It's a system of laying out, planting, and maintaining a productive, attractive garden in any amount of space. The garden is based on a grid of 1-by-1 foot squares, with single seeds or plants placed in carefully determined spacings. Climbing and sprawling crops like cucumbers, pole beans, squash and tomatoes are grown vertically to save space.

The square foot system lets you make the most of your garden space to conserve the amounts of water, soil conditioners and labor needed to produce a maximum amount of food in that space. A square foot garden takes only one-fifth the space and work of a conventional single-row garden to produce the same harvest and is easy to maintain so the garden stays neat, weedless, and uncluttered all season.

Beginning gardeners; suburban gardeners with small lots; homesteaders and large-scale gardeners who want to save space, time, and work; older folks who need to streamline their gardening activities; and busy people of all ages who don't have much time to spend on gardening chores.

...from Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew Click here for more information or to order

• When using plastics for storage, use only FOOD GRADE plastics, NOT trash bags, paint containers, etc.
  
• When canning, processing times and pressures given are for sea level. For our altitude, when using a boiling water canner add 10 minutes to the processing time. When pressure canning, process at a pressure of 15 lbs. if using a weighted-gauge canner, 12 lbs. if using a dial-gauge canner.
  
• When using dry ice to fumigate stored grains, a second treatment 2 - 3 wk later may be desirable to destroy insects hatched from eggs after the initial treatment.
  
• Store foods where they will not be subjected to extremes of heat or cold.
  
• Can low-acid foods such as corn, green beans, meats & fish with a pressure canner. A boiling water canner cannot reach the temperatures necessary to destroy botulism spores. If you live in the Boise area, Eagle Drug Store (Orville Jackson's) in Eagle has great prices on the best brand ("All-American") of pressure canner. They also have great prices on dehydrators, boiling-water canners, and just about any other food preservation equipment you could want.
  
• The recommended shelf life of home-canned foods is 1 yr. After a year, the quality of the food may begin to deteriorate; however, unless there are bulging lids or leaking contents, off odors or other signs of spoilage, it should still be safe to eat.
  
• Have your pressure canner lid tested yearly for proper pressure. In the Boise area, Boise Small Appliance tests lids.
  
• In the Boise area, Ada County's Master Food Preservers are available to answer your preservation & storage questions. When in doubt, give call them at the Extension office: 1-208-377-2107. In other areas, check the county or federal listings in your phone book for the USDA Extension office nearest you.