Square Foot Gardening Answer Book by Mel Bartholomew

Square Foot Gardening Answer Book Reviews

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  Jen

  Great ideas. Can't wait to try.
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  Jaci Millette Cooper

  The tone of the answer book can veer into “obnoxious, self congratulatory uncle” territory, but I’ve found a lot of value and clarity with his techniques. We used the Mel’s mix (vermiculite, peat moss, compost) years ago with great success and we took it a step further and divided out our raised beds into square foot sections. I’m going to try to make organic pesticides this year with garlic and cayenne like the book suggests. Hoping the literal fruits of my labor are bountiful.
  
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  jamie

  I am going to attempt year number two more effectively for summer 2021. I hope that it turns out better than last year. I wasn't using the books for SFG book for plans, and I think some apps and websites are inaccurate because the plants were too squished and did not do well.
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  Morgan

  This was pretty helpful and gave me a broader base of understanding about gardening, which was my goal. There wereparts though where the author came off rude, cocky, or belittling in the answers that he gave and that just sits with me the wrong way.
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  Abbey Bracken

  I thought this book did such an excellent job explaining what SFG is and literally any detail and info you could want to know about it!! It answered so many questions, which is so handy!!
• 
  Elaine

  The best of the square foot gardens. This one answers all of your questions. Highly recommended.
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  Annie

  When I first got into vegetable gardening, I got into square foot gardening. Read my review of the original book for details on the premise and what is covered. I still use a lot of the basic principles but I don't follow the "rules" as closely as I once did. For instance, I still use raised beds for my vegetables and follow Bartholomew's guidelines for how closely to space my seeds/plants, but I no longer use an actual grid (mine fell apart) or grow all of my vine plants on trellises (I grow lots of tomatoes and squash and don't have enough trellises). I've also opted to amend my existing soil with compost rather than buying the materials to mix my own new soil according to Bartholomew's specifications. Still, I follow most of the principles and this new "Answer Book" was a nice refresher. The format is questions Barthlomew often is asked and his answers. It covers how to to do SFG in some unusual settings, how to deal with specific pests, and a variety of other odds and ends. I enjoyed reading this and found some good ideas and reminders for my garden but I'd still recommend that people who are new to SFG start with the basic book first.
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  Emily Vander Ark

  There's not much in this book that isn't covered in the 2nd edition of the original Square Foot Gardening book, but there are a few helpful things like how to deal with certain pests, vine plants, and unusual circumstances. I got a good deal on it, but otherwise it's not really worth the price.
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  BA

  Great book on gardening in small areas. I was able to use a small 20 * 5ft area and not have 3 different type of tomatoes, squash, 4 different kind of peppers, cucumber, basil, mint, oregano, lavender, watermelon, and carrots. Very easy to follow and very simple principles. Highly recommend.
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  A Guerilla Gardener

  Guerilla Garden accomplice Ray at the Sunshine Community Garden is going to try square foot gardening at his plot this year. I'll take pictures and let you know how it turns out!
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  Sherri

  This is a great resource. Explained in Q&A format, easy to understand and a bit funny!
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  Luis Vazquez

  Definitely will re-red it, now that I take a class on organic urban gardening.