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.

Row two Mittleider sustainable organic garden

My garden so far 2009

This years seedlings so far
Cheerokee purples
Brandwine
Earlygirls
Beefsteak

Green peppers
Red sweet peppers
Sweet bananna peppers

5 varieties of lettece

Garlic
Elephant garlic

More to come
Steve
Food for Everyone Foundation

Are you involved with an organization, village, church, school who wants to grow fresh organic produce and vegetables??

I have contacted you before about a farm in Vietnam to provide food
and some income for a small hamlet in coastal Vietnam.

I feel the mittleider method will far outproduce other methods. And
seems to be by far the most feasible,

There is a certain stubbornness involved with gardening throughout the
world and it is no better and maybe worse in agricultural dependent
societies.

After asking about thoroughly No one here can agree on what can grow
in this environment, Given it is very warm sunny and has adequate
rainfall.

Along with using the Mittleider method and if necessary constructing
some shade cloth above beds or Rows, I am of the opinion ANYTHING can
grow here. My questions involve Dr M's Initial work in New guinea and
his introduction of 16 vegetables and Fruits when previously they grew
around 4. Can you give me more details on What those varieties were?
There is a handful of staples of course but I would be interested in
what they grew in guinea.

I am also Curious as to how this method can be applied to an Orchard,
I will be starting one of those as well with a pretty simple but
varied Varieties of trees.

I am also curious about getting large orders of Fertilizers to Vietnam
(there are a few fertilizer companies here and they would be the first
choice), I would like some input on what best ratios to purchase and
maybe dress with pre-plant or some other venuer as well as how to use
manure.

Some Vietnamese I am sure regardless of what we are doing will want to
do the method with Manure. And possibly large "cover crops" can be
used with manure for grazing and feeding livestock?

I have decided to go ahead and do this as well as keep animals to
provide income and Food.

Chad:

Chad & Group:

I believe everything will grow there also. And production will be
MUCH higher using balanced natural mineral nutrients than with manure.

The following vegetables would be grown by Jacob almost everywhere he
went, in addition to local varieties already being grown:

beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard,
corn, cucumbers, lettuce, melons, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes,
radishes, spinach, squash, tomatoes, and turnips.

That's more than 18, and doesn't include sweet potatoes that were
being grown in Papua New Guinea, so we'll both have to guess which
ones they didn't grow there.

The method works well with trees also, insofar as improving growth and
yields, but they aren't grown in raised beds or anything like that.
The main thing to do is fertilize - once per year with Pre-Plant and
three times per year with Weekly Feed - and eliminate weeds, which
compete for plant nutrients.

I recommend you find large successful farmers and/or greenhouse
growers, and pick their brains regarding their fertilizer sources.
You do everything you can to find the the main ingredients including:
calcium (lime), nitrogen (ammonium nitrate or urea), phosphorus
(DAP - di-ammonium phosphate if possible), potassium (potassium
chloride - or some other combination) , magnesium (Epsom Salt -
magnesium sulfate - or other).

And look also for the micro-nutrients including:
boron (borax, solubor, or other)
copper (copper sulfate is most common)
iron (iron sulfate or a chelated compound)
manganese (manganese sulfate usually)
molybdenum (sodium molybdate usually)
zinc (zinc sulfate usually)

If any of the micros are not available in the country we may be able
to help you find a way to ship them in.

You don't need the 100% water-soluble materials that the greenhouse
growers usually use. Those are quite a bit more expensive and may
actually not be as good for growing in the dirt as the slower-release
less expensive materials.

As soon as you are able to determine what's available in the major
ingredients tell me what the choices are, along with the percentages
of each nutrient and the costs, and I will help you determine which
ones to use and how much to buy of each.

Let's get the mineral fertilizers figured out first, and later we can
discuss the use of manures if necessary.

