Food For Everyone Gardening Seminar Outline

Food For Everyone Gardening Seminar Outline

Classroom Instruction – 2 /1/2 hours
1.History and development of unique world-wide gardening methods.
2.Six Laws of Plant Growth – DVD Presentation of Sustainable Gardening.
3.Instruction in “The poor man’s hydroponic method” of gardening.
4.Instruction in “The best of organic” method of gardening.
5.When (based on ADLF), how, and where to plant all 4 types of vegetables.
6.Extend your growing season both Spring and Fall – Protecting your plants.
7.Organic vs chemical feeding of plants – the best of both worlds.
8.Heirloom vs hybrid seeds and how to avoid GMO seeds.
9.Growing your own seedlings for healthier plants early and late.
10.Gardening in the soil – “A great garden in any soil, with no soil amendments.”
11.Tools and techniques for eliminating weeds from the garden.
12. Video on creating and caring for a soil-bed garden with only ½ the water.
13.Successful gardening in containers of any size – Introduction to Grow-Boxes.
14.Controlling bugs, diseases, and animal pests.
15.Vertical growing to increase yields and reduce losses from pests and diseases.
16.In-The-Garden greenhouse for protection from both cold and heat.

In The Garden – Hands-on Workshop – 2-4 hours
1.Introduction to essential gardening tools and equipment.
2.Demonstrate proper soil preparation including elimination of weeds.
3.Plan and organize garden space to maximize sunshine & water availability.
4.Create a working soil-bed garden with raised, ridged beds.
5.Build Grow-Boxes (containers) and fill with soil mix materials.
6.Apply balanced natural mineral nutrients to the soils for a healthy garden.
7.Build T-Frames, install and demonstrate their use in growing vertically.
8.Discuss and demonstrate planting and covering seeds in all types of soil.
9.Teach and demonstrate planting seedlings in soil and container gardens.
10.Demonstrate watering methods for maximum results with minimum water.
11.Build and demonstrate ease of use and other benefits of automated watering.
12.Daily and weekly care and feeding of your garden for maximum yield.
13.Build and Demonstrate use of mini-greenhouses to extend growing season.
14.Demonstrate greenhouse-in-the garden to protect plants from heat & cold.


Food For Everyone Foundation
4348 Spring Brook Lane
Gardendale, Alabama 35071
(205) 607-6210 - (801) 915-4449
www.foodforeveryone.org - jim@growfood.com

Harvest 3 Mittleider garden

Another Great harvest from my Mittleider sustainable organic garden

Update on Mittleider garden 2010

Please check out my latest info on my garden I created this lens for the Squidoo sunshine award and guess what we won. Please check it out and pass it on.

Amazing gardening year so far

I have been blessed to find the Mittleider method.
The fact there is a Non-Profit teaching it around the world is icing on the cake.
It is an honor to help them and Mittleider gardening has kept myself and some friends feed for the last 3 years.

The proof is in the yields.
Thank You Dr. Jacob Mittleider and also
Jim Kennard who started the Food for Everyone Foundation

Here is our

Vimeo organic gardening channel

Do what you can to help a Non-Profit in an area you love and are passionate about. It is the best buzz there is.

2010 Phase two Mittleider garden setup

This years Mittleider garden is going to be the biggest and the most accurate ever.

The beauty of the Mittleider method is it is based on science and over 40 years of testing around the world by Dr. Jacob Mittleider all plants need the same 16 nutrients.
Check this out To find out exactly how to feed your plants correctly

Jim Kennard President of Food for Everyone Foundation

Our master gardening portfolio

Food for Everyone Foundation master web 2.0 properties. If you are a member please join in and say hi. Lets make 2010 the best year yet for the Food for Everyone Foundation.

Interview with Jim Kennard founder of the Food for Everyone Foundation.

Custom made soil

Q. In the past I have purchased bags of potting soil, cut out a portion and planted right in the bag in my little greenhouse. However the plants that I have transplanted a week or so ago in the custom made soil are doing really well. I made it with sawdust and washed sand. I would like to replace the bags with custom made soil in pots placed in plastic flats on the benches in the green house but I would like a lighter mix. Can I make it with peat moss or sawdust, perlite and vermiculite? I would also use this for seed starting.

