Written by Kristina Hicks-Hamblin
What if the answer to solving food insecurity was within our individual reach? We certainly think that’s the case here at the Square Foot Gardening Foundation!
The SFG Method is an adaptable, organic approach, making it the perfect way to get food on the table – no matter who you are.
Created by Mel Bartholomew, this gardening Method is especially easy to adapt to different environmental situations and limited gardening skills, making it a benefit even in communities that lack access to land, gardening knowledge and financial resources.
In fact, with a bit of resourcefulness, this food growing solution can be used in nearly any environment and any ability to garden!
Ready to learn more about how Square Foot Gardening helps solve food insecurity? Read on!
A Flexible Growing Medium
Gardeners water their raised bed gardens in Guatemala.
While Mel’s Mix is used as a growing medium instead of soil in the SFG Method, Mel Bartholomew wanted gardeners to know that straight compost could be used instead.
Growing in straight compost makes this food growing technique more accessible to more people.
For instance, in Guatemala, gardeners working on a SFG project lead byCultiva International used compost from the local forest to fill their raised beds.
Other gardeners can take inspiration from this resiliency by creating a low budget growing medium made from their own homemade compost, or compost sourced from a local waste management program.
Mix and Match Materials
While new lumber is often used to create raised beds, this material is by no means the only option.
Many alternative materials can be used to form the four sides of a raised bed, including repurposed wood boards, logs, concrete blocks, straw bales, and more!
In fact, one Certified Instructor (CI) in Nigeria by the name of Bosede Olanrewaju, used plastic bags to create the sides of his raised beds.
And when it comes to those hallmarks of the SFG Method, the grids, there are plenty of low-budget, creative options as well.
Instead of wood slats, locally harvested bamboo or sticks can be used. Another inexpensive possibility is to fasten strings across beds to form grids, though this may need to be replaced as string breaks down in the elements.
Whether out of economic necessity or old-fashioned thriftiness, repurposing materials can help preserve forests as well as keeping perfectly usable resources out of landfills.
