Thanks John,

I ran across that site as part of the research. I have also checked out the square-foot gardening
approach and have Mel's book.

It appears to me that most classic four-square designs have a conventional approach to the plantings
in each of the squares, i.e. the vegetables are planted in rows within each square with conventional
spacing between plants and rows. The picture of the four-square on the web page you provided
illustrates that. The square-foot gardening approach, as do other intensive planting schemas, has
raised beds and bed widths of only about 4 feet, much smaller than the area of one of the squares in
a kitchen garden.

So am I correct in assuming that the classic four-square kitchen garden doesn't really fit well with
the raised bed intensive gardening approach?

Herein lies my dilemma. I like the idea of raised beds because of soil conditions on my property
and the ability to grow things in a more compact area. I also very much like the aesthetics, the
historical flavor and the nostalgia, if you will, of the classic kitchen garden. I fear if I try to
use raised beds, in the mold of square-foot gardening approach, I will lose that and my garden will
resemble a lot of sandboxes (that what some raised beds look like to me).

BTW, I like your approach to bed design. Some plants can become nuisances due to their invasive
nature. Your designs help reign them in.

Dutch


"ecologicals" wrote in message
a...



"Dutchman" wrote in message
...
I've done a little research and understand the history and basics of a
four-square garden. I'm in
the process of transforming an area of my backyard into a garden. I like
the concept of the
four-square design and will be using raised beds due to my soil
conditions. I'm trying to get a
better visualization of the garden and am looking for any design ideas.
I've picked up a book on
kitchen gardens and though it referenced the four-square design, it didn't
give me anything with
which to better visualize the layout, size and scope of the garden. Does
anyone have experience
with this sort of design or can point me to some pictures or layouts?

Many Thanks
Dutch
Good question, actually.
The background is he
http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/kitch...n/simpson.html
for anyone interested. As to a virtual 3d layout, sorry. Best bet is drawing
paper (1/4" blocks) ruler and pencil. We do a fair number of Edibles garden
designs but each space is different so there are few useful "rules" other
than the normal stuff; slope if any, east/south/west solar path, prevailing
wind, any trees that may shade too much, etc.
Gardening is learning!

--
John H. Immink

www.renaissancegardens.com/