A. We recommend any of several combinations of materials for your potting soil for seedling production. Normally we encourage people to find the items that are available and inexpensive - and in some countries that may include rice hulls and/or ground coconut husks, or even coffee hulls.

In America, sawdust is often the least costly available material, so it is first on our recommended list.

Peat moss and perlite are also excellent materials. Vermiculite is okay, but doesn't last as long as the others. We like sand as a part of the mix, to improve the drainage characteristics of the mix, and normally recommend 25-35% sand, along with any combination of the other materials you prefer.

Perlite and vermiculite can replace the sand if you prefer, but I personally would always include some sand in my mix - even if it is less than 25%.

Eliminating Weeds - How To Do It.

Q. How do I eliminate weeds when just starting a garden?

A. I believe there is only one really effective way, without poisoning the ground (which is one way, of course).

Rake up all materials on the surface of the soil and remove them, until the soil is completely bare.

Take a round-headed shovel, and starting in one corner of your proposed new garden plot, turn over the soil, then break up the clods and remove all roots.

Continue doing this until you have used up your time and/or energy for the day.

Come back the next day and do it some more, until your time and energy coincides with your desires for a large garden.

When you have cleared and cleaned all the ground you physically can or are willing to either do yourself or hire done, that is your garden plot.

A small garden plot without weeds, and done using the Mittleider Method, will give you more vegetables with much less work and far more pleasure than a much larger plot that is poorly prepared.

Safe Wood Treatment for Vegetable Grow-Boxes

Some have worried about using treated lumber to make their Grow-Boxes because of warnings about harmful materials in store-bought treated lumber.
Following is a recommended treatment you can apply yourselves to untreated lumber. This comes from an article in a recent Organic Gardening magazine, for which we thank them.

• "Melt 1 ounce of paraffin wax in a double boiler. DO NOT heat over a direct flame (that's a great way to start a fire).
• Off to the side, carefully place slightly less than a gallon of solvent (mineral spirits, paint thinner or turpentine at room temperature) in a bucket, then slowly pour in the melted paraffin, stirring vigorously.
• Add 3 cups exterior varnish or 1.5 cups boiled linseed oil to the mix, stirring until the ingredients are blended. When it cools, you can dip your lumber into this mixture or brush it onto the wood."

This should give you several years' extended life for your Grow-Boxes.

The other alternative, as I have suggested previously, is to paint them with a good exterior paint – preferably acrylic. The boxes in Dr. Mittleider's back-yard garden were in use for 25 years.

Introducing the Best Gardening Methods on the Planet

My name is Jim Kennard, and as President of the Food For Everyone
Foundation I am excited to help in fulfilling the foundation's
mission of "teaching the world to grow food one family at a time."

We do this by providing a wealth of free vegetable gardening
information, training, tips, and advice on the internet at
www.foodforeveryone .org. People from all over the world come here
to receive free training and advice, as well as to obtain the great
gardening books, CDs and software written by Dr. Jacob R.
Mittleider.

The Mittleider Gardening Basics Course ebook is free on the
website. The book-length FAQ section also has 365 short gardening
articles, which answer people's questions and give advice on many
vegetable gardening subjects.

In addition we have free greenhouse plans and free plans for
automating your garden watering system, as well as a free gardening
group where you can share knowledge and experience with thousands of
successful vegetable gardeners.

I'll briefly introduce you to the Foundation's gardening methods by
describing a few things about the Mittleider Method that are
important, and which distinguish it from other gardening methods.

Most of the time our gardens are grown right in the native soil,
with no amendments. We promise you "a great garden in any soil, in
almost any climate". From straight sand to the worst clay, we'll
show you how to have success growing healthy, delicious vegetables
the first time and every time.

Grow-Boxes, or containers are sometimes needed for people living in
apartments, and for disabled people. Container gardening can be
just as effective as growing in the soil, and 2 ½ of Dr.
Mittleider's 10 books are dedicated to the unique features of the
container gardening process.

The Mittleider Method is sometimes called "the poor man's hydroponic
system", because we use some of the principles and procedures of
greenhouse growers, such as vertical growing, feeding the plants
accurately throughout their growing cycle with natural mineral
nutrients, and sometimes extending the growing season in both the
spring and fall.

