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This year, I'm doing what First Lady Michelle Obama is doing—growing her first vegetable garden in the ground. I have, in the past, successfully raised lettuce, tomatoes, and beets in pots. I've attempted eggplants and leeks in pots without much luck. If I can get five for five this year, I will claim victory. But, I think I can grow more than five veggies (I hope) with the guidance and techniques described in the great little book, Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew.

It's the grid system that makes sense to me. Instead of gardening in lines, or rows, you garden in squares—for example, in one 4-foot-by-4-foot bed, you have 16 squares. This technique keeps the garden tidy and organized and accessible. According to Bartholomew, just imagining the squares doesn't cut it. Garden twine or boards define the spaces.

My garden bed is actually larger than 4 feet by 4 feet, so I have a little more room for planting flowers and herbs. One challenge with a garden larger than 4 feet by 4 feet is it's harder to reach the middle of the bed, but I've got long arms. The bed is also designed with a little raised corner for tender herbs to grow unfettered from what I imagine will be billowy, lush, leafy foliage in a few months. A simple frame is located on the north side of the bed with zig-zag twine for climbing sugar snap peas, sweet peas, and vining nasturtium.

A square foot garden
photo by Gina Lozier

In Michelle Obama's 1,100-square-foot garden, I could fit my tiny square foot garden in what I imagine as the White House vegetable garden observation area, where the girls' grandma will be pointing out the weeds the girls missed pulling. My vegetable garden won't have an observation area . . . but it will have weeds! And flowers and herbs like calendula, zinnias, borage, and parsley. I'm also growing coriander (cilantro), basil, thyme, and oregano.

I'm going to try to revive the leeks in my pots, which seemed to survive the winter, and see what happens. In the next couple of weeks, I'm going to buy starts for kale, lettuce, carrots, and beets. Beets did not make the list for the presidential garden—President Obama does not like them! I momentarily questioned his palate when I read that, but when I learned that Mexican food is a family favorite, I just thought . . . they're like so many people—bring on the Mexican food, pass on the beets. Personally, I love them both.

The only thing I have planned to grow from seed is sugar snap peas—Ed Hume Super Sugar Snap Peas. A seasoned vegetable gardener at the local nursery said to wet a paper towel and then place the peas on the paper towel in a plastic bag. Wait about a day and a half until a little root begins to sprout—don't wait too long—and then plant outside. Here they are ready to be planted tomorrow.

Sprouted sugar snap peas
photo by Gina Lozier

A few weeks after the last frost—around mid-May—I will plant starts for summer squash, bush beans, eggplant, and tomatoes.

Marigolds will be strategically mixed in with the veggies to help prevent bugs from devouring the tasty delights. The White House gardeners are using ladybugs and praying mantises for controlling harmful bugs—seems fitting.

That's the plan for my little victory garden. To celebrate the harvest in September, we will feast on Mexican food with fresh cilantro and invite the Obamas.

Resources

Square Foot Gardening

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