Jim Kennard

Compare Mittleider Method With Commercial Produce Growers

Q. The commercial produce growers in my area use black plastic with drip lines. They mix fertilizer in their irrigation water and pump it to the plants. What makes the Mittleider method more productive and efficient?

A. Large commercial growers of things like lettuce, cabbage, etc., who water and feed accurately, especially those who feed regularly right in the water supply, and who eliminate weeds completely, are at least as good and productive as the Mittleider Method. They also have very large investments in materials and equipment.

The Mittleider Method is sometimes called "the poor man's hydroponic method" because it borrows principles and procedures from the large hydroponic, greenhouse, and field growers, and adapts and sizes them to the small family farmer and family-size garden. And we produce great yields without the large capital investment large growers must face.

Most family gardeners don't understand the importance of a constant water supply, just to the root zone of the plants. They don't appreciate the value of regular feeding with a complete, balanced nutrient, and they don't realize how much weeds rob their garden of nutrients that are essential to the well-being of their vegetable plants.

Beyond those three principles, the Mittleider Method teaches vertical growing, with the attendant pollinating, pruning, and protection issues the hydroponic growers handle so well.

These are the primary elements that set the Mittleider Method apart from typical or traditional FAMILY GARDENING and make it SIMILAR to (not better than) hydroponic and large commercial growers.

Help whats wrong with my sustainable mittledier garden?

Jim,
It took me awhile to check this and get back...on the www.growfood.com website it does recommend the 50 percent blowsand to 50 percent peat moss as an option for custom-made soil, so if that is incorrect, it should be changed. I bought the pipes already drilled, so I am not sure what size the holes are. I am trying the suggestion that I place landscape cloth under the pipes. It seems to be working so far.
Thanks,
Wendy

-----

In answer to Wendy's questions about watering in the Grow-Boxes:

The first mistake you made was in the % of peatmoss to sand. We
always tell folks to use at least 2/3 peat or other organic material -
and as much as 75%. 50% sand allows the water to drain too
quickly. So the first thing I would do, if possible, is add more
peat, sawdust, or perlite.

The next thing to look at is the size of your holes in the PVC pipe.
Did you use a #57 drill bit? Sometimes people ignore the
instructions in this ragard, thinking that a 1/16th inch bit is ok,
but it is not! A #57 bit is only .042" in diameter, as compared
to .0625" for a 1/16th. This allows far more water to come out, and
at greater force.

Either or both of those conditions could explain your percieved
problem. If neither of those are the reasons, write again and we'll
take another look at it

How to Properly Grow a Healthy Garden Using Compost and Manure

Q. Even if it's a poorer source of nitrogen than oil-based products (urea, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate), won't compost (particularly composted manure) get the job done? That's a completely free and renewable resource. My garden beds this year are heavily composted with manure and the plants are all absolutely gorgeous.

Next year I want to use the Mittleider Method, as it looks very efficient. Will I be shooting myself in the foot if I use "farm-raised nitrogen"?

A. If you believe the day is coming when we won't be able to get mineral nutrients, you should definitely learn how to prepare and use the organic materials that you WILL have available to you. You may not want to count on manure though, because if everyone relies on cows and horses to provide their fertilizer, 90% will be disappointed. There just isn't enough to go around.

For those of you who feel strongly about continuing to use manure and compost, make certain that you learn how to compost properly, by maintaining temperatures of at least 140 degrees fahrenheit throughout the process, and always do it that way. This provides sufficient heat to kill all pathogens.

I recommend you read my article on The Zoo-Doo Man in these FAQs. That will help you understand what's required, as well as my perspective on the issues involved.

Once you solve the issue of proper composting you will want to understand, and know how to deal with, the issues of deficiencies and salinity.

Because there is no practical way of knowing how much of the 13 nutrients your compost has in it, you will very likely be faced with deficiencies of some of them. These will show up in your plants, and if you recognize and treat them quickly you can save the crop. Sometimes a garden crop is lost when an ounce or two of zinc, iron, boron, or manganese, etc. would completely solve the problem.

