How does your garden grow? Square Foot Gardening, Take 2...

This is the second year we're trying out the Square Foot Gardening method. Last year the veggies grew like gangbusters. We had so much fun with it.

Until the plague hit.

See that cute little green guy up there? I always thought they were good bugs. Turns out they're just buggers. They annihilated my garden last year. And I let them. Because I had no idea what they were capable of.

This year I'm armed. With knowledge. And a shoe. If those grasshoppers come back, I'm gonna whack 'em. You've been warned, grasshoppa.

I learned some other things from last year's garden. And I've made changes accordingly. I'm not following the Square Foot Gardening method as strictly this year because it got overcrowded. So here's what I learned...

• plant less plants
• plant only 1 tomato plant to each square
• plant all of the tomato plants next to each other at one end of the garden. They spread too much if you intersperse them and interfere with the neighboring veggie's sunlight and happiness.
• plant the other tall growing vines like green beans and cukes next to the tomatoes at one end of the garden also. Same reasoning as above.
• zucchini is an ENORMOUS plant. Make sure you plant it at the end of the garden where it will have room to wander.
• you need major supports for tomato plants. Those little cages they sell at the garden store are NOT big enough. BSD made super wide, super tall chicken wire cages this year. We'll see how those work.
• bean stalks will grow into the clouds just like they did for Jack. Be prepared. I'm not prepared yet.
• strawberry plants will stay in the garden all winter here and grow new strawberries in the spring. Great for the gardening ego.
• I cannot seem to grow lettuce. Spinach and Swiss chard, yes. But lettuce ain't happening. I need lettuce. What's up?!?

So...we planted this year's garden over Spring Break. The tomatoes and cilantro were little starter plants from the nursery. The rest we planted seeds. Here's how it looked a week later...

 I don't know why there's a border around this picture.

Those large plants in the foreground are the strawberries leftover from last summer. They are thriving and spreading. If the veggies don't pan out, in a few years, we'll just have a U-Pick strawberry farm.

I love the way this picture looks kind of Mayberry RFD-ish.

I'll keep you posted on how the garden grows this year. If anyone has any experience with grasshoppers, I'd love to hear how you got rid of them. Or any advice on why I can't grow lettuce?