100ft Diet, Garden Update 2008

The first harvest of the new Season is in!

Oh sure I pulled some carrots out that overwintered in the garden, but this is fresh 2008 vintage tastiness. Not only that but it's the first time that I've grown mesclun and I'm very happy with it so far. About half of the bag is pure mesclun mix from under the pea plant trellises, The other half is a mix of baby spinach and arugula. I also was able to harvest some radishes (not pictured) that were very tasty as well. The grand total for the weigh in... drum roll please...
A whopping 14oz. :)
Honestly though, we are planning on keeping a running total this year of the amounts of food that we are able to produce from our yard. IT will kick in quite a bit once the cukes and zucchinis start to mature, but for now, I'm pretty pleased.
In years passed I've had a tough time growing spinach in our climate. We tend to go from cold early spring to hot late spring very abruptly and it tends to send the spinach's, actually all greens, bolting. This year, I am trying Straw mulch to help keep the moisture in, and the soil cooler. So far so good. I actually have seen a significant increase in a couple of plants since I mulched them. I did however, notice a breakout of small mite-ish bugs on some lettuces that I transplanted with straw around them. I don't know if the straw caused it or what, but I hit them with a bit of Diatomaceous Earth and it seems to be keeping the plants healthy. In case your unfamiliar with D.E., it is a natural mined mineral made up of the dried shells of ancient sea creatures. It works as an effective organic pest control for small pests like aphids, spiders, mites, etc. It also contains many trace minerals that are beneficial to the soil so it's a win win situation.

I am planning to go in depth into a gardening topic this week spurred on by a regular reader and fellow blogger. She's having a bit of a time with the learning curve associated with the Square Foot Garden method. I initially started my garden using this method as well but, as with so many of the things I do, I took the things that I found to be useful, and left the rest; even of those that I kept I modified to suit my needs and available supplies/budget. So I thought I'd go into a couple of the cheap workarounds and generally outline my philosophy regarding this system. What I'd like to hear from you is this. If you have used the SFG method, or are currently, what are your opinions of it? What issues have you had and how have you solved them, or are they even solved? I know I'm not the only "freelance" square footer out there, come on, chime in.
P~