I highly recommend you get the Mittleider Garden Doctor books, available at www.growfood.com, and begin to use them. They will save their cost many times over!

Another issue that needs to be addressed when using manure and compost is that of too much at the beginning and not enough later on. Most people apply 2"-4" of compost and work it into their garden before planting. Doing that to the entire garden is wasteful of compost, and most of the nutrients go to feed the weeds in the aisles. So to start with, apply compost and manure only to your bed area.

And how much should you apply? Three inches of manure applied to the 45 square feet of a 30'-long soil-bed would weigh 200-300#, and would contain 2-3# of each of the major nutrients, plus lesser amounts of the secondary and micro-nutrients. We only apply about 2 OUNCES of each of the major elements to a soil-bed before planting, so the 3" application of compost puts 15 to 20 times more mineral salts into the soil than is needed right then.

This much salt in your soil may stop or even reverse the process of osmosis that takes moisture and nutrients into your plants, which will harm or kill your small seedlings. Inexperienced and careless organic gardeners are frequently discouraged, and sometimes give up, when they experience the immutable effects of this often-misunderstood natural law.

Therefore, apply only about 1/2" of compost to your planting area before planting, and after your plants are up add another 1/2" to the surface of the planting area and work it into the soil. Continue this process every two weeks - until 3 weeks before harvesting for single crop varieties, and until 6-8 weeks before the first frost for everbearing crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and squash.

I know how to prepare and use manure and compost, and have done it very successfully. I choose to use natural mineral nutrients because 1) it is so much easier and cost effective, 2) we eliminate problems such as pests, weed seeds, and diseases, and 3) we eliminate 13 unknowns by accurately providing our plants with everything that they need.

Fall Planting – Fall Crops & Winter Storage

Fall Planting – Fall Crops & Winter Storage



Sadly, too many of us are tired of our gardens by fall, often because weeds have taken over, or because we planted the wrong things and we can’t even get rid of them.



I suggest we take another look at it, because gardening in the fall can be very productive, and will give you fresh vegetables well into the winter, if they are grown and stored properly.



Much of a good fall garden should be carried over from the summer garden. Squashes, while requiring warm weather to grow, can be stored for months, as can potatoes. Eggplant, okra, peppers, and tomatoes will produce right up until frost kills them if you will continue feeding them. And tomatoes can be brought into the garage or basement while still green, to extend the harvest another month (unless you cover them with a portable greenhouse as I show in the Photos section of the MittleiderMethod Yahoo Groups site).



Vegetables that can survive a light frost, if provided some protection, do best for growing in the cooler fall weather, and include the cabbage family, leafy greens, and root crops. And some of these actually have their flavor improved by a touch or two of light frost! The greens can also tolerate less direct sun, so the shorter days are less of a problem than for fruit producing crops.



Choose from the following, which can be seeded as late as September in some locations: Beets, carrots, chard, endive, kale, kohlrabi, lettuce, peas, radishes, spinach, and turnips.



The larger crops including broccoli (Waltham), Brussels sprouts (Jade Cross), cabbage (Danish Ball head), and cauliflower (Snow Crown) should be transplanted in August for fall harvesting in the temperate climates.



Many of the fall crops can be stored through the winter with little loss of taste or nutritional value, if you store them in moist sawdust at temperatures around 40 degrees f.



Here’s a good chart showing fall planting times for vegetables, depending on when your average first fall frost date is – by the Yankee Gardener website:

http://www.yankeegardener.com/resource/fall-veg.html



Seeding crops when the ground and the weather are still warm, as in August and early September, is often easier than spring planting, because the plants germinate and grow quickly in the warm conditions. In addition, most of the cool-weather crops are more flavorful when harvested in the cooler weather of late September, October, and November.



