Technology opens new ways to feed world population
No digging or tilling of the land is required, and the Square Foot Gardening method can be carried out anywhere, including on paved ground or a roof top.
It will be described by Victoria Boudman, CEO, Square Foot Gardening Foundation, at next week’s Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA) in Abu Dhabi, an event focussing on how to feed the world’s growing population from a limited arable area.
The Square Foot Gardening premise is simple — planting seeds in a specific way in a raised bed garden of the perfect blend of potting soil.
Users can build a frame up to four feet wide from any non-treated, six-inch wide timber or similar material, with a weed mat or landscape fabric underneath to prevent weeds from growing in.
The not-so-secret ingredient is the Square Foot Gardening potting soil, a mix of equal volumes of coarse grade vermiculite, spagnum peat moss, and blended compost.
Some commonly used composts for the blend are poultry or manure, green waste, or worm castings.
Or start your own compost pile, advise the Foundation, who say vermiculite can be purchased widely, or ordered from Square Foot Gardening.
A critical step in the simple process is to moisten the potting soil 100% before planting (that means you can squish a handful and it stays together, but no water will drip out of your fingers).
The square foot grid is a critical step to get right, as is the spacing each plant needs. A tomato or green pepper plant needs one per square, but you can fit 16 radishes/ carrots per square.