The Second major element in the Foundation's mission is teaching,
training, and assisting people directly. One way we do this in
America is by conducting free ½-day group gardening seminars. These
can be arranged by contacting me by email at jim@growfood. com.

We also conduct humanitarian projects in many countries throughout
the world. In 2006 I went to Armenia with my wife Araksya and spent
5 months - from February to mid July. We created a gardening
training center in the village of Getk, with housing, classroom,
greenhouse, and 3/4 acre garden. We taught students, who became the
gardening experts in their own villages, and we assisted them in
working with about 200 families in those villages. We left the
training center and garden in the able hands of an Armenian couple,
and expect the work will continue there, with our occasional visits.

In Armenia, as in other places we've worked, we grew many kinds of
vegetables the locals thought couldn't possibly be grown in "their
region", and often had many non-participating village families
coming to our garden for advice, coaching, and free produce.

Another way in which we extend our reach is to train others who are
becoming missionaries for their churches. One example is Howard and
Glenice Morgan, from Southern California, who just returned from a 2-
year mission to Zimbabwe. They were sent to teach Mittleider
gardening to their church members throughout the country, and they
did a FABULOUS job.

They prepared by studying the Mittleider gardening books. Then,
after some training in my garden at Utah's Hogle Zoo, and using only
the simple 6 Steps to Successful Gardening, the Morgans created 84
large gardens and taught over 10,500 people to feed themselves by
growing their own healthy vegetables.

And Howard and Glenice thanked me for helping them have the time of
their lives! Howard was a retired dentist, by the way, with very
little previous experience in gardening.

So, whatever level you are currently on, you too can experience this
kind of success – whether it's in your own home garden, a community
effort, or as a humanitarian missionary in some distant country.

Join us as a Mittleider Method gardener, for the best gardens of
your life.

Jim Kennard

All about the Mittleider Organic Gardening Program

Welcome to the Mittleider Gardening Program. It is a proven, efficient, High-yield method with a 100 percent record of success in growing vegetables and field crops for 39 years, in 29 countries and 77 separate demonstrations around the world. This booklet is a capsule form of the procedures:

Part I - General Information:
1. Soil is soil, whether sand, calcareous, clay, adobe, gravely, rocks, peat, no red worms, no humus, etc. Land quality is not a major concern.

2. There are only two kinds that cannot be used:
A. Soils in or under standing water.
B. Toxic soils, meaning they contain high levels of toxic chemicals. Examples: boron, aluminum, sodium, etc.

3. Nearly all soils available to gardeners are poor, hard, or rocks, and devoid of humus and red worms.

4. If this is the picture of your soil you have nothing to fear. Follow the simple outlines that follow and you will be rewarded with the healthiest, tastiest produce that can be grown.

5. No previous gardening experience is necessary. If you have only rocks, then study the information on Grow-Boxes. Yes you can grow vegetables on rocks.

6. If you have land (dirt), whether good or bad, study the information on Soil-Beds. You can use the very poorest ground just as it is - no amendments are needed.

7. Plants, like people, need 16 nutrients. Three (carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen) come from the air. Thirteen can be regulated by man. A complete nutrient mix, containing all thirteen nutrients, has been developed and is available in many places as Mittleider Magic Weekly Feed. Giving your plants all the essential nutrients will let you grow a great garden in any soil, in any climate, with a minimum of cost and effort per unit of production, simply by following the instructions below.

8. Materials list - String, hammer, pick axe, stakes (4/bed), shovel, 12" rake, scuffle hoe, spirit level, fertilizers (Mittleider Magic or Part III (5)(E) & Part VIII.

Part II - Soil Bed Gardening:

1. Soil Beds are narrow strips of land (dirt).

2. A standard size is 18" wide, 30' long. The length can vary, according to the slope of the land, or the size of your property, but the width should not vary. The aisles between the beds are 3 ½' wide.

3. The Soil Beds have ridges on both sides and a flat area 10" to 12" wide at the base (bottom) between the ridges.

4. The Soil Beds should be level and the ends of the beds are closed off to hold water in the narrow strip. However, in high rainfall areas the ends must be open for drainage.

5. Plants and/or seeds are planted on both sides of the 10" to 12" flat area.
6. Water is channeled along the base of the ridges between the two rows of plants.

