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

Organic garden 2010 totals Mittleider

I am always amazed at how strong the plants in my Mittleider garden are.

This year I grew mostly heirloom seeds just to mention a few of the varieties I grew

Habanero Peppers

Onions

Horseradish

California Wonder Peppers

Roma Tomatoes


Yellow Pear Tomatoes


Cubenelle Peppers

Black Krim Tomaotes

Delicious Tomatoes


Organic Garlic

Super Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes

Health Kick Tomatoes

You can see video about my 2010 Mittleider organic garden here

What I do with most of my vegetables is chop them up and freeze them I call it my Vegetarian meal starters.

Next year I plan on building a greenhouse and also using Mittleider garden row covers to extend my season.

As I get more experience I am sure I can turn my Mittleider garden into a full time gardening business. I cant wait to get into the soil next spring

This is all part of my strategy to start my own Homestead, I want to use solar and hydro power and be totally off grid. But I will still need Internet access :):)

Happy gardening and I would like to give a big shout out to Jim Kennard of the Gardening Non-Profit Food for Everyone Foundation who teaches the Mittleider method.

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.

Nutrients "Used Up" in Decomposition

Adding organic material to soil

Because microorganisms use nitrogen in soils to decompose the sawdust, the process of decay can temporarily lower the amount of available nitrogen in the soil. Remember that the loss is temporary, and that proper application of Weekly Feed will almost always eliminate any deficiency.

The only other potential problem is that sawdust typically has a low pH, and so the addition of calcium is important. We do this in the Pre-Plant mix.

There can be some benefits to adding organic matter to your soil. Benefits include the fact that it can:
a.. Increase the soil's ability to hold water.
a.. Create pores in the soil to improve soil oxygen.
a.. Loosen clay soil, making root growth easier.
a.. Help moderate soil temperatures.

The nutritional value is over-rated, however, and you never know how much of anything you're getting, so we do not recommend you count on compost for feeding your plants.

Preventing Freezing in your garden

Q. I have a farm in Afghanistan, which is about 30,000 square meters (3 hectares, or 7.5 acres), in which mainly grapes are grown. In the cold winter the grape vines are buried under the ground because of the very cold weather and then in the spring the vines are exposed to air and light, then the vines become green.

Mostly this works, but in some years, after the plants grow their leaves and grapes, the weather becomes cold again for only one night. All the grapes freeze and become black in color, and there is no time for the plants to grow new fruits because of the arrival of the winter.

Is there any solution for this problem other than a green house, because it will be too expensive to cover all of the farm. Is there a way to warm the plants for one night only? This year the whole yield of grapes was frozen. Please help.

A. 1) Watering everything, including the ground as well as the entire plant, immediately before it freezes, can sometimes save a crop if the frost is not too hard.
2) Another solution may be to have many small fires burning throughout your vineyard during the time temperatures go below freezing. In America this is done with propane and kerosene heaters, but that would probably be too expensive for you. We also use fans to blow the warm air throughout the orchard,
garden, or vineyard.

Harvesting and storing Winter Squash

Harvest winter squash when the skin is hard and will not break under
thumbnail pressure. Appearance tends to be dull, rather than bright like
the summer squash at harvest-time. Spaghetti squash should be a golden
yellow. Always harvest before the heavy frosts. Hazards of leaving the
fruit on the vine too long include foot-traffic damage, theft, bug, and
disease damage.

Leave a 2" stem on the fruit. Cure at room temperature (70-85 degrees F)
for 10+ days before long-term storing begins.

Only put squash that is firm, heavy, and free of blemishes in long-term
storage. Store at temperatures from 45-45 degrees, with 50-70% humidity.

Small squashes, like Butternut and Spaghetti will only store 2-3 months.
Banana and Hubbard squash will store as long as 5-6 months under ideal
conditions.

Good Harvesting!

Sorry. Storage should be at temparatures from 45 to 55 degrees farenheit,
and humidity of 50-75%.

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.

Am I eating Vegetables - Or Fruits??

Group:

I love my vegetable garden, and I suspect you enjoy yours too. We eat one or two meals a day from our garden, and my wife Araksya is an outstanding cook when it comes to using fresh garden produce.
Sometimes I'll look at a meal with 6 or 8 items from the garden and think how great it is to have such a wide variety of vegetables to eat.

But I was reminded last week that many things we consider vegetables are really fruits, botanically speaking! Let me give you a list of the items from a typical garden that are actually fruits, rather than vegetables - even though we eat them as the main part of the meal, rather than for dessert.

