Square-Foot Vegetable Gardening/English Transcript

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Buknoy: Hmm, where should I plant this? Maybe I should place the tomatoes here. What if...hmm, it doesn't matter! It can go wherever I want! There! That's okay! Now, time to plant these!

Kuya Edward: Uh...Buknoy, what is this?

Buknoy: Kuya Edward!

Kuya Edward: Is this what you planted?

Buknoy: I'm just planting, Kuya Edward. I'm already excited for my vegetable garden!

Kuya Edward: Wait, wait, wait, so this is you designed your vegetable garden?

Buknoy: Yes, it is. They all grow the same.

Kuya Edward: Wait! If this is how you place your fruits, it'll be difficult to take care of them!

Buknoy: Why?

Kuya Edward: It's all messed up, and not organized! If you add grass, it will be hard to remove. It is also too close, and they will battle for sunlight as well.

Buknoy: Really? Kuya, what will I do?

Kuya Edward: I only have one solution. Square-foot gardening!

(we see the label 'Square-Foot Gardening')

Buknoy: Square-foot gardening? What is that?

Kuya Edward: Square-foot gardening is a way of planting recognized by Mel Bartholomew.

(we see a picture and the label 'Mel Bartholomew')

Kuya Edward: He did this to add vegetables that does not need a lot of area. You can plant many despite little space. Because of this, you water little, which makes you save some. Little grass will be removed, and fertilizer can still be applied. This is an example of square-foot garden bed.

Buknoy: This is where we're going to farm?

Kuya Edward: Yes, it's 4ftx4ft, 6ft high. You can enlarge or shrink it. You can also separate it into squares, so a 4x4ft, can make 16.

(we see the label '16 Squares')

Kuya Edward: So, now, we're going to add soil.

Buknoy: Any soil you can use?

Kuya Edward: Well, Mel Bartholomew suggested a mix. Peat Moss, Vermiculite, and Compost.

(we see the labels 'Peat Moss', 'Vermiculite', and 'Compost')

Buknoy: There! It's full! Now, we can separate it into 16 squares? how can we do that?

Kuya Edward: We'll add a grid. Let's use these sticks.

Buknoy: Can you use any?

Kuya Edward: Yes, even tubes, as long as it's straight, so the squares are even.

Buknoy: One, two, three, four, five, sixteen! What's next, Kuya?

Kuya Edward: Planting time!

Buknoy: Yay! Let's pour water!

Kuya Edward: Wait, wait, wait! We need to first figure out what to plant! That's why we're using SFG, so it's organized, right?

Buknoy: Yes, is it one per square?

Kuya Edward: It depends on what you plant. The first thing we need to understand is that each plant has a different number for each individual square. It differs per square foot and we call this the 'spacing requirement'.

(we see the label 'Spacing Requirement')

Kuya Edward: For example, you can only plant one tomato tree, because it requires lots of space to grow. There are also ones for 4 in one square foot, 9, and 16.

Buknoy: One, four, nine, and sixteen. Wow! You can add so many in one square!

Kuya Edward: If it's a tomato, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, or squash, you can only add one.

(we see the label '1 Plant / Square Foot')

Kuya Edward: four for lettuce, basil, and other leaf greens,

(we see the label '4 Plants / Square Foot')

Kuya Edward: nine for radish and spinash,

(we see the label '9 Plants / Square Foot')

Kuya Edward: and sixteen for carrots, radish, or turnip.

(we see the label '16 Plants / Square Foot')

Buknoy: Yay! Our square-foot garden is finished!

Kuya Edward: See? Isn't it better? And it's much easier to take care of when the plants grow.

Buknoy: I'm so excited to grow my vegetable garden!

Kuya Edward: And do you know that you can earn income?

Buknoy: Really?

Kuya Edward: Yes, you can sell them, so you can have more money!

Buknoy: Oh, yeah! It helps my mama and papa!

Kuya Edward: Surely they will be happy for you! But first, you have to take care of them.

Buknoy: Oh, yes, Kuya. I will water them, remove the grass, and make them have enough sunlight.

Kuya Edward: But there's still one more thing to do to fix your garden.

Buknoy: Huh? Isn't it already finished?

Kuya Edward: This...is what's not fixed.

Buknoy: Oh, right. (laughs) Sure, I'll clean that!

Kuya Edward: Did you know, Buknoy, that when you fix your garden, you need to return the tools, to prevent accidents.

Buknoy: Yes, from now on, I will clean all those tools to make it easier.

Kuya Edward: Don't worry, I will help you on that. Oh, we'll just clean this! Try a square-foot garden. We'll see you again in our next AgriStory only here in...Agricoolture! Goodbye!

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