Click on the right for more general info. Click below to learn about Mel or have him speak at your function.
Who is Mel Bartholomew..
A simple system that adapts to all levels of experience, physical abilities, and geographical locations. Grow all you want and need in only 20% of the space of a conventional row garden. Save time, water, work and money!
Trifold 04-15-2010.pdf
*New Method - Easy to understand
*User Friendly - Great for beginners
*Locate Anywhere - Close to your house
*Economical - Reduces everything 5 to 1
*Efficient - 100% of the crop in 20% of the space
*Easy to Protect - From pests and weather
*Earth Friendly - Reduce Reuse Recycle
*Very Productive - Just as much as you need
*Out Produces Every Other Method Known
*Requires very little space; 80% less than conventional gardening.
*Can be done in as little as 4 feet by 4 feet, -- or as large as you want.
*Your existing (bad) soil doesn't matter because we don't use it. Start
with an ideal soil mix that is weed-free and requires no tilling.
*Uses much less water; only about 20% compared to conventional gardening.
*No fertilizers or pesticides to handle -- it's all natural
*The planting method requires no thinning and very few seeds.
*All the hard work has been removed in the Square Foot method - only
the enjoyable part remains.
*Can be started in any season.
*Produces 5 times the harvest of a conventional garden.
*Can be done by those with physical or mental limitations. If getting
down is a problem, raise the boxes to a wheelchair level.
*Makes a great family project, all ages can participate -
kids love to garden.
*No Weeding! No Thinning! No Heavy Digging
*Largest Selling Garden Book In America, - EVER
Square Foot Gardening is one of the easiest things you will ever do. Click on the buttons on the left to learn how to do this great method and get started today!
1. Pick the Location: Where and where not to plant your garden.
2. The 3 Steps: 3 simple things to get your garden started.
3. Follow the basics: The 10 steps for success!
4. Gardening By Region: If you want to know how to plant in your neck of the woods, here is where you go.
1. Build a Box: build it yourself or buy it from us HERE .
2. Fill it with Mel's mix: The perfect soil
3. Add a grid & start planting: The grid will show you where to plant.
- Arrange your garden in squares, not rows. Lay it out in 4'x4' planting areas.
- Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground.
- Space boxes 3' apart to form walking aisles.
- Fill boxes with Mel's special soil mix: 1/3 blended compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite.
- Make a permanent square foot grid for the top of each box. A MUST!
- NEVER WALK ON YOUR GROWING SOIL. Tend your garden from the aisles.
- Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot.
- Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2 or 3 seeds) per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression.
- Water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water.
- When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost and replant it with a new and different crop.
Always think in squares: lay out 4 foot by 4 foot planting areas with wide walkways between them.
Build garden box frames no wider than 4 feet, and 6 to 8 inches deep. The length is not as important, but a recommended size for your first time is one frame 4 foot by 4 foot. You can, of course, go smaller. A 2 foot by 2 foot works great on patios and 3 foot by 3 foot box is ideal for kids.
Frames can be made from almost any material except treated wood, which has toxic chemicals that might leach into the soil. 1 by 6 or 2 by 6 lumber is ideal, and comes in 8-foot lengths. Most lumber yards will cut it in half at little or no cost. Exact dimensions are not critical. Deck screws work best to fasten the boards together. Rotate or alternate corners to end up with a square inside.
If you plan to have more than one garden box, separate them by 2 or 3 feet to form walkways.
Fill frame with Mel's Mix, a mixture of 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 coarse vermiculite (no dirt needed). A blended compost made from many ingredients provides all the nutrients the plants require (no chemical fertilizers needed). Peat moss and vermiculite help hold moisture and keep the soil loose. It's best to make your own compost from many ingredients.
If time is an issue, we now sell Pre-mixed Mel's Mix HERE . Some stores sell mulch or humus and other ground covers but call it compost. Most commercial compost is made from one or two ingredients so to be safe, don't buy all of one kind but one of each kind until you have enough for your garden. It's really best to make your own compost, then you know what goes in it.
When buying vermiculite, be sure to get the coarse grade, and get the more economical 4 cubic foot size bags. If placing frames over grass you can dig out the grass or cover it with cardboard or landscape cloth to discourage grass and weeds from coming up through your new garden soil.
On top of each frame place a permanent grid that divides the box into one foot by one foot squares. The grid is the unique feature that makes the whole system work so well. To show you why the grid is so important, do this little demonstration: Look at your 4 foot by 4 foot box with the grid on and imagine up to 16 different crops. What you see before you is a neat and attractive, well organized garden that will be easy to manage. Now remove the grid.
Could you organize and manage this space without dividing it up into squares? Besides, without the grid you will be tempted to plant in rows, which is a poor use of space. Grids can be made from nearly any material; wood, plastic strips, old venetian blinds, etc. Use screws or rivets to attach them where they cross. On a 4 foot by 4 foot frame, the grid divides the frame into 16 easy-to-manage spaces, for up to 16 different crops. Leave the grid in place all season. The grid can be cut long enough to fit across the top of the box or cut shorter to lay on the soil inside the box.
Since you will NEVER walk on or depress the growing soil, don't make the frames any wider than 4 feet (2 feet, if only one side is accessible). Any wider makes it too difficult to reach in to tend the plants.
Depending on the mature size of the plant, grow 1, 4, 9, or 16 equally spaced plants per square foot. If the seed packet recommends plant spacing be 12 inches apart, plant one plant per square foot. If 6 inch spacing; 4 per square foot. If 4 inch spacing; 9 per square foot. If 3 inch spacing; 16 per square foot.