Are you ready for this? Garden fruits actually include Peppers, eggplant, pumpkin, squash, and tomatoes.

While I'm classifying things, let's distinguish some categories of vegetables, as well:

Leaf Crops - Those whose leaves we eat include basil, brussels sprouts, beet greens, cabbage, chard, cilantro, endive, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, onions, parsley, spinach, turnip greens, and watercress.

Root Crops - We eat the roots of beets, carrots, parsnips, radishes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, and turnips. And we eat tubers of potatoes and yams.

Seed Crops - We eat the seeds of several kinds of beans, corn, peas, pumpkins, and sunflowers. And we eat the seed pods of chili peppers, green beans, okra, snap peas, snow peas, and wax beans.

Stem Crops - We eat the stems of asparagus, celery, leeks, green onions, and rhubarb.

Flower Crops - We even eat the flowers of artichokes, broccoli, and cauliflower. And in places like Japan people prize the squash flowers, and eat the petals - hopefully after they are pollinated.

Bulb Crops - Let's not forget the bulbs of onions and garlic - these are used more often in our own family garden cooking than just about anything else.

Did I forget to list your favorites? As you put your garden to bed for the winter, begin to plan now for the vegetables and fruit you want to grow and eat next spring.

Good Growing,

Jim Kennard

Composting For the Home Gardener

Compost includes 4 basic elements including air, water, carbon, and nitrogen.

There are two types of composting, aerobic and anaerobic, meaning with oxygen and without.

Anaerobic composting (without air) is a cold process, takes as long as two years to produce usable compost, and DOES NOT remove soil pathogens, bugs, and weed seeds. This method is NOT recommended for the family garden for the reasons stated above, plus the fact that it creates an unsightly, smelly mess in your yard that attracts rodents, etc.

Regrettably, anaerobic composting is what 99% of family gardeners usually end up with, because of lack of education and/or effort.

Aerobic composting must sustain temperatures of approximately 140 degrees Fahrenheit for three weeks minimum, which kills most soil pathogens, bugs, and weed seeds. It requires a constant supply of air throughout the pile, in order to provide oxygen to the microbes that digest and thus decompose the raw materials into usable compost.

Therefore, the pile should be thoroughly turned daily, and if all other elements are present in the right proportions good compost can be created in as little as one month.

Water is also necessary, but not too much at one time. The pile should be moist - like a wrung-out sponge - but not wet.

Carbon is used as the energy source, and most of the pile should consist of carbon. Common high-carbon ingredients include dry leaves, straw, and corn stalks. High-carbon ingredients will contain more than 30 times as much carbon as nitrogen - sometimes MUCH more - and are often called "browns".

Nitrogen is needed for the proteins that build the microbes' bodies. Ingredients with the most nitrogen are usually green, moist plant matter such as leaves, or an animal by-product like manure. Nitrogen-rich materials - often called "greens" - usually will contain carbon and nitrogen in a ratio close to 20:1.

NEVER use manure from carnivores, and even cow manure sometimes contains e-coli, which can cause sickness and even death. Therefore, any manure should be used with extreme caution.

For efficient decomposition you need a carbon/nitrogen (C/N) ratio of about 30:1. If you have too much nitrogen your pile will smell, because the excess nitrogen converts into an ammonia gas. If there's too little nitrogen you will not sustain the necessary heat, plus the pile will break down very slowly.

Fresh grass clippings will have a C/N ratio of about 20:1, so mixing grass clippings and old leaves - one part clippings and two parts old leaves - will generally give you a good C/N ratio.

Unless it's contained in a Compost Tumbler or other container in which it can be turned easily while retaining the heat, you should start with a compost pile of at least 1 cubic yard, in order to have sufficient material to retain the necessary 140 degree heat for 3+ weeks.

Do it right, and you can have material that will improve your soil tilth, and even provide some (unknown) amount of nutrition for your plants.

Or save yourself the time and effort and give your plants a balance diet of natural mineral nutrients, as contained in the Mittleider Pre-Plant and Weekly Feed mixes, which you can mix yourself from materials purchased at your nursery or farm supply store.

Watering and supporting tomatoes

I'm glad you are watering. If you put ridges up a few inches from the plant stems, you enclose the water, and much more gets to the roots. It's almost impossible to over-water tomatoes in this hot weather.

Many people have the idea that to get your fruit to ripen faster, you should withhold water. That will, indeed ripen the fruit that is already close, because the plant is trying desperately to fulfil its destiny by leaving some viable seeds, before it dies from lack of water. But it will not continue to produce and grow more tomatoes in that situation, so you greatly limit your yield by reducing the water.