7. There are two rows of most varieties of vegetables planted in each Soil-Bed. But cucumbers, tomatoes, melons, pole beans, and squash have only one row in a bed.

8. Plants are living things and need living space. Therefore, the space between plants varies from 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, and 21", depending on the variety (see seed packet,The Mittleider Gardening Course, or The Garden Master CD).

9. Granulated fertilizers are applied in a narrow band down the center of the bed where water is applied.

10. Some plants are natural climbers. Some others can be trained to grow vertically. Vertical growing has very specific advantages, including less space required and elimination of losses from insects, disease, and foot traffic.

Part III - Step By Step In Your Garden:

1. Choosing a garden plot:
A. Avoid trees, shade, shadows, strong winds, steep North slopes, low wet areas, etc.
B. Essential elements are sunlight (all day long if possible), drainage (gentle Southern slope is ideal), and adequate water.

2. Preparing the Plot:
Remove rocks, brush, annual and perennial weeds (dig up roots, rhizomes, and runners), and junk. Clear and haul away everything, down to the bare leveled ground. Install water supply to end of each Soil Bed. Enclose with good high fence.

3. Garden size:
Consider the amount of time available, the tools to use, whether hand tools or machines - roto-tiller, etc., the type of terrain - sloping or flat, and the size of your family. Only do what can be cared for comfortably and well. Measure, stake, and tie strings to define the garden perimeter.


4. Measure and stake the individual Soil Beds. The standard size bed is 18" wide, 30' long, with aisles between beds 3 ½', and aisles on the ends 5' wide.

5. Making the Soil Beds:
A. Tie two strings to the 4 stakes that outline the 18" wide Soil Beds.

B. With a common garden rake pull a little soil from the aisles (2-4"), on both sides, into the center of the 18" bed.

C. Flatten the ridge in the 18" bed.

D. Use a simple "Spirit-Level" attached to a straight 8' 2X2 board and level the Soil Bed. Do not level the aisles. To accomplish this, take soil from the high spots in the Soil Bed and put it on the low spots. If the slope is too steep to level, divide bed into 15' or even 10' sections. On steep hillsides shape and level beds along the contours of the slope.

E. Apply Pre-Plant nutrients evenly over the Soil Bed: Use Mittleider Magic Preplant Mix, or if unavailable, mix 5# lime (20+" annual rainfall) or gypsum, 4 oz Epsom Salt (Magnesium Sulfate), and 1 oz Borax (Boron). Spread 2# of above formula, along with 1# 16-8-16, 16-16-16, or 20-20-20 compound per 30' bed.

F. Preparing the seedbed: Remove strings. Til Soil Bed thoroughly to a depth of 8" with Roto-tiller, if available. Otherwise use a round-headed long handle shovel, and break up any clods with the rake. Do not spade or til the aisles. Re-tie strings to stakes. Rake tilled soil back into bed area.

G. Make a 4" high ridge along each string, using the soil in the Soil Bed. Start with a small ridge first by pulling a little soil from the center of the Soil Bed to the string. Repeat 2 or 3 times, until the ridge is 4" high, and the flat area at the base of the ridges is 10" to 12" wide. This area should be slightly higher than the aisles for proper drainage. Re-check level.

Part IV - Planting - choosing seeds or plants for transplanting:
With the previous steps accomplished, the beds are ready for plants or seeds. Before deciding whether to plant seed or to transplant sturdy seedlings, consider this fact: "Reducing the number of days it takes a plant to grow and mature is the surest way to reduce the hazards and risks that result in loss and failures."

Nearly all plants can be transplanted. The few exceptions are carrots, radishes, and parsnips. These should be grown from seed sown directly where they will mature.

Heat, light, and water are the determining factors when growing seedlings for transplanting. One way is the time-tested and proven method called "cold frame", which is the cheapest and will produce good plants several weeks ahead of the time it is safe to plant sensitive crops in the garden.

