Mittleider method versus square foot gardening, we win:)

Jim,
I would like to get the fertilizing method clarified.
For the past 3 years I have used the square foot
gardening method in raised beds. Last year I wasn't
as happy with my tomato production and realized when
my husband turned the bed that I would have to do
something with the soil. Initially it was 1/3 top
soil, 1/3 peat moss and 1/3 compost. So this spring,
I decided to do some online research on how to fix my
soil and came across the Mittleider Method. I thought
I would be able to encorporated some of these methods
with the square foot method. So, we added a bag of
manure to each raised bed. They are 4' x 10' for 3
and 4' x 8' for two. We worked this into the beds
along with some chopped leaves and peat moss. Once
the soil was well mixed we leveled it off and added
5-10-15 pre-planting fertilizer. As well bone meal
7-5-0 was sprinkled on tope of each bed as rabbit
control. This was done before I read the ebook on the
Mittleider method for fertilizing. Can I continue on
with the weekly fertilizing? Do I really add
fertilizer on a weekly basis? Since my beds are only
10' long, how much fertilizer would I use?

BTW, last year our garden with the exception of
tomatoes did well. I was able to can 21 quarts of
green beans besides what we ate fresh. It was a bad
gardening year too. It was too hot and too dry.
Tomatoes were really so so. Even zucchini did poorly
which is why I started looking for other methods. I
like the square foot method for higher yield
production in small areas yet the fertilizing makes a
lot of sense to me. So this year my garden is a mix
of the square foot method and Mittleider method along
with a heavy reliance of companion plantings.

Group:

I can't answer for what you can do, since you didn't say how much of anything you put in your beds, except the manure. I suspect you added more of the things you mention than needed, and you say nothing about the important secondary and trace minerals.

The reason fertilizing using the Mittleider Method produces such great gardens consistently year after year is that we always know just what we are adding to the soil, and we provide just what the plants need of all 13 natural mineral elements, without taking the risks of disease, weed seeds, and bugs that are so often associated with compost and manures.

We apply only small amounts of the Weekly Feed mix (5 ounces to a 10' row of plants) on a weekly basis until 3 weeks before harvest for single crop varieties, and until 8 weeks before first frost for everbearing plants like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.

Best of success to you. I do hope you'll give the Mittleider Method a fair chance. I'm conficent you'll bepleased with the easy and simple procedures, and expecially pleased with your yields of beautiful healthy produce.