[Arid_gardener] "Square foot" question

[Carolyn Stoffel]

I've done some reading about "square foot gardening" (not the book, 
though) and recently purchased peat moss, vermiculite, and several kinds 
of compost but haven't opened any of it.

At the recent Fall Festival (Hi, Olin; Hi, Dick) a couple of the Master 
Gardeners recommended against the peat moss on the basis that when it 
dries out, it stays dry. They suggested pumice instead. However, the 
pots I saw with pumice had very little, so I'm trying to figure out what 
to use instead of peat moss for the necessary(?) bulk.

I did buy a bag of pumice and one of worm castings at the Festival but I 
was planning to add those in much smaller quantities - perhaps a cup of 
each to a couple of scoops - each - of the vermiculite and compost.

I have a couple of cut-down Phoenix garbage cans (look more like horse 
feeders than composters) that I was going to use initially, which will 
be considerably deeper than the square foot recommendation, but I wanted 
something I could plant now.

I have a small jar of old ranunculus seed that I'll just scatter thickly 
(rather than spacing out) in one. The seed is so old and wasn't stored 
properly, so it may not germinate at all. I also have ranunculus and 
gladioulus bulbs, quite old and poorly stored, so I'll plant them with a 
minimum of fussing - if they come up, fine.

I'll have to consult some of the handouts I picked up at the Festival. I 
know I have gazania (old), zinnia (fresh), four o'clocks (old), Santa 
Claus melons (fresh, from a melon), jojoba (uhhhh.... no place for 
those), Shirley poppies (old), and spaghetti squash (old). Oh, and 
jicama (old).

And the onions (two Egyptian walking onions) and the multiplying onion I 
bought at the Festival. The latter is not looking well at all. I'm 
feeling very black-thumbed at the moment.

There are other things I'd like to try but I have a tendency to bite off 
more than I can chew, then quit, so I'm trying to start small.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Carolyn Stoffel