Gardening Adventures
Planning Your Garden
Gardening is a treasured hobby for many people. It’s a way to relax, spend time connected to the Earth, all while providing a moment to breathe in the aromas of soil and flowers. It’s also a way to become food-independent, allowing people to grow their fruits, vegetables, and herbs on their own – the way they want it grown. However, that’s not true for everyone! Gardening may seem intimidating to others, especially beginner gardeners who don’t have the years of hands-on experience. People who’ve never started their own garden often say they have a “black thumb” holding the perception that there’s a steep learning curve to growing plants. We’re going to help make it a little easier for you! At CedarCraft, we’re big fans of the Square Foot Gardening concept developed by Mel Bartholomew. Square Foot Gardening is a uniquely simplified system of gardening that eliminates 80% of the: Space Work Weeds Watering Waste Square Foot Gardening creates a planting grid within your planters with each crop having its own square. There are four spacing guidelines: Extra Large fruits and vegetables are allowed one plant per square for 12 inch spacing Large fruits and vegetables have 4 plants per square for 6 inch spacing Medium allows for 9 plants per square for 4 inch spacing Small fruits, vegetables, and herbs have 16 plants per square for 3 inch spacing. You can use the seed packet to find out what spacing your plant needs. A tomato or green pepper plant needs one per square, while radishes and carrots need 16 per square. There are online planning guides that can help you map this out, too. This system works perfectly with your CedarCraft planters. We’ve broken down the square feet in each one of our planters for you: CedarCraft Cascading Planter CedarCraft Elevated Planter CedarCraft Urban Planter CedarCraft Raised Garden Planter Once you have a grid system mapped out, you’ll need to double check a companion planting guide to make sure your plants can share the same planter. Some plants don’t grow well together. Beans: Don’t plant near chives, garlic, leeks, onions, peppers, marigolds Peas: Don’t plant near chives, garlic, leeks, onions, peppers Broccoli and Cauliflower: Don’t plant near peppers, squash, strawberries, tomatoes Tomatoes: Don’t plant near broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, cucumbers Dill: Don’t plant near carrots You can follow our CedarCraft Pinterest boards for gardening tips, companion planting guides, and examples of what people are growing in their own Square Foot Gardens!
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Sustainable and Beautiful Cedar
There are a variety of reasons that people start a garden, but one of the big motivators is the sustainability that comes from growing your own vegetables. It’s both healthier for you and for our environmental impact. CedarCraft launched in 2014 with a mission to provide sustainably-crafted elevated garden planters for limited spaces and for gardeners who struggle to find an attractive, easy-to-assemble planter. Our elevated planters also help gardeners who struggle with bending down and offer an easy solution to protect herbs, flowers and vegetables from unwanted animals. Sustainability is important to us at CedarCraft. When the founder of Gorman Brothers Lumber, Ross Gorman, observed the large amount of cedar that was being lost in the lumber mill process, he took action to rescue that material and put it to good use. Trim end pieces that were being scrapped for mulch and waste are now collected and graded, edge glued and the planed into the smooth panels used to make our planters. CedarCraft is proud to declare that no trees are specifically harvested to produce our products. All material used is Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI/PEFC) Certified and are made using 100 percent sustainably grown and untreated Western Red Cedar. New techniques used in the forest have many advantages over older ones. Instead of ‘falling' trees that may damage other ones around them, Gorman Brothers Lumber uses a harvester that holds the tree while it is cut and then carefully lays it down. Their work in the forest has improved in many areas and one of the most important is the use of new machines that evenly spread their weight so they have less impact than that of the human foot! This, coupled with a better scientific basis for sustainable forestry, has greatly improved the health of our forests. Our CedarCraft planters can grow natural, healthy food in an earth-friendly manner wherever you wish, including outdoor patios, gardens or backyards!
Learn moreIt all starts with an idea
Welcome to CedarCraft's blog where we are going to help your ideas come to life! Each month we're going to share tips and inspiration to help you add freshness and beauty to your home in creative and simple ways. We'll help you get the most out of your raised gardens for a successful harvest of herbs and vegetables. And we'll share easy design projects to add that "something special" to your living spaces.
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