Minneapolis Square Foot Gardening Plan

Tina, Thanks so much for blogging about square foot gardening in Minnesota. I live in South eastern Minn about 45 miles east of Rochestor.

I also had my first year of SFG. It was a learning experience!! The hot summer was kinda a bonus for me as my husband was newly retired and very diligent about watering. I had the best garden I have had in years. I could not beleive how such little space could produce. I planted Green beans, Zucchini, marigolds, bell peppers, broccoli, onions, kale, tomatos in 4 small 4×4 squares in my existing garden space. I put paths in between them but not nearly wide enough. The kale and onions got overpowered and did not get enough sun to grow. Onions are actually growing now that I cleared everything out of my beds. They should be nice next spring. Also planted some garlic next to them after I cleared everything off. marked them well so I dont forget. LOL

My Zucchini produced, produced and produced some more. My friends had to lock their car doors or they had a big surprize!! My husband thinks we could live all winter on Z.

I also put in a 4×8 Lasagna bed in my garden. Planted 3 hills of cucumbers in that. They did very well. Made lots of pickles and salads. I did traditional planting of 3 hills of muskmelon next to the fence in my garden. I thought they would never ripen as they were so small but then remembered they were Minnesota Midgets. Very good. Planted some more tomatos on the edge of garden and also in my flower beds. They tended to take over the flower beds. Wont do that next year. Tomatos did not want to ripen very fast. I wrapped a lot of green tomatos in newspaper and put in garage at news of first frost. I started unwrapping them and cooking and freezing for sauce and soup. So I am gradually getting quite a few in the freezer and still eating fresh ones on my sandwiches. Yum. The smaller green tomatos, I sliced and made into pickles. I had used up all my dill so decided to try Mrs Wages Kosher Dill Mix. (Gasp) I like to make my own homemade. They were to die for! Her seasoning is right on the money. Then made some bread and butter tomato pickles and that seasoning was also perfect. Tasted like my Moms recipie that I have been unable to find.

I am making another bed outside my garden for next year. I want to plant some sweet potato acorn squash seeds that I bought at Seed Savers in Decorah this fall. Kinda doing the lasagna bed thing again there. I am going to plant Zucchini on the edge of my garden this time too as it took over my SFG space. Will put the shorter stuff in my square beds. Will try carrots and potatos this year. Have not had luck with them in the past but this is much better soil for them now. My strawberries have died out in there small bed the last 2 summers. Want to build a vertical PVC pipe with holes for any new strawberry volunteers that pop up over the winter and that will free up another bed for someting vining.

I am wondering about the raspberries and blueberries that you are growing in pots. Will they live through the winter?? I am unfamiliar with these new pots but Minnesota winters are harsh. Be sure to let us know how that goes.

Thanks again for sharing. I will be following you. Keep us updated. Karla

Amber – I went to Midwest Hydroponics last night and bought 6 of the smart pots for my blueberries and raspberries. I was surprised at how compact they were, all the pics I saw of them they were filled, so I didn’t realize they folded down like they do.

Debbie – I am not sure about cross pollinating between Melons and Pumpkins. This is my first garden, so I am not sure about a lot of things. I did change my layout though since I made that post, I now have the pumpkins, watermelon and cantaloupe in the back and they will get a trellis.

Hi Tina,
yes, you can put a raspberry plant in one of the really big containers. I have one of those as well.

For planting the tomatoes, I just checked my square foot garden soil temp here today- it was 60 degrees, so a bit too cool yet to put in the tomatoes and peppers. I am hoping maybe by the weekend the ground temp will be the 65-70 we should probably have before putting them in.

Happy gardening!

Hi Tina,
love the garden layout! If you are planting carrots, you could also plant radishes with them at the same time. The radishes will be done very quickly (generally less than 30 days), leaving room for the much slower germinating carrots.

I also grow blueberry bushes in pots and they work well. Just remember you have to have acidic soil. I add coffee grounds (mine have been in the pots a few years) to help with their acidity.

If you do put some items in containers, you may want to consider getting some SmartPots. They are a fabric container for growing plants. I also am trying these for the first time this year. I am also in the Twin Cities metro area, and there is a place you can get them locally (Midwest Hydroponics). I am doing some herbs in these as well. You could probably put them down in front of your pavers on the ground and grow lots of herbs, or herbs that are invasive such a mint. As the other poster mentioned, this would allow you to open up space in your garden for the bigger plants.

Good luck on your garden! With our warm spring, have you decided yet when you are going to put your tomatoes out? This year has been harder for me to figure all that stuff out with our warmer spring.

Happy Gardening!

Tomatoes are notorious for killing each other in pots (well, at least fighting a bit) unless that pot is monstrous, it’s best to stick to 1 a pot, or at least make sure its large enough. Hot peppers, and other peppers, however, can do quite well in pots.

Pepper seeds can take 1-4 weeks to sprout, and then they start very slowly. I’d say it’s a bit late to start them from seed. In fact I intend to start mine a full month sooner than I did this year.

A blueberry bush should do fine in a garden without taking over, though they can grow to be rather large. You can buy bare root raspberries (though, again, it’s a bit late in the season for it) which should be cheaper and they’ll grow very well (mine are this year) from that. Though you won’t get any raspberries the first year, and for blueberries, you are ‘supposed’ to pick off the flowers for the first 2-3 years so it develops awesome roots.

Strawberries can do well in planters, pots, hanging baskets etc… if you have enough space you can bury the above ground runners to make new babies (otherwise cut them off).

I’d plant calendula here and there for insect control. Also the basil can help about nightshade plants (tomatoes, peppers…) and the dill is good for cucurbits (cucumber, melons…). Alliums tends to also be a good co-plant for nightshades (for pest control) I would plant the garlic closer to the peppers.

I’d consider growing a few of those herbs in pots (which tend to do well) so that you have more space for large plants (such as tomatoes). The rosemary, parsley, oregano, cilantro and the like. Look up companion plants that you can put together with others as I mentioned above. This saves space, helps the plants grow, and provides some insect control.

Make sure you don’t need to reach through hot peppers to get to anything (depending on the heat variety) the capsaicin can rub off on you as you do so, leading to unexpected and unpleasant situations.