Plant one or two seeds in each spot by making a shallow hole with your finger. Cover, but do not pack the soil. Thinning is all but eliminated. Seeds are not wasted. Extra seeds can be stored cool and dry in your refrigerator.
Don't over-plant. Plant only as much of any one crop as you will use. This 4 foot by 4 foot box will grow more than a conventional garden that is 8 foot by 10 foot.
Water only as much as each plant needs. Water often, especially at first, and on very hot dry days, If possible, water by hand (uses a lot less water) with a cup from a sun-warmed bucket of water. Warm water helps the soil warm up in early and late season.
Harvest continually and when a crop in one square is gone, add some new compost and plant a new different crop in that square.
Here is what you need to know to have a successful SFG garden.
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•Graduate of Georgia Tech in Civil Engineering. Built his own Consulting Engineering Firm specializing in site and utility design.
•Was nominated to be included in Who's Who, Congress Hall of Fame, and New Jersey Famous Engineers.
•Retired as a successful innovator and businessman in his field at the age of 42.
•Took up gardening as a hobby, but then set out to solve the frustrations of most gardeners, "To replace the traditional wasteful single row gardening method with a better way to garden, one that's more efficient, more manageable, and less work." His answer was to invent the Square Foot Gardening system.
•His first book "Square Foot Gardening" became America's largest selling gardening book ever, over a million copies sold.
•His Square Foot Gardening TV series ran on PBS, Discovery Channel, and Learning Channel for eight yearswinter shows filmed at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and then retired again.
•Left retirement a second time to create the non-profit Square Foot Gardening Foundation, to bring better gardening to all people of all ages, around the world, including an innovative "Garden in Every School program."
•He has been nominated a second time to be included in the latest Cambridge Whos Who for his Humanitarian and Horticulture work with his invention of the Square Foot Gardening Method
•The SFG Foundation has worked with many other Humanitarian and Aide Organizations around the work in an effort to eliminate world huger by teaching others how to grow their own food. Projects are in India, Africa, Haiti, and the Philippines and many other third world countries.
•Mel continues to write, teach, motivate and inspire.
If you've had the Rest ~ Now have the Best!
The Square Foot Gardening Foundation
Thank you for your interest in Mel Bartholomew, creator of Square Foot Gardening, and his staff for your speaking engagement.
Mel, author and lecturer, invented the Square Foot Gardening Method to make it easier and fun to garden, to eliminate the drudgery and hard work, even out the excess harvest, and to make gardening simple and interesting. He and his staff will masterfully teach your audience this fascinating gardening method with visuals and illustrations producing a fast moving, educational presentation that appeals to both the first time gardener and expert alike.
Just what is Square Foot Gardening, motivating over 1 million book buyers and a national television audience of over 50 million to use this new gardening concept? Studies tell us the average U.S. garden measure over 700 sq. ft., requiring much effort and labor to maintain. Mel and his staff will teach your audience how to easily eliminate 80% of that space, thus 80% of the work, 90 % of the water, and 95% of the seeds, with the simple Square Foot Gardening Method, and have fun doing it. But, more important, be successful in their garden. They will also show you how to cut your grocery bill in half. What could be more important in todays economic situation.
Mels credentials are as follows:
•Nations #1 gardening author to date, including #1 Best Seller Square Foot Gardening books with over 2 million in sales. This is the largest selling garden book in the USA.
•His second book, Cash from Square Foot Gardening, showing how the average person can earn over $10,000 working part-time in their back yard. Mel developed a whole new vegetable and flower market for this book.
•A new book in the process of being written based on his tour this next spring and possibly including your event and projects.
•New three volume video series on his gardening methods. Available nationally.
•Producer and host of his long running syndicated PBS television series Square Foot Gardening. This later appeared on both the Discovery Network and the Learning Channel for a total of 8 years
•Mel has professionally lectured and appeared on radio and television. He has been elected to be in Whos Who twice. First time for his Engineering career and now again for his Horticultural and Humanitarian accomplishments. Nationally, he draws large crowds of enthusiastic gardeners and wanabe gardeners.
•And now the most colorful and exciting new gardening book on the market. Mel has made 10 major improvements to the already simple easy method he invented and shows how to with lots of pictures in his ALL NEW SFG book.
•2 new books in the works, the first, the long awaited Square Foot Gardening COOK BOOK and the second, How to cut your food bill in HALF with SFG.
Book early. Speaking availability is on a limited basis.
Email us using the link on the right with your event dates to see if we can be available.
Thank you,
Square Foot Gardening Staff
Bio for Cookbook
About the Author
Despite inventing a brand new, simpler way to garden, and then writing the largest selling garden book in America, most people are startled to learn that Mel is not a horticulturist and has never had any formal agricultural training.
Mel is a civil engineer. After retirement from his own engineering and consulting company, he took up gardening as a hobby. The only method offered back then was the traditional single row victory garden method which, to an engineer, was obviously inefficient, wasteful, and just too much work.
Mel toured the country, asking the experts why we use the single row method for home gardening and was told, from Maine to California, "Because thats the way we've always done it". For an engineer that is not a very satisfactory answer. So he decided to invent a new way to garden that is more efficient, easier to do, and more friendly to the environment. He named it Square Foot Gardening. Mel then went on to write that famous book, Square Foot Gardening, which sold over a million copies, and hosted a PBS TV show for 5 years. Today he presides over a non-profit foundation that encourages every household around the world to have a small garden and to eat fresh, healthy, vegetables that are uncontaminated without recalls.
SFG is all organic and uses no fertilizers, insecticides, or pesticides ~ and best of all, it requires no heavy tools, no hard work, and HAS NO WEEDS. Read his latest book The All New Square Foot Gardening and you will say, as millions of others have, "I could do that ".