Part V - The Cold Frame (the size is typically 4' X 6' X 3' high - but this can vary):

1. Dig a hole in the ground 4' X 6', and 3' deep.

2. Fill the hole 2' deep with horse manure.

3. Cover the manure with 12" (one foot) of clean sandy-loam soil.

4. Construct a frost-proof frame to place on this soil, 3' high on the North side, and 2' high on the South side.

5. Cover the frame with fiberglass, heavy plastic, or glass.

6. Scatter seeds in narrow furrows (depressions) made in the sandy-loam soil. Cover with 1/4" of sand. Do not plant more than you have room to transplant.

7. Water immediately, and keep soil moist. The manure will warm the soil and sprout the seed.

8. Transplant the seedlings after they have grown the first one or two pairs of true leaves.

9. Mark the soil in the "cold frame" with a space of 2" to 4" between the marks.

10. Transplant one plant per mark.

11. Water plants daily, or as often as necessary, always with a dilute Weekly Feed fertilizer solution (1 oz to 3 gallons water). If Mittleider Magic Weekly Feed is not available, see part VIII for Weekly Feed formula.

12. When weather permits, lift or remove the lid to expose the plants to full sunlight and provide fresh air.

Part VI - Planting seed in Soil Beds:

1. Prepare the beds as outlined in Part III above.

2. Make 2 furrows the length of the bed, one on each side of the 12" flat area.

3. Mix 1 teaspoon seed with 16 ounce can of sand or sawdust. Take a small amount of mixture in hand and with swing motion, throw into length of furrow (fast and eliminates later thinning - plants 2 30' rows).

4. Cover seeds with course sand (preferred). avoid covering with clay soil.

5. Keep beds moist until seedlings appear, but do not float seeds to the surface.

6. Follow Part VII procedures (below), starting with #10.

Part VII - Transplanting plants in Soil Beds:

1. Prepare the beds as outlined in Part III above.

2. If water is available, transplanting can be done in dry or damp soil.

3. After deciding which variety to transplant, mark the beds to show the space between the plants.

4. Water the seedlings which are to be transplanted beforehand.

5. Avoid losing the soil on the plant roots when lifting and taking to the garden.

6. Use your hand or a trowel to make a hole at a mark. The hole should be large enough and deep enough to accommodate the plant roots and plant stem below the crown (the growing tip) comfortably.

7. Set the plant deep - down to the crown if possible; but avoid dirt on the crown, which will kill the plant.

8. Fill the hole with soil around the plant, and firm it lightly.

9. Do not pack the soil around the plant.

10. After planting a bed, promptly apply 8 ounces ammonium nitrate (34-0-0) fertilizer in a narrow band down the center of the bed.

11. Water thoroughly to wet and settle the loose soil and dissolve the nitrogen.

12. Three days later, apply 1 pound of Mittleider Magic Weekly Feed fertilizer (if not available, see Part VIII for mixing instructions). Water after each application.

13. Thereafter, apply 1 pound Weekly Feed fertilizer per bed once every seven days for 4 to 7 applications - depending on the variety of the crop.

Part VIII - The Weekly Feed fertilizer formula - when Mittleider Magic Weekly Feed complete nutrient mix is not available, mix your own from the formula in The Mittleider Gardening Course or other books. An adequate temporary formula follows. Mix together:
6 pounds compound 16-8-16, 16-16-16, 20-20-20, or something similar.
4 ounces Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt).
1 teaspoon (5 grams) Boron (Borax).

Note: When more of this formula is needed, repeat the formula.
Also, mix only enough for a 5 to 6 weeks supply. The reason: several weeks after the materials are mixed together, they will become sticky and wet. This does not affect the fertilizers, but it is hard to spread and apply.

Transplanting radish, carrot, beets, etc. - and Corn

Transplanting root crops like carrots and parsnips is not a good
idea for at least two reasons. The time and effort is not worth it,
when the value of the crop is so small. And the result is very
poor, since you can't transplant them without disturbing the
taproot, thus causing a stunted, twisted root.

Radishes and beets do not have the problem of the tap root being
messed up, and we will sometimes transplant beets with good
success. This can be important if something is eating them as they
emerge. Radishes, however, are not valuable enough to justify the
work. And they are among the very hardiest of crops, so they will
grow well from seed in early spring or late fall weather.

Corn can also be transplanted well, and that may be a good idea if
crows, etc are stealing the germinated seeds, or if rabbits or dear
eat the tiny seedlings.

