Rachel, your article is WONDERFUL! Two corrections: instead of breaking up soil underneath the bed (there’s weed cloth under the beds) Mel suggests making a 1′ x 1′ wooden “Top Hat” on top of just that one square and putting in additional Mel’s Mix growing medium. That means you don’t have the expense of 12″ high wood AND you save money on Mel’s Mix because you’re only making that single square deep.

Also Mel suggests adding a trowel of compost EVERY time you harvest a square not just once a year.

Thank you for introducing Square Foot Gardening to your readers and thank you for acknowledging Mel. There are many others calling what they do SFG but it’s just plain ol’ raised bed gardening. Mel’s Mix is CRITICAL because all high-intensive gardening uses a lot of nutrients. Mel’s Mix and the use of the grid on top of the soil differentiate SFG from other forms of raised bed gardening.

~ Kim Roman – Certified Square Foot Gardening Instructor (taught by Mel)

Thanks for linking up with Green Thumb Thursday. I hope to see you again this week!

~Lisa M

Dawn, 6-8-inches deep will work for most vegetables including radishes and shorter carrots. You can also loosen up the soil beneath the bed using a digging fork to allow longer carrots to penetrate deeper. Of course this depends on the quality of soil beneath the bed. There are many shorter type carrots, such as Parisian or Little Finger that will grow very well in raised beds.