Many of us could learn from our friends in the Southern United States about the benefits of eating more greens. Nutritionally you probably can’t beat them. They are high in vitamin A, K, folic acid, dietary fiver, antioxidants, carotenoid, riboflavin, and iron.



Spinach is common everywhere, and some of us enjoy red beets and their tops, but how many eat Swiss chard, which can be harvested all year? Or turnip tops – which are also tasty and nutritious! And I recommend the Southern greens, such as collards, kale, and mustards, which are different still, and will add variety to your diet.



Don’t give up your gardening yet, folks! Now’s a great time to put the finishing touches on a great gardening year, and provide your family with fresh vegetables through the winter.

Grow you garden later in the Fall

Extending your growing season

Today I want to assist many of you who are wondering how to extend your growing season for a few more weeks. For some it may be too late, as in Eagle Mountain, where it was 27 degrees one night this month, but most of the lower elevations are still frost-free as I’m writing this column.

How can you deal with the special challenges of living in these mountain valleys? Several difficult weather conditions make successful vegetable gardening an "iffy" proposition, unless you learn how to protect your plants against them. Let’s discuss what they are, and how you can successfully mitigate their negative effects.

First off, we have late spring frosts, which keep us from getting started in our gardens – often until mid or late May. Second, many of us have strong winds throughout the growing season that buffet our plants and dry everything out. Third, living in a desert we always face the scarcity and cost of water. And finally, we often have early crop-killing frosts, followed by several weeks of mild weather that could support continued growth and harvesting.

So how do you handle the shorter growing season with unseasonable frosts, the constant drying winds, and the lack of water? Let’s deal with the wind first, since the solution to that also helps reduce the other problems. To protect your garden’s tender plants, build solid fences or plant trees and shrubs between your garden and the prevailing winds - but put them far enough away that you do not shade your garden! Always remember that growing vegetables need direct sunshine all day long. This means that you also want to place your shade trees so as to leave the garden in full sun.

Some of you grow in small containers, or raised boxes. When these are subjected to hot winds they are difficult to keep cool and moist. Consider either larger Grow-Boxes - we recommend 4' wide and up to 30' in length - or growing in the regular soil. Many will remember that Thanksgiving Point’s fabulous vegetable gardens were grown in some of the worst clay soil we’ve seen anywhere, and Dr. Mittleider promises "a great garden in any soil, in almost any climate."

Next is watering. You will save ½ or more on your water usage by following these procedures. And it’s amazing how much heat and wind plants can handle if they are properly fed and watered. First, make certain your Grow-Boxes or raised Soil-Beds are accurately leveled, and that Soil-Beds have a 4" ridge around them. Then apply 1" of water right at the soil surface (not by sprinkling!) before your soil becomes the least bit dry – even every day in the heat of summer if needed. This will place the precious water right at the plant roots, and waste none. Finally, automating your watering using ¾" PVC pipes, with 3 tiny #57 holes every 4", will make watering fast, easy, and efficient.

Extending your growing season is accomplished in two ways. Next February and March I’ll show you the first, which is how to grow healthy seedlings in a protected environment and transplant them into the garden after the danger of frost is past. The second thing you can do, even right now if frost hasn’t already killed your garden, is to make "Mini-Greenhouses" for covering your plants. By themselves they are good, but with a small heat source they can extend your growing season in both Spring and Fall by 4-6 weeks. PVC pipe, bent as shown in the picture to fit your bed or box, and covered with 4 or 6 mil greenhouse plastic, provides some protection against frost at night, and will warm the plants on cold days. Cover the edges with dirt all around when frost threatens, and open up when it gets warm. More details are at www.foodforeveryone.org in the Gardening Techniques and FAQ sections.

Want a Better Garden Next Year? Plant In The Fall!

Have you been disappointed with your garden this year? Or perhaps it was great and you can't wait to do it again. Whichever scenario fits your garden, you may be thinking of how next year’s garden is going to be SO MUCH BETTER!