Organic gardening Control of voles and Meadow Mice

The following information was gathered from several sources on the internet.

Cultural Methods and Habitat Modifications
Weeds, ground cover and litter provide food and cover for voles. Eliminating them in and around crops, lawns and cultivated areas will reduce the capacity of these areas to support voles. Lawn and turf should be mowed
regularly, and mulch, if used in orchards, cleared 3 feet or more from the base of trees.

Soil tillage is effective in reducing vole damage since it removes cover, destroys existing runway burrow systems and kills a percentage of the existing vole population. Because of tillage, annual crops tend to have
lower vole population levels than perennial crops. Voles nevertheless are capable of invading and damaging annual crops, especially those that provide them with cover for extended periods of time.

Repellents
Repellents containing Thiram or a "hot sauce" type of ingredient are registered for meadow voles. These products (as well as products registered for other vole species) may afford short-term protection, but this has not been demonstrated in many areas of the country.

Toxic Baits
Toxicants have been a mainstay in vole damage control. Zinc Phosphide has been the toxicant most frequently used. It is a single-dose toxicant available in pelleted formulation. Zinc Phosphide baits generally are broadcast at rates of 6 to 10 pounds per acre., or placed by hand in runways and burrow openings. Although pre-baiting (application of a non-toxic bait prior to applying toxic bait) is not usually needed to obtain good control, it may be required in some situations such as when a population has been baited several times and bait shyness has developed. ZP Gopher Bait is the best zinc Phosphide bait to kill voles.

When voles are numerous or when damage occurs over large areas, toxic baits may be the quickest and most practical means of control. Take necessary measures to ensure the safety of children, pets, and non-target animals; follow all product label instructions carefully.

Anticoagulants, often referred to as multiple-feeding baits, interfere with an animal's blood-clotting mechanisms, eventually leading to death. They are probably the safest type of rodent bait for use around homes and gardens because they are slow acting, must be consumed over a period of 5 or more days to be effective, and there is an effective antidote, vitamin K1. Anticoagulant baits are available at many county agriculture commissioners' offices as well as at retail stores.

Some anticoagulants such as brodifacoum and bromadiolone cannot be used for voles because of the potential risk they pose to predators such as cats and dogs; check the label carefully to ensure that the bait has voles or meadow mice listed.

Because the pest must feed on anticoagulant baits over a period of 5 days, the bait must be available until the vole population is controlled. Usually baiting every other day for three applications is effective. As with trapping, bait placement is very important. Place the recommended amount of bait in runways or next to burrows so voles will find it during their normal travels. Generally, spot treating (placing bait in a specific place, such as a runway) is the preferred method of baiting, but if there is a heavy ground cover or if the area to be treated is quite large, broadcasting might be a better option if the label allows it. When broadcasting bait, be sure to spread it evenly over the infested area. If you use this technique, you will probably have to broadcast every other day for a total of three or four applications.

Trapping
When voles are not numerous or when the population is concentrated in a small area, trapping may be effective. Use a sufficient number of traps to control the population: for a small garden a dozen traps is probably the minimum number required, and for larger areas at least 50 or more may be needed. A simple, wooden mouse trap baited with a peanut butter-oatmeal mixture or apple slices is commonly used. Often, no bait is needed because voles will trigger the trap as they pass over it.

Trap placement is crucial. Voles seldom stray from their runways, so set traps along these routes. Look for burrows and runways in grass or mulch in or near the garden. Place baited traps at right angles to the runways with the trigger end in the runway. Examine traps daily and remove dead voles or reset sprung traps as needed. Continue to trap in one location until no further voles are caught, then move the trap to a new location 15 to 20 feet away. Destroy old runways or burrows to deter immigration of new voles to the site.

Bury dead voles or place them in plastic bags in the trash. Because voles may carry infectious pathogens or parasites, do not handle them without rubber gloves; you can use a plastic bag slipped over your hand and arm as a glove. Once the vole is removed from the trap, hold it with your "bagged" hand and turn the bag inside out while slipping it off your arm and hand. Be sure to keep small children and pets out of the area where you have set traps.

