Saturday, March 10, 2012

Project: Planting Templates

In my raised beds I use square foot garden spacing.  This allows me to maximize the amount of veggies I can squeeze into my garden and minimize the space that weeds have to grow.  My problem is that I am lazy about actually measuring the distance between seeds or seedlings, so I guess and my guessing is not always so accurate.  Then I saw a blog post about making planting templates and knew this was something I needed. 

I decided to use vinyl tiles (without the adhesive on the back) so that they would be water proof without any extra steps.  The ones I got were $0.73 each.


I then made the measurements:
  • 4 plants per square
  • 9 plants per square
  • 16 plants per square


Next is the drilling.  You need core drill bits that make circles.  Jeff had a 2" one and a 3 1/2" one, so that's the sizes I used.  I used the 2" core bit for the 16 and 9 plant templates and the 3 1/2" one for the 4 plant template. 

This is what it looks like when Jeff drilled:



 This is what happened when I tried:


Good thing the tiles are cheap!  I learned that it is important to have the tile secure so it doesn't start spinning and a slight rocking motion helps to prevent from breaking the tile.

Attempt two:


Success!

When I had to get a replacement tile I went ahead and got two, just in case.  I ended up using the spare tile making a one plant template.  Here's the complete collection:


I've already tried them out planting radish and spinach and it makes planting easy and fast.  No more guessing for plant spacing!

6 comments:

  1. Wow, that's brilliant! I'm thinking of starting a square foot garden this year and your templates will help!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a great idea, though I prefer the Jeavons hexagonal spacing myself.... I think this would work just fine for that too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm going to have to look into this Jeavons hexagonal spacing... never heard of it.

      Delete
  3. They are brilliant - perfectly suited to the purpose.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are a great idea! We made planting jobs a year ago (http://foodgardenkitchen.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/heat-wave/) but I found I don't use them all that often; really only for certain seeds and even then only as a guide. I guess I don't stay within the lines very well :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have just finished drawing my templates and am looking forward to cutting them out. Used some scrap plywood. I've got some plants growing on my window sill waiting for this West Virginia weather to stabilize. It's like a box of chocolates, you never know what to expect. LOL!

    ReplyDelete