Here in Michigan, it has been a cold, snowy spring so far. My poor daffodils, tulips and hyacinths! However, the weather has finally turned into 50’s and 60’s. What a relief; I can’t take much more winter weather in April! ​​

Do you like to garden? I love to dig in the dirt and I have several perennial gardens. Every spring (delayed this year), I go “gung-ho” moving, dividing and/or weeding and always overdo it. But for me, the beauty for the rest of the summer is worth it! A few years ago, I decided I wanted to try vegetable gardening using a 4×8′ waist-high raised bed. This will be my 6th summer using it and I love it. See above for a picture from last year. The height makes it so easy to weed and harvest! I have learned a lot through trial and error and no year has been the same. I prefer to keep my garden as “organic” as possible, so it’s been interesting trying to find alternate ways to control bugs and weeds. 

​When I first started researching and learning how to vegetable garden, I came across a planning technique called Square Foot Gardening. It’s perfect for raised beds because it tells you how many number of plants you can fit into a square foot to get the most produce! Here’s a graphic that I use to plan:

Picture of square foot planting guide

If you want to learn more, here are some links and videos: 
What is Square Foot Gardening?
Why Choose Square Foot Gardening? 
Building a Square Foot Garden
Getting Started
Square Foot Gardening Mini Class Video
Gardening Tips and Tricks

​Have you used the square foot gardening method? Please comment below. Thank you for reading!