Though voles rarely invade houses, when they do they can be controlled by setting snap traps (see Victor Snap Traps with expanded trigger) or live traps (the Tin Cat is best) as you would for house mice. To protect
non-target wildlife from injury, you can use a combination of snap traps and Tin Cats. Simply place two snap traps inside your Tin Cat, with triggers facing the entry holes. This prevents birds and other wildlife from being
hurt by the snap traps. Only mice and voles will be able to enter the Tin Cat.

Trapping is not effective in controlling large vole populations because time and labor costs are prohibitive. Mouse snap traps can be use to control a small population by placing the trap perpendicular to the runway with the trigger end in the runway. A peanut butter-oatmeal mixture or apple slices make good baits for trapping voles

Exclusion
Wire fences at least 12 inches above the ground with a mesh size of 1/4 inch or less will help to exclude voles from entire gardens. These fences can either stand alone or be attached to the bottom of an existing fence. Bury the bottom edge of the fence 6 to 10 inches to prevent voles from tunneling beneath it. A weed-free barrier on the outside of the fence will increase its effectiveness.

Young trees, vines, and ornamentals can also be protected from girdling with cylinders made from hardware cloth, sheet metal, or heavy plastic that surround the trunk. Support or brace these devices so that they cannot be pushed over or pressed against the trunk. Also, make sure they are wide enough to allow for tree growth and, in areas with snow, are tall enough to extend above snow level. Bury the bottom of the protective device below the soil surface to prevent voles from digging under it. Individual milk cartons, tin cans, or plastic soda bottles can also be cut at both ends to fit over small plants. Be sure to frequently check protective devices to
make sure meadow mice have not gnawed through or dug under cylinders and are hidden by the tree guard while they feed on the tree.

Repellents
Commercial repellents are available for protecting plants from voles but their effectiveness is questionable and their use is often not practical. They must be applied before damage occurs. Voles usually damage plants at or just beneath the soil surface, making adequate coverage difficult or impossible. Do not apply repellents to food crops unless such use is specified on the product label.

Biological Control
Many predators, including coyotes, foxes, badgers, weasels, cats, gulls, and especially hawks and owls, eat voles. However, in most cases predators cannot keep vole populations below damaging levels. Many predators simply do not hunt close to homes and gardens where control is needed. Most predators have a broad-based diet and readily shift to alternative prey when the number of voles declines. Predators rarely, if ever, take every last vole thus, a residual population remains. With their extremely high reproductive potential, any remaining voles could repopulate an area in a short period. With this potential for severe damage, a homeowner or gardener cannot afford to wait for a predator to appear, but must take immediate action to prevent the loss of valuable plantings. Effective, immediate action usually involves baiting or trapping and habitat modification.

As with all animals, natural constraints limit vole numbers. Because populations will not increase indefinitely, one alternative is to do nothing and let nature limit the voles. Experience has shown, however, that around
homes and gardens the natural population peak is too high and damage will be above tolerable limits.

Other Control Methods
Burrow fumigants are not effective for the control of voles because the vole's burrow system is shallow and has numerous open holes. Electromagnetic or ultrasonic devices and flooding are also ineffective against voles.

Types of Bark or Sawdust Not Recommended

Some people think that because Cedar or other kinds of bark are used to keep weeds down, sawdust from those sources will be bad for plants. This is not the case. Bark and other types of mulch inhibit weed growth primarily by denying light to emerging weed seedlings.

On the negative side, mulches also encourage garden pests and diseases by giving them a cool damp place to live and multiply.

We recommend you keep your garden clean, clear, and dry, except at the root zone of your plants.

When you plant according to the Mittleider Method the close-planted vegetable plants will quickly shade the ground and minimize water evaporation and weed growth, without any need for other ground cover.

Walnut sawdust is the only material - at least in North America - that we have found to be a problem for vegetable plants.

Materials to use in Grow-Boxes and Seedling Trays

Here's the basic information you need to acquire and mix your organic soil mix for use in Grow-Boxes or seedling trays.

1) Soil mix percentages are figured by volume, and sand should be between 25% and 35%. The other ingredients, both type and amount, are your choice from the list below, based on cost and availability.

2) Extremely fine sand isn't the best, but you don't want anything too coarse either. It should be clean (no seeds, bugs, diseases, or dirt). In the USA we request "concrete sand".

