The vegetable patch, another way to cultivate your vegetable garden

The vegetable patch, another way to cultivate your vegetable garden, practical and smart! This original method was invented by the American Mel Bartholomew, author of the book Square Foot Gardening (1981): he had the idea of ​​reducing the cultivation of vegetables, traditionally in rows, to small areas of 30cm by 30cm, which are grouped on a growing bed of 1.20mx 1.20m. Small areas or squares can also be called "plots", which is better suited to rectangular or other shapes. This type of gardening allows you to grow a very wide variety of vegetables but requires special attention to maintaining the soil, which is very stressed by the rapid rotation of plantations: favor the use of compost (homemade if possible), the use of natural preparations (such as fermented nettle extract) and natural fertilizers, preserve the biodiversity of the natural environment in order to help you with the presence of beneficial insects. INTERESTS The square garden is particularly well suited to small areas, modular it can indeed be set up on reduced surfaces such as terraces. It is very aesthetic: it takes up the layouts of medieval gardens or priest's gardens and the choice of borders, as well as the arrangement of plants can create artistic effects. It is practical for growing several varieties of vegetables in small quantities. It requires little time: weeding is quick due to the size of the surface. The configuration offers real working comfort, allowing you to position yourself well in the aisles, to access all the squares without breaking your back in two. The necessary tools are light. Due to its small size and variety, it is quite suitable for beginners. It is ecological: the quantities of water needed for watering are limited by the small cultivated surface, watering is done at the foot of each plant, which considerably limits waste, moreover this technique encourages thinking about plant associations and it promotes diversity in the garden. SETTING UP The squares (or plots) are therefore associated in growing beds, traditionally 1m20 by 1m20: we can make 16 plots of 30cm x 30cm per bed or 9 plots of 40cm x 40cm. This size of growing bed allows access to the entire surface from the outside, everything is within arm's reach, the vegetable garden soil is therefore neither trampled nor compacted. The plots can be marked by stretched string, bamboo sticks or other means, but it is not an obligation. The growing beds are materialized by borders, which can be made of wood (untreated), plant, or use other materials. Then they are filled with a substrate suitable for supporting crops. The growing beds can be raised to allow access to the pleasure of gardening for people with disabilities or back problems. From this methodological framework, all arrangements are possible. Whatever the surface, the configuration of the land, the squares are modular and the arrangements are adapted and chosen by each gardener, according to their tastes, desires, and means. CHOICE OF PLANTSSquare-bed gardening allows you to "do your shopping" by regularly harvesting a variety of vegetables in sufficient quantities. This is true even on a small surface: 2 growing beds represent 18 squares (40cm by 40cm) and therefore 18 different crop choices! In addition, it is possible to carry out rotations for fast-producing species. The trick is to plan them well, carry them out well (being in small quantities, each crop is precious) and make them succeed each other over the months. To begin, you must therefore define the vegetables you wish to grow, then distribute them in the plots. Several elements must be taken into account: - sunlight, - the development of the vegetable, - the family to which it belongs, - soil and nutrient requirements. Depending on the vegetable and its development, vary the density per square from 1 to 16 plants. So a square can accommodate: 1 tomato or eggplant plant, 4 beets, 4-5 lettuces, 16 radishes or carrots. Remember to cleverly distribute the plants according to their height: tall plants (corn, beans, etc.) to the north so as not to deprive the rest of the square of sunlight. You can also install a trellis for climbing plants on the north side. From the first planning, the crops then follow one another on each plot. Well managed, a square vegetable garden can allow you to stagger harvests over almost the entire year (with the exception of winter in certain regions). Rotation occurs when a square becomes available: it is then necessary to choose the next crop. The associations are chosen in the crop planning phase, taking care, as much as possible, to distance vegetables from the same family from each other. This is not a purely theoretical criterion: its objective, among other things, is to prevent the appearance and development of diseases. This detail is important in a square foot garden, because the vegetables are very close to each other. Once the associations are defined, the promiscuity of the crops is an asset: the vegetable garden thus creates diversions for unwanted insects, which then have more difficulty locating their favorite "pantry". Varying the families is one thing. But it is also necessary to think about preserving the fertility of the soil, which is in great demand in a square foot garden. This is done by choosing a less exhausting vegetable of another type and by maintaining the soil by adding organic matter. Rotation is a practice that also relies on the use of green manures. Square foot gardening adapts to almost all crops. How to make your square foot garden? Wads in slabs Wads are young shoots resulting from the coppicing of chestnut trees. They measure 3 to 5m with a section varying from 1.5 to 4cm. Those which come from the osier or the hazel tree are