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

My 2010 Mittleider sustainable garden

I am very pleased with my Mittleider garden this year. Getting out in the sun working with the soil and plants is good for the body mind and soul. I created a Squdioo lens all about this years garden and also show using video how you can setup your own Mittleider sustainable garden.

Spicy vegetarian meal starters

I make up about 500 of these over the gardening season I figure it saves me over 1 thousand in food costs.

Mittleider gardening lenses

Examples of Lenses we have done for the Food for Everyone Foundation

Homesteading on Squidoo

Hydro Power

Cobbhouse on Squidoo

Spiritual Stories

Gardening NonProfit

Intensive gardening on Squidoo

Build a Mini Greenhouse

Sustainable vegetable gardening

Heirloom seeds on Squidoo

Start your own gardening business

Organic gardening

My Best information

Change the World

Global humanitarian Relief

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

Help Non-Profits online

Food for Everyone Foundation Squidoo Group

How to start plants using growlights

Dr. Jacob Mittleider

How to preserve vegetables

How to build a gardening Tframe

How to feed your plants correctly

How to build a Hotbeds for seedlings

Gardening Non-Profit affiliate program

Homesteading on Squidoo

Hydro Power

Cobbhouse on Squidoo

Spiritual Stories

Gardening NonProfit

Intensive gardening on
Squidoo

Build a Mini Greenhouse

Sustainable vegetable
gardening

Heirloom seeds on Squidoo

Start your own gardening
business

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.

Garden Disease Prevention and Control

Downy Mildew - Prevention and Control
Q. This winter I am growing cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli in the same raised bed with a row cover. The cabbage and broccoli are doing beautifully but the cauliflower develops mold(?) on the heads before they are fully grown. The leaves are large, green and healthy; and when I pull the plant out of the ground the roots also look healthy. Are the row covers keeping in too much moisture or are the plants developing a disease?

A. Yes to both questions, and the cabbage and broccoli won't be far behind the cauliflower in showing symptoms. However, before I address the specific problem you describe, let me say for all group members' benefit, that we encourage gardeners to minimize pests and disease by several important "cultural practices." These include:
1) maintaining a totally weed-free garden with wide, dry aisles,
2) pruning leaves off the ground,
3) watering only at the soil level (never sprinkling) and only in the actual root area,
4) growing seedlings in a protected environment and transplanting stocky, healthy seedlings into the garden,
5) feeding plants a complete, balanced natural mineral nutrient mix that encourages healthy, rapid growth,
6) if using row covers or "mini greenhouses," open the ends on cool days (50+), and set the covers to one side on warm days (70), to maximize sunlight and circulation, and reduce excess humidity build-up.
7) harvesting as soon as plants are mature.
By following these procedures your problems with pests and disease will be rare.
You may have been doing all of these things, and only the increased humidity and warmth of the row covers could have given the disease an opening.

You are probably experiencing Downy Mildew, a fungus disease. General symptoms for all affected vegetable crops, which usually happen under high-humidity conditions, include spots appearing on leaves and a downy white or grey mold developing in these spots or on the undersides of the leaves opposite these spots.
With broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts, dark spots may develop on the heads as well as the leaves. Black streaks may be visible on stems and a white fuzzy growth may develop. Seedlings are especially affected.

The best solutions are preventative, and constitute physical controls, such as I have described above. Also, it's important to rake up and burn fallen leaves.
Now that you have the problem, if it is not too widespread, I recommend you remove all affected plants immediately and improve the physical conditions as much as possible.

Biological control is your last option, short of removing the entire crop. Several chemicals are sold to control downy mildew, including Benomyl, Copper, Folpet, Lime Sulfur, Sulfur and chlorothalonil. Counsel with the store from which you obtain any of these materials, and always, when using pesticides, read the entire label on the container and follow the directions. Because mildew will built up a resistance to fungicides over time, especially Benomyl, if the problem persists you will need to consider changing the materials used occasionally.

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.

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.

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.

PVC pipe hole size how big is needed?

