Welcome Arizona SFGers!

We have a nice group of Arizona folks growing on the Square Foot Gardening forums here and this is a great place to introduce yourselves and work together to garden in the desert.

So I have to ask: Are there any other SFGers out there crazy enough to garden in 100+ degree weather? Tell us about yourself!

Happy Gardening!
Don
www.sonorangarden.com

OK. I'll start. I began Square Foot Gardening in 2007 and the addiction has grown from there. Our family is really enjoying gardening and raising vegetables that taste better than they do coming from the store! It is catching on and I have had many people over to see how Square Foot Gardening works. I also have the journey chronicled in my blog at www.sonorangarden.com. Check it out and drop me a note if you have suggestions or questions.

Happy Gardening!
Don
www.sonorangarden.com

Hey Don,
Thanks for starting this group. I just started Square footing about 1 month ago. I moved into a place that had a few boxes already made but they were in bad shape. I fixed them up did some research and started on my quest.

Unfortunately I am moving at the end of this month and will not see all my work come to fruition, however, my garden is looking amazing, cabbage, lettuce, onions, and the beginning of squash, carrots, watermelons, and more. I am looking forward to starting from scratch and building up a great garden over time.

I will post some pictures to let you see how it ends up before I head to another section of town!

Aaron

Welcome to the forum Aaron!

It sounds like you have had a small taste of SFG and it has been a good one. If you dont have Mel's book All New Square Foot Gardening it is well worth picking up. Many check it out at the library if they dont want to commit to the purchase. Either way, it is full of great information on getting your SFG started and continuing on with it.

Good luck with your move.

Hi Don and Aaron! I'm a sophomore over at ASU (Tempe), and I just founded the organic gardening club. We have around 30 members and 1,800 square feet that we're going to slowly be converting into SFG space, so I'm really excited! I had a 4x6 box over the cool planting season, and I had vegetables coming out the ears. I have no idea how much produce we'll get as a club...probably have veggies coming out of other places.

I'd offer you good luck with this summer, but we've had such weird weather that I don't think we'd need it!

Arya

Are there any other SFGers out there crazy enough to garden in 100+ degree weather?

I'm one! I have to admit though, I try to get out early in the summer. I have just purchased Mel's book but have been gardening in raised beds for years. I have done grids, not done grids, etc. My raised beds are 3 feet tall so that I don't have to bend down so much. I also have a huge gopher problem (live in Queen Creek). So, I have rocks, chicken wire etc in the bottom portion of the beds. The rest is my own mixture of compost, vermiculite, sand and some potting soil.

Eager to see or read about what others have done.

Hubby and I started our fist sfg this year. We have One 4x8 box and so far its going alright. One of our tomato plants looks a bit sickly, but I think it has more to do with over watering because of all the rain. Hopefully it will perk back up with all the nice weather.

Other than that we have already enjoyed some cherry tomatoes, and even some yummy strawberries!

Can't wait to hear how everyone else is doing!

Hello Fellow Arizonians.
My name is Marc and I live in Chino Valley, just north of Prescott. I wasn't sure if I qualify for SW Deserts or Mtn. Gardening. Last year was our first experiment in gardening. We did it the old fashion way with rows. Some things turned out well like tomatoes, cantelope, butternut squash, zucchini, chard, basil, and parsley. Others didn't--carrots, onions, cucumbers, broccoli, lettuce, spinich, etc. I saw the SFG book and thought it sounded great. My brother-in-law and I have built 9 boxes and I got one already filled my Mel's Mix and covered. I am trying to figure out when I can plant my cool weather spring seeds (onions, broccoli, kale, lettuce, spinich, radishes, carrots). We are supposed to be warming up, but it's been in the high 20's/low 30's at night.
I am excited to start and so are my kids!

Hi- You may want to use the Master gardener dates as your guide to planting.
http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/publications/yavcobulletins/Yavapai%20County%20Vegetable%20Planting%20Dates.pdf

Hello everyone! Not in Arizona but only 30 miles from the Arizona border up here in Las Vegas. Trying figure out what can grow good when we hit the high heat this summer.

My parents live in Phoenix and my mom has a small garden. She has this book and likes it. It's Extreme Gardening--How to Grow Organic in the Hostile Deserts. I have looked through it and I like it.

http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Gardening-Organic-Hostile-Deserts/dp/0970501609/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268749225&sr=8-1

Hi Don, and all you other brave gardners who face the heat of Arizona. I'm back to blogging. I've been working hard these past few months to get everything growing before it gets too hot. Posted a new slide show on my blog which you can access here.
http://dssgarden.blogspot.com

Very enthusiastic about starting to SFG, but having trouble finding any vermiculite in Chandler. Been to every Lowes, Home Depot, Nursery I could find. Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Russ

I have purchased it at Summer Winds Nursery. I also saw it at A&P Nursery. I would call them first.

luvs2garden wrote:I have purchased it at Summer Winds Nursery. I also saw it at A&P Nursery. I would call them first.

Thanks for the quick reply! I'll stop by both of them and check it out.