One way to help improve next year’s garden is to plant some of it this fall. Such crops as asparagus, garlic, leaks, onions, and strawberries are naturals for fall planting, because they take a long time to grow, and the extra months, even with only a few growing days, help them develop a good root system.

Garlic is especially good for fall planting because as a cool season crop it thrives in the early spring, thus getting a substantial head-start on the growing season, and experiments have shown that your garlic yield may even be doubled by planting in the fall.

All but onions can be planted two to four weeks before the first frost for harvest the following summer. Water them immediately after planting.

Onions should be planted after the first frost. Planting earlier is not advised because any top growth they may send up will be damaged by winter cold. Watering is not advised for the same reason.

Other vegetable seeds that could be planted in the late fall include parsnips, lettuce, radishes, and spinach. Care must be taken to plant into dry ground and late enough that the seeds do not sprout, however, or the hard winter frosts will kill them. Obviously, no watering should be done in the fall on these crops.

Be sure to mark the beds well. Otherwise you may forget and till them up in the spring, wasting everything you’ve done. Your planted beds should be protected from the wind and have a good snow cover if possible, to prevent the seeds from blowing away, and to insulate the soil against sub-freezing temperatures.

Do not plant warm-season vegetables, such as beans, corn and tomatoes in the fall. Any growth during a warm spell in the spring will only set them up to be killed by later frosts.

Remember to put Pre-Plant and Weekly Feed fertilizer mixes into your soil-beds before planting. Use 32 ounces Pre-Plant and 16 ounces Weekly Feed for each 30’-long soil-bed, or 1 ounce and ½ ounce per running foot.

Before doing the work to prepare your beds and plant in the fall, please keep in mind that fall seeding is not 100% successful. When they are dry, seeds are quite tolerant of freezing temperatures; however, at very low temperatures or when even slightly moist, your seeds may be killed. And even if your seeds do survive the winter, germinate, and emerge in spring, later frosts may damage or kill the tender seedlings.

Even with the problems stated, many gardeners still plant in the fall. They often mature earlier crops, and sometimes even get larger yields. If you are adventurous and anxious to get a head start on the spring growing season you might want to try planting some things this fall.

Please remember, however, our general recommendation for most crops is to get the early start in the spring by planting and growing seedlings in a seedling greenhouse, or a cold frame or hotbed. You may also want to look into growing in the early spring using the “mini-greenhouses” described in other articles, on the Foundation’s website, and in Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s gardening books.

At the very least, asparagus, garlic, leaks, onions, and strawberries are always a good bet for fall planting, so if you enjoy eating any of them, now is a good time to put them into your garden.

Good fall gardening.

Heat Source(s) for Mini-Greenhouses

Q. In your answer on 'extending your growing season' you mention using a small heat source for the 'mini greenhouses'. What heat source would you recommand and how is the best way to use it?

A. Depending on the size of your Mini-Greenhouse and the severity of your frosts, you may be able to keep your plants from freezing by the use of a couple of lightbulbs placeda little distance from the ends. Or it may require a 1500 watt electric heater, generally turned to low heat. You will need to be careful that you don't cook your plants or melt the plastic. And always turn it off/unplug it when the outside temperature rises.

Want a Better Garden Next Year? Plant In The Fall!

Have you been disappointed with your garden this year? Or perhaps it was great and you can't wait to do it again. Whichever scenario fits your garden, you may be thinking of how next year’s garden is going to be SO MUCH BETTER!

One way to help improve next year’s garden is to plant some of it this fall. Such crops as asparagus, garlic, leaks, onions, and strawberries are naturals for fall planting, because they take a long time to grow, and the extra months, even with only a few growing days, help them develop a good root system.

Garlic is especially good for fall planting because as a cool season crop it thrives in the early spring, thus getting a substantial head-start on the growing season, and experiments have shown that your garlic yield may even be doubled by planting