Irrigation System

I am in the process of beginning to start work on the irrigation part
of my conversion to the MittleiderMethodGardening. I would like to ask
if the small #57 holes in the pvc pipes present any special trouble
with stopping up?

Group:

A #57 hole in a Schedule 200 PVC pipe will not plug up much at all, if you are
using water from a well or from the city system, etc. If you use irrigation
water from a canal or stream you may have some sediment that can clog the holes.

I water from a mountain stream that is sometimes quite dirty - especially in the
spring and after a hard rain. If I experience any clogging of the holes in my
pipes I just carry a hoe with me and hit the pipe with the hoe HANDLE a few
times. This will dislodge the tiny pieces of pebble, or whatever it is.
Immediately after doing this to a pipe I will unscrew the far end-cap and let
the water run through for a few seconds, flushing any loose residue out the end
of the pipe.

If any of you are tempted to use Schedule 40 PVC pipe, because "its stronger and
will last longer", etc., I don't recommend it. It's usually more than double
the cost, heavier, much harder to drill the holes (breaking drill bits),
more inclined to plug up, harder to break loose the blockage with the
hose-handle, and even the Schedule 200 will last more than 20 years with any
kind of care, so who needs it to last longer.

Recent harvest from the garden

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

6 Steps to Successful Gardening

Mittleider Method
6 Steps to Successful Gardening
Source Food for Everyone Foundation
Gardening Nonprofit



I. Choose the Location and Prepare the Soil

1. Direct Sunlight all day long
2. Locate a water source near the garden
3. Level ground – slight Southern slope OK

4. Clean ground – remove rocks & weeds
5. Outline perimeter with stakes & string
6. Fence to protect against intruders


2. Create Soil-Beds – a Nursery – in Which to Grow Plants
1. Measure and stake beds - 18” & aisles - 3’6”
2. Tie strings to stakes to outline growing beds
3. Level beds by moving soil – 1” drop in 30’
4. Apply Pre-Plant & Weekly Feed to beds
5. Dig or till beds only – not aisles! – 8” deep
6. Re-level beds, then shape with 4” ridges



3. Plant and/or Transplant

1. Space seeds or plants based on size at maturity
2. Use a marker for uniform plant spacing

3. Transplant healthy seedlings to extend season
4. Apply nitrogen to transplants for fast start
5. Planting seeds? Cover with sand, not dirt
6. Grow vertically – more yield in less space




4. Water for Maximum Yield & Minimum Waste

1. Never sprinkle! Wastes water and helps disease
2. Early morning watering is best, but don’t wait
3. Always keep soil moist – a wilting plant is dying

4. Cover end of hose with cloth – reduces pressure
5. Apply 1” of water in 10”-12”-wide planting area
6. Automate watering with drilled PVC pipes



5. Feed Accurately and Regularly

1. Plants require balanced nutrition all the time
2. Water-soluble minerals are required – through roots

3. Pre-Plant & Weekly Feed – once before planting
4. Weekly Feed until 3 weeks before maturity
5. Apply Pre-Plant 1 oz./1ft – Weekly Feed .5 oz/1ft
6. Use sterile compost/manure if minerals not available


6. Control Weeds – Stop Competition, Bugs, & Diseases

1. Eliminate all annuals and perennials at the start

2. After planting, remove weeds as they first appear
3. Use a rake and a “scuffle” or two-way hoe
4. Rake ridges down and back up – hoe bed & aisles
5. “E & O” – early and often for first 2-3 weeks does it
6. Avoid pesticides & herbicides for healthier garden produce


HARVEST AT PEAK MATURITY AND REMOVE RESIDUE FROM GARDEN!
Food For Everyone Foundation
P.O. Box 581052, Salt Lake City, Utah 84158
(801) 583-4449 (801) 915-4449 - www.foodforeveryone.org

How to create the Mittleider gardening weekly feed

How to make ridges for your Mittleider soilbed

How to level a organic garden soil beds

Anyone can change the world if they try.

Row three Mittleider organic garden

Row two Mittleider sustainable organic garden