SC Symposium & Homeless Helping Homeless

Stephen Gibbs first contacted SFGF in March requesting a visit from Mel for the grand opening of the new Homeless Helping Homeless Square Foot Gardens in Columbia South Carolina. Stephen's enthusiasm for this event spread quickly throughout the SFGF staff and soon travel plans were made including a 3 day symposium. Mel was planning to go but unfortunately was unable to because of his fall. SFGF staff was undaunted and with Mel's encouragement carried out the plans on April 28-30. Scholarships to the symposium were awarded to Charles W. Witherspoon and William Sweat. They along with Stephen Gibbs began the HHH Square Foot Gardens just one month ago. When the symposium visited the site they had many nice boxes already in place with vegetables growing. Attendees helped to make Mel's Mix, pinch tomato shooters and even turn compost. Stephen has been very proactive in getting a lot of help and donations from the community. He plans to make a patio on the HHH garden site to hold a barbecue for the Mayor cooking the vegetables grown there.

Stephen Gibbs & William Sweat

RIGHT-William Sweat, Stephen Gibbs & Charles Witherspoon,now all SFG certified teachers, worked to begin this community garden for the Homeless

35 Year SFG Celebration

Plans are in the works for a big reunion at Disneyworld in Florida this summer. It will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Mel presenting SFG to the world in 1976. It will be a 3 day celebration around July 4 for anyone that loves SFG. Save that time now to be with Mickey and Mel! More coming soon!

Spring Fling Contest!

Enter your Spring poem, photo or adaption of the stock power point to win! Teachers will be the judges! Victoria will award $20 SFG gift certificate for best poem and best photo. The best Power point will receive a FREE CASE of SFG books! 10 All New,5 cook and 5 original. Send your entry to sfgteachers@gmail.com

Square Foot Gardening 101

Check out this excellent SlideShare Presentation by Linna Ferguson:

Square Foot Gardening 101

View more presentations from vafoodscaper.

More Classic Quiz Answers

Santi Rogers,Kansas City,MO
Question: After learning, studying, and implementing SFG in your own yard, what have you experienced?

Healing!!!!!!!! I am originally from california and due to a life threatening health issue I decided to take a vacation to the heartland to get away for awhile. I ended up stopping in Kansas City and moved into an apartment at a complex on large acreage. I was introduced to a quadriplegic resident who began to share with me his love for gardening and gave me a grand tour of his garden plot near his apartment. He asked if he could pay me to be his hands and tend to his garden. I was so physically ill I didn’t feel my work would be worthy of a wage. I told him we could be partners and my pay would be his company and some of the produce. Almost everyday I was in the garden for hours and often was invited in his home to eat healthy meals. Within weeks I was on my way to complete recovery. Since then I got to start a large community garden where I live and have also had the opportunity to help start over 22 backyard gardens. I have met life long friends and learned valuable information that will keep me healthy and others.

Gina Dykes Denver,CO.
Question: New Opportunities: Whether the SFG is done on a small scale, i.e. a personal garden to the large scale farming the SFG is adaptable in any climate all around the world. Humanitarian projects have been successfully completed in developing countries using the SFG method. A large space is not required to have a profitable farming/gardening enterprise using the SFG system. The possibilities are endless when applying the entire concept of the SFG outside the garden and in the everyday life situations. This system is changing how any idea or situation can have an alternative perspective. When we grow inside the SFG box, we are thinking “outside the box.”

Classic Quiz Answers

Q:The All New SFG book describes Ten Major New Improvements to the Original Square Foot Garden method. In your own words, describe those ten items here and tell why each is important
F. New Boxes – Above the ground You assemble easy to build bottomless boxes out of common lumber that most big box stores will cut to length into 4 foot lengths. Don’t care for the wood look? Use brick, blocks, or stone. There is one garden I know of that is a series of dinner plates standing on edge overlapping each other. Very colorful and recycling grins all in one. The boxes define the garden space. You will fill with the perfect soil, plant and enjoy. No back-breaking shovel, no bone rattling rototiller, no weeds. It is easy to tend the garden because it is contained and you can reach each square. Beverly Servadio of CA
Q: When purchasing bags of compost, what are the advantages to buying several types You need as many ingredients as possible -
no one compost has all the nutrients. The more types of compost you have the better chance of having a nutrient rich Mel's Mix.
Steve Earls of FLA
[Image] Steve Earls' SFG

Q: How can you make the world a better place through the use of sharing SFG with others?For me, this starts one on one. As A Master Gardener Volunteer, I am teaching SFG to an office community garden called the USDA peoples garden. All ready 2 in the group are creating SFGs at their homes. The word is shared exponentially.
Jeanne Quartz of OH

Boy Scouts Celebrate 100 Years with SFG

 Amie Hall of CT has been instrumental in aiding the Boy Scouts of America in her community to receive grants for materials to make SFG box kits. The project was in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of scouting this year.  The Scouts cut, drilled and packed the wood box kits that also included Mel's Mix.   With the money they brought in from these sales they were able to buy materials for 20 more kits that they donated to local churches, needy families, libraries and schools.