COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL JULY 18, 2018
3B
Square Foot Gardening
Interested in growing vegetables, but don’t
have a lot of space? Square foot gardening may
be your solution. According to the Square Foot
Gardening Foundation, this method, which sep-
arates a gardening box into 12-inch by 12-inch
squares, with a different crop in each square,
saves time, tools, water, and of course, space.
The popularity of square foot gardening is
growing throughout the world, particularly in
Third World countries where residents rely on
home-grown food to eat but rarely have much
space to plant a garden.
This inventive form of gardening was started
by Mel Bartholomew, gardened as a hobby after
he retired from his work as a civil engineer. It
can be done on rooftops, yards and plots of all
sizes, such as community gardens.
While there is some strategy to square foot
gardening, it isn’t harder to grow successful
square foot garden, and there are many ways in
which it’s easier — little weeding, no rototilling
and no heavy tools. It starts with a box, good dirt
and an irrigation system.
The Box
Square foot gardening boxes are available
to buy, but you can also build your own. Use
untreated wood, or only treat the outside of the
box, to avoid the chemicals having contact with
the soil. Brick, cement, vinyl and even recycled
plastic can be used to build the box. Put weed
mat on ground beneath the box to ensure you
don’t get weeds in your garden.
The Soil
It’s just dirt, right? Not really. While you can
garden in many types of soil, the foundation
recommended equal parts coarse grade vermicu-
lite, sphagnum peat moss and organic compost.
For a 4-foot by 4-foot box, you need about one
cubic yard of soil. Squash may need a little extra
space as well. Tomatoes and peas will need some
structure to climb up.
The Grid
Add the grid using old window blinds or
wood, showing the gardener exactly how much
space is available for each crop. This could also
be done using twine. The most important factor
is to be able to easily delineate each square.
The Plants
Most backyard garden crops can also be grown
in a square foot garden. If you want to grow
tubers (potatoes, yams), carrots or other root
vegetables, ensure your garden is deep enough
that they can grow underneath the soil.
Future Years
For best success in your garden year to year,
plant different crops in each square so the nutri-
ents in the soil are spread out and not repeatedly
used by the same plant.
Oven-free summer
dinner ideas
Mid- to late-summer is appropriately known
as “the dog days of summer” because it can be
so doggone hot. The humid, sticky conditions
of late summer can make people feel sluggish
and looking for ways to cool down. The idea of
warming up the house by turning on the oven to
cook a meal may be especially unappealing.
Recipes that require little to no cooking — and
no stove — can be a home cook’s best friend as
summer progresses. Here are a few ideas to get
started.
Grilled paninis
Gather some favorite sandwich fixings, such as
sliced meats, vegetables and cheeses, and head
to the grill. Put ingredients between two slices
of crusty bread and place on the grill over low or
indirect heat. Weigh down the sandwiches with
cast-iron pans to flatten out the sandwiches.
Savory salads
Cool salads can be refreshing and light on
hot summer evenings. Salads can range from
tradition lettuce- or greens-based salads to pasta
salads and chicken or tuna salads. Mix ingredi-
ents in advance and store them in the refrigerator.
Serve chilled with toppings like shredded cheese,
bacon bits and croutons to dress up the salads.
Cold buffet
Summer is a time to avoid hearty, belly-filling
meals. Instead, produce a spread of finger foods,
ranging from crackers and cheese to vegetables
and dips. Fresh fruit also can accompany buf-
fet-style meals, as can slices of Italian bread and
homemade tomato bruschetta.
When the weather is hot, think cool, no-fuss
meals that keep the stove off but bellies full.
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Stay Cool and on Budget
As the temperatures go up, so do many peo-
ple’s electric bills as air conditioners crank on.
While people in some parts of the country will
always have to rely on cooling systems, the U.S.
Department of Energy recommended a number
of steps people can take to minimize how much
you have to run the AC.
Take Advantage of Cooler Hours
If the nights get cooler, turn off your air condi-
tioner and open your windows when the sun goes
down and the temperature drops enough to be
comfortable. In the morning, shut the windows
and blinds to keep the cool air inside. You can
also install window coverings that prevent heat
from coming in through the windows.
Turn it Up
Your living room doesn’t need to feel like a
sweat lodge, but do set the thermostat as high
as you can while still being comfortable. When
you’re away for long periods of time, set the
thermostat to a higher temperature. When you
return to a hot home, don’t set it lower than you
normally would; this won’t cool your house any
faster and likely will cost more. Consider a pro-
grammable thermostat to help keep your house
temperature reasonable.
Use Fans
Combined with air conditioning, the use of
ceiling fans allow you to set your thermostat
about 4 degrees higher than you normally would
with no noticeable change, because it moves the
cool air throughout the house. Use a fan in the
bathroom during a shower or bath, which will
remove the heat and humidity from your home.
Keep the Oven Off
Cook on the stove or on a grill to avoid heating
up your house with the oven. You can also avoid
turning on lights, which add to the ambient
temperature, and use the washing machine, dryer
and dishwasher only when you have full loads
and not during the heat of the day. Even curling
irons, hair dryers, computers and televisions can
contribute heat to your home.
Get Checked Out
Make sure your air conditioner or swamp cool-
er is running as efficiently as possible by getting
it checked out by a professional. You also can get
your home assessed to find cracks, broken seals
and other openings that allow hot air in and your
cooled air out. Caulk seams and add weather-
stripping to block that air flow.
An Easy, Beautiful
Flower Garden
Perennials are the types of low maintenance
flower that brighten up a yard or garden but don’t
require much attention from gardeners. Unlike
annuals, perennials last from year to year instead
of needing to be replanted each year. Better
Homes & Gardens collected a couple dozen of
the best perennials.
Here’s a roundup of the easiest, most beautiful
of these blooms.
Blanket flower is a drought- and heat-resistant
wildflower that produces bright pink and yellow
petals in a daisy-like bloom. This flower can
grow in poor soil and blooms through the sum-
mer and into the fall. It is short-lived.
Russian sage is a tall perennial filled with
stalks that produce an abundance of tiny blue
flowers. This plant blooms in the late summer
and likes the sun; it survives well in drought and
heat. More than
anything else,
Russian sage
needs room to
grow.
Asters
channel daisies
as they bloom,
with a beautiful
sunlike appear-
ance of petals
surrounding a
bright center.
FAMILY & FRIENDS
They bloom in late summer and autumn and
appear in pink, blue, purple and red, growing as
tall as five feet. They can grow in flower beds or
the borders of gardens and also look great in a
vase inside.
Yarrow is the flower for the first-time gardener
or the returning gardener who may not have a
green thumb. The flower can thrive in environ-
ments throughout the United States and can
survive cold, drought and heat. Yarrow pop up as
bright, flat-topped clusters in pink, yellow, white
and red that last from late spring to early fall.
Black-eyed Susans bloom from midsummer
until the first frost comes, often continuing to
show off it golden petals repeatedly throughout
the season. The flower is drought-tolerant and
grows well in hot, sunny environments.
Hardy hibiscus, unlike its more delicate trop-
ical cousin, can overwinter as far north as Zone
4 in the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, in
which winter temperatures can drop below zero.
They can grow to be several feet tall, with yel-
low, pink and red flowers the size of plates. They
need sun and a rich soil and won’t grow in spring
until soil temperatures heat up.
Daylilies bloom better in the sun, but they’ll
still produce flowers when growing in the shade.
They can grow in a variety of soil conditions and
are able to survive drought. All daylilies need
is a lack of competition; keep grass and weeds
away from this yellow-tinted white blooms.
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