining their nutrients well for optimal vegetable growth.



This photo was taken today. As you can see the red maple tree nearby has gotten very large. It now shades my garden area too much during the day.  I found that the trees roots were also find their way into my garden beds and using nutrients meant for my vegetables. I decided it was time to relocate these boxes to a sunnier spot away from the tree.  Luckily I have a good space on the south side of my house.

It's a pretty simple process to move the gardens. This photo shows the soil still intact after lifting the box right off. I do that first and place the box in the new spot. Then I fill the wheelbarrow with the Mels Mix soil and take it to the new location and dump it in the box. Mels Mix can be used year after year and only needs to be replenished with 1/3 compost each season. I even tried to reuse weed cloth or landscape fabric  that I had down here if it was still intact and of course put that down before the box. The brand of weed cloth I bought from Costco was in very good shape and worked fine. I will shovel up the bark chips too to place in the aisles of my new setting.

Here's the new location in process.  See the little volunteer apple tree between the boxes? I'm going to let it grow a while there then transplant it somewhere else.

Melons Grow Vertically and Look Beautiful

 

This crenshaw melon plant is enjoying its vertical support with nylon netting and inexpensive electrical conduit.  This frame by is supported and fitted over 2' long  rebar pounded in the ground on either side of the box. There are several advantages to growing this way. It really saves on space! A melon like this can sprawl over several feet in the traditional garden plot. The plant leaves receive more sunlight because of growing at a different angle. The plant will also be safe from being damaged by ground insects, footsteps and lawn mowing.

 

In this photo you can see the fruit beginning to grow. You may ask,"How can that climbing plant hold the weight of a big melon?" Mother Nature has made arrangements! You can observe the plant vines actually thicken as the fruit grows heavier. Mel says that the crenshaw melon is one of his favorites and I have to say I agree with him. It is similar to a cantelope by much larger, juicier and sweeter. I plant them every year and don't even bother with the cantelopes now!

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Cole Slaw from the Square Foot Garden

I really like to grow cabbage in my Square Foot Garden. I grow one per 12" square and plant by seed in the early spring. I harvested it in July and came up with this coleslaw mixture using my fresh cabbage, parsley, chives and carrots. Simply chop these ingredients up and add a sweet vinaigrette or poppy seed dressing to your taste and mix well. It will stay delicious in the frig for several days. The plain cabbage head will stay fresh in the frig for weeks or you can cut a wedge at a time off your cabbage plant as its still growing to keep it even more fresh.

Simple Composting on the Back Porch

My Mom and I with her Square Foot Garden

After I installed A square foot garden for my mom on her deck she became passionate about producing her own compost to replenish nutrients for her growing vegetables. She placed a small bucket beside the box on the deck containing a dowel to stir and  a spray bottle of water hanging over the side. Compost needs to be moved often and moistened regularly to break down. She then set out on a mission to find compost ingredients and gathered old flower petals, house plant leaves, kitchen vegetable peelings and waste,grass clippings, and tree leaves to add to her bucket. She also asked me to deliver manure from my chickens whenever I came for a visit. She diligently stirred and sprayed her compost daily taking joy in her learning experience. To my surprise, her compost bucket on her deck produced a rich black mixture that really added to her garden success. Compost happens! I love to tell this story as an example of how easy it can be to produce and then use to sustain a garden on your own property.
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Garlic Harvest

I was up early this morning and noticed my garlic plants were tilted over,dried and somewhat brown. I had planted these bulbs 9 per square last Fall and now they show signs of maturity. Using a trowel, I carefully lifted the bulbs up and harvested some nice large garlic!  I love to use garlic in my cooking and it has many health benefits too.

I hang them up to dry like this in my mud room for a couple of weeks for the best flavor. I save some of these bulbs in a cool dry place to plant again in the Fall. I separate the cluster and plant each clove pointed tip up.

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homegardenstogo.com

Growing Vegetables in Part Shade

I'm experimenting with the placement of this box that sits on the east side of my house. Above, the sun starts to shine on it at about 11 AM.  It contains broccoli, parsley,spinach and several lettuce varieties. These plants tolerate a lot of shade and as you can see they are all thriving with very limited sun exposure. They get about 3 hours of sunlight each day. I'm hoping the lettuces will stay cool enough to keep from bolting or tasting bitter. If I can,  I should be able to extend their life to enjoy a tomato from my sunny garden in my salad.

At about 2 pm the shade creeps over this box for the remainder of the day. Only certain types of plants like these tolerate shade well. Other vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, squash and melons need 6-8 hours of sun daily.

Vertical Support for Growing Peas

Why use Coarse Vermiculite in the Square Foot Garden Soil

Chickens Help Make Compost

Drip Irrigation for a Square Foot Garden

Drip Irrigation is a convenient way to water a vegetable garden. This one attaches right to a hose for easy set up. A timer can be added for even easier watering. I sell this kit for 4x4 and 4x8 boxes as well as an add-on kit to connect two boxes together on one hose.

Basic #5 A Grid makes a Square Foot Garden

Mel says" The grid should be permanent and prominent! Without a grid it is not a Square Foot Garden." The grid makes the unique planting technique possible and sets the raised bed apart as unique, attractive and organized.

Video Guide to Square Foot Gardening

                                                           

This is the cover of my new book just completed. It contains some of my most watched video segments including Planning your Garden,Making Mels Mix correctly, Planting the SFG way, and Composting. It is now available on iTunes for $3.99. I hope you enjoy it!

10 Basics of Square Foot Gardening #4 The Soil: Mel's Mix

Mel's Mix is the name of the soil we use in square-foot gardening. I like to think of it as a professional growing mix that we make ourselves. It does resemble the growing mixes nurseries use to start their plants in. One main difference however, is that we use coarse vermiculite instead of perlite. Some people may resort to using perlite for their square-foot gardening soil because it's less expensive. Mel believes that vermiculite is superior to perlite because of its weight, texture and water retaining capabilities.
   So our professional growing mix that we put together consists of 1/3 Peat moss 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 blended composts.

Mel's Mix should look something like this

These ingredients can be found at most garden centers or nurseries. Of course buying them in the largest quantities will often give you the lowest price. The blended composts may be the more difficult to find as you will need 4 to 5 different types. I recommend Poultry manure, mushroom, forest hummus, worm castings, food scraps. Some local good name brands are Bumper Crop and Harvest Supreme. These bags as well as others come already blended but I recommend not buying all of that one bag but using a variety of brands. You basically want to get the best variety of composts that you can. You will eventually want to learn to make your own compost so that you can keep your garden completely self-sustained.
    Making Mel's Mix does take some monetary investment initially but the vermiculite and Peat Moss which are 2/3 of your soil will not break down like compost but will last several years. Don't cut corners on making your soil. It is the most important aspect to successful square-foot gardening.
   Don't forget we can provide you with Mel's Mix! In fact a customer ordered 140 bags last week... it kept us busy for a day or two! My new iBook has video segments about Square Foot Gardening including "How to make Mel's mix correctly" Check it out!

Basic #3 The Aisles

The square-foot garden layout includes boxes and aisles. The aisles allow for comfortable access to the boxes and  keep you from having to step inside of them which would compact the soil. Vegetable plants thrive best in a loose, friable growing medium. To keep the aisles free of weeds and grass, it is desirable to lay down a weed barrier over the entire garden layout including the aisles. Once the boxes are in place and the aisles are designated,  fill in the aisles with mulch, gravel, rock or any material you choose. Be creative with your aisles and give them a style of your own. Aisles are one way in which the square-foot garden can show off a unique and individual look .

A Square Foot Garden layout on grass leaves aisle space for the lawn mower.