Learn vegetable gardening by the square foot

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When Jo Ann Carey was diagnosed as pre-diabetic a few years ago, she was told to eat more vegetables. After reading Mel Bartholomew’s book ‘All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space,’ she was inspired to do more -- she wanted to grow them.

In a square-foot garden, seeds are planted in squares instead of rows, wasting little space. Using string or bamboo dowels (shown above left), gardeners map out a planting grid in raised beds. Vining crops are grown with trellises -- a space saver that also keeps vegetables from rotting on the ground. The benefits of square-foot gardening? You can plant the same amount of vegetables in 1/5 of the space, use less water, and no tilling is required.

The beds can be made any shape you like, four-by-four, two-by four, six-by-two, etc. Carey has 10 beds and is currently growing bok choy, herbs, broccoli, peppers, strawberries, onions, tomatoes, leeks, cabbages, radishes, carrots, Japanese cucumbers and flowers to “confuse the bugs.� It’s not surprising to learn that Carey, 75, would tackle gardening with such aplomb. She also teaches pole walking, digital photography and computer skills, and is raising her 14-year-old granddaughter. And she recently added square-foot gardening classes at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden to her busy teaching calendar.

This method is well-suited to seniors, she says, because the beds can be elevated to eliminate squatting. ‘Even people in wheelchairs can do it,’ she says. ‘Just put it on a sawhorse and drill holes in the plywood base.’

Gardening is a positive way for people to take charge of their lives, she says. ‘I’m always encouraging people to be more involved in life,’ she says. ‘If there is a God, I want him to tap me on the shoulder when I’m in the middle of something and tell me it’s time to go.’

Square-foot gardening classes, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. April 11, May 16 and June 13, 9 a.m. to noon. Classes are $22 for members, $25 for non-members. For more information, call (626) 821-4623.

-- Lisa Boone

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