1) LAYOUT- arrange your garden in squares, not rows. Lay it out in 4x4 areas. Pick an area that gets 6-9 hours of sunshine daily.
2) BOXES- Build boxes to hold a new soil mix above ground- only 6 inches deep.
3) AISLES- Space boxes 3 feet apart to form walking aisles.
4) SOIL- fill boxes with special soil mix: 1/3 compost, 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 coarse vermiculite. Existing soil doesn't matter.
5) GRID- Make a square foot grid for the top of each box to organize the garden for planting.
6) CARE- Never walk on the growing soil. Tend your garden from the aisles. Few, if any, weeds sprout and are easily pulled with fingers. Soil stays loose and friable. Easy to protect from weather.
7)SELECT- Plant a different flower, vegetable, or herb crop in each square foot, using spacing of 1, 4, 9, or 16 plants per square foot. Crop rotation happens naturally.
8) PLANT- Conserve seeds. Plant only a pinch (2or 3 seed) per hole. Place transplants in a slight saucer-shaped depression. Plant only what you will use during each season. No waste.
9) WATER- Ideally water by hand from a bucket of sun-warmed water (hose or drip system okay)
10) HARVEST- When you finish harvesting a square foot, add compost to replenish nutrients and replant with a new and different crop.
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