Regarding the plants falling over in the wind, without seeing them, I may not be a great deal of assistance. Do you have Stakes supporting the cages now? If you don't, I would get several 8'-long 2X2's, sharpen one end, and get help driving them into the ground 15-18" at least - and attached to the cages to support them and keep them from blowing over.

If you're already using 2X2's and they aren't strong enough, try it with 2X4's.

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.

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.

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.

3 types of bush tomatoes garden 2009

How to make ridges for your Mittleider soilbed

Row three Mittleider organic garden

Row 1 Mittleider organic garden

Have you ever considered growing your own food?

”Are you kidding?? Why would I even think about growing a garden? I’m much too busy earning a living!” Let me give you a few reasons you SHOULD consider starting a garden: • Diesel costs $4 per gallon – Delivering your food is now twice as expensive. • Wheat costs $26/bushel ($3 in 2002) – and supplies are the lowest in 60 years. • Some fertilizers cost 6 times more than they did only 3-4 years ago. • The dollar is weaker against foreign currencies than it has ever been, which means everything from other countries costs much more than it did even last year. Now that I have your attention I’ll introduce you to a gardening method that REALLY makes sense – even for the busy working man or woman. We’ve searched the world for the ONE method that guarantees success beyond anything you’ve ever seen. And it’s so simple a child can do it! Our FREE ebook shows you how. You’ll learn how to grow a GREAT garden in ANY soil, without soil amendments! The complete Mittleider Gardening Basics Course is FREE at www.growfood.com. You’ll also find a FREE Gardening Group, FREE greenhouse plans and automatic watering system plans, and a FREE FAQ section that contains more than 400 short articles answering your important gardening questions. With the Mittleider Method you will: • Grow healthy, delicious vegetables & fruit like NEVER before. • Increase your yields as much as 5 to 10 times traditional methods. • Use about ½ the water of other gardening methods. • Enjoy a weed-free garden without problems with bugs and diseases. • Grow a highly successful garden in any soil, and in virtually any climate. • And do it all without using harmful pesticides & herbicides. “How – and why – would you do this”, you’re asking. • We’re a non-profit Foundation with all volunteer staff. • Our mission is to teach the best gardening methods to people everywhere. • Some people end up buying the great gardening books, software, & CD’s. • Generous people care enough to assist us by donating to the Foundation. You can also become an Affiliate for FREE and receive 40% of all sales. Go to www.howtoorganicgarden.com and click on Affiliates. Help us spread this gardening knowledge – Donate at www.foodforeveryone.org

Soil Mix & Ratios - Fertilizers to use and How Much

Soil Mix & Ratios - Fertilizers to use and How Much

Author: Jim Kennard

Q. I think what I need to know is, 1) what do I put in the soil mix and 2) proportions, as well as 3) what fertilizer to use and 4) proportions to mix in soil, plus 5) how much to feed weekly.

A. The fertilizer formula is on the website in the Learn section, under Fertilizers. When it's mixed accurately, using the materials we recommend, the NPK ratio is 13-8-13 in the finished Weekly Feed Mix.

For small gardens we suggest people use 16-16-16, if they can't get the individual ingredients, and add the Micro-nutrients from the Foundation, along with Epsom Salt, in the prescribed amounts. If 16-16-16 is not available we recommend 13-13-13, and in extremitties we suggest 10-10-10.

You must NOT forget to include the Pre-Plant mix in your preparations. Buy lime, magnesium sulfate, and boron, and mix them in the ratio of 80-4-1. Then apply as prescribed, along with Weekly Feed, and mix into the soil before planting.

If you're growing in containers we recommend clean materials, such as sawdust, peat moss, perlite, etc. mixed in any combination with sand. The sand should be between 25 and 35% by volume. Other materials you can use with the sand include ground pine needles, coconut husks, or rice hulls. We do NOT recommend compost, manure, or DIRT.

If you are growing in a 18"-wide soil-bed or Grow-Box, as we teach, demonstrate, and recommend, you should use one ounce per running foot of Pre-Plant mix one time, and 1/2 ounce of Weekly Feed per running foot each week until 3 weeks before harvest for single crop plants, and until 8 weeks before you expect to end your harvest for everbearing crops.

Those amounts translate to 2/3rds of an ounce (4 teaspoons) of Pre-Plant and 1/3rd of an ounce (2 teaspoons) of Weekly Feed per cubic foot of soil.