That first year with raised beds I had about 32 square feet of raised garden bed space with a little bit of in the ground space. In 2009 I finally gave up on growing plants in the ground and built my first raised bed. For square foot gardening you need as little as 16 square feet per person for fresh eating and about 32 square feet per person to have enough for preserving! Most people seem to agree that for a conventional row garden (a row of corn, a row of lettuce, a row of tomatoes…) 100 square feet per person is needed for a fresh eating garden, and about 200 square feet per person if you want to can food for year round use. How many people are you feeding? Do you want enough just for seasonal fresh eating? Do you want enough for canning, preserving, etc? Do you want enough to share with friends, family, or to sell at farmer’s market? Will you be conventional row gardening or square foot gardening? But most of all, how much space do you have? Most people do square foot gardening in raised beds, but you certainly can use this method with conventional “in the ground” gardening. It’s easy to add cover in winter so the soil is warmer and ready to go sooner in spring, or even add a cold frame on top for winter gardening. You don’t have to contend with rocks or stray tree roots. Raised beds cut down on the amount of weeds growing, but also makes it easier to pull the weeds that do grow. Twice a year I add compost from my compost bin to replenish the nutrients spent on growing and to replace any soil that washed away or compacted down. The best part about having raised beds is having total control over soil quality. Finally, I gave up, switched over to raised beds and never looked back. Amending & tilling soil, digging out endless rocks and never ending weeds. I tried for many years with conventional gardening with so-so results. Unfortunately that doesn’t make for the best farming soil. Cape Cod is a lovely place to live but we are basically a big sand bar that sticks out into the ocean. The answer to this is how good is your soil? My garden is set up for raised beds. They really are the experts on all things Square Foot Gardening! Mel invented the system in the 70s and the foundation has been carrying on his good work since his passing in 2016. They have released a few different editions over the years, each with new info or ways to make your square foot garden better. I will cover the basics here but I HIGHLY recommend getting the book “All New Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew & the Square Foot Gardening Foundation. Let me start off by saying right off the bat that this method is amazing, but way more involved than one blog post could cover. Square Foot Gardening is high yield in a small, easy to care for plot. If you are a beginning gardener, click here to check out my 7 beginner gardening mistakes to avoid. I think this is a great way to garden for someone that is just getting started (or someone that has been doing it forever!). So without further ado, start clicking to be inspired by all 65 of these tiny homes.Do you want to start a garden but are overwhelmed about how to start? Let me tell you about a system I have been using for the past few seasons called square foot gardening. (Or to take the extra easy route, you can buy one of these tiny houses straight from Amazon!) No matter your style and taste, you're sure to find one in this list that fits your decor preferences for a vacation home, to downsize, as a "granny pod" in your backyard, or even to just find some design inspiration for a small studio apartment or a cozy reading nook in your home of any size. With it the tiny home lifestyle comes with a small price, reduced environmental footprint, and simplified way of living, not to mention the many options for architecture and interior design they bring. Is there anything more quaint than a tiny house? With the increasing popularity of these homes, we have rounded up also our favorite tiny house plans and small houses (they're practically tiny!) to let you ooo and ah over them and maybe even dream up your own tiny home to build or buy.
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