3) The best soil mix alternatives are generally whichever are the least expensive among the following. Sawdust lasts longer than peat-moss, and perlite lasts longer than vermiculite, but sawdust takes some nitrogen while it is fresh (rarely enough to be a problem, if you are feeding properly), and vermiculite is
preferred by some growers over perlite because of the smaller particles.

4) Other materials to consider, in the order of our preference, include pine needles, coconut husks, rice hulls, coffee hulls, Bagass (sugar cane refuse), and the last choice would be leaves (but avoid scrub oak below 5,000 feet elevation and black walnuts).

These may be available free or at very low cost in many places. You should find a hammer mill or good chipper/shredder to chop the materials finely, and any of the above will work for you.

Organic gardening Comparing the Mittleider Method with Commercial Growers

Q. How "Organic" or Natural is The Mittleider Method - Really!
My question is, how organic are the pre-plant and weekly feeder mixes? With today's current market trends and people's general desire to move away from commercialized food sources, the main question I have been asked when speaking with others about the Mittleider Method, is how organic or natural is it really? (Tammy Curry)

A. That is a fair question - one that is fairly often asked - and it deserves a complete answer.

The USDA lists all of the minerals we use in the fertilizers we pre-package and sell as being approved for use in organic gardening.

I believe it deserves the descriptions some people use, such as "better than organic" and "best of organic", and that so long as you don't use commercial pesticides and herbicides, you are fully justified in calling your garden produce "organic" if you want to.

For those of you who have concerns about this issue I strongly recommend you visit the FFEF website at http://foodforeveryone.org/faq/ and study the 8 short articles I have written in response to the question "Organic or Chemical?"

I've also reproduced here an article I wrote about my personal experience using what I believe was just about the world's best compost. This article is in the Files section of this group, if anyone wants to reproduce it.

The Zoo-Doo Man

For 15 years I have owned a 3/4 acre parcel adjacent to Utah's Hogle Zoo, where I have grown a vegetable garden using The Mittleider Method as taught in many of the developing countries around the world by Jacob R. Mittleider. During that time I've been privileged to help him on a few projects, and recently, with his blessing, conducted some myself. The garden is always extremely productive, rather nice to look at, and a very popular unofficial "exhibit" with the 850,000 annual visitors to the zoo.

Many people asked, as they visited over the fence, if I used the zoo animals' manure, and I always told them "no", but one day a lady piqued my interest when she said the Seattle Zoo sells their composted animal manure to the public as "Zoo Doo." I decided to check this out, so I talked to them and found they pile the manure in win-rows, and after about a year, dry, bag, and sell it.

I decided I could make a lot better compost than what Seattle got by leaving it out in the rain for a year. So I first bought a Compost Tumbler and learned the best procedures and mixes as I tested small batches. Very soon I had constant 140+ degree heat for 3 weeks, and beautiful, black, sweet-smelling compost.

I then acquired a 10-yard cement truck and began doing large batches. With loads this size, they maintained temperatures over 140 degrees for 3 weeks, and then cooled down for one week. And You've never seen such beautiful material - I really felt like I had made the world's best compost!

I obtained the right to use the Zoo-Doo name, bought bags, T-shirts, banners, cart, etc. and began selling at the Zoo gift shop and in the local nurseries. I ended up on TV and in the newspapers, and became known as "The Zoo-Doo Man."

Whenever I had more than I could sell, I would drive the cement truck down to my garden and off-load the batch over the wall. I then put it into several soil-beds and grew vegetables with it – to compare which was better – compost or the Mittleider natural mineral nutrients, which I’d been using all along. And I grew good stuff with my Zoo-Doo.

However, the most important thing I learned in that two-year experiment was not how to make and sell Zoo-Doo. I learned for myself that I could grow better vegetables more consistently, and with a lot less time, cost, and effort, with a few pounds of inexpensive natural mineral nutrients than I could with truckloads of “the world’s best compost.”

I therefore continue to use good, clean organic materials when they are available, but I know that highly productive vegetable gardens are not dependent on improving the soil with organic material.

My Mittleider sustainable garden 2009

From total gardening slacker



To a person with a plan and goal



I create the platform for success



To a great garden, but it needs as we all do pruning and weeding.

3 types of bush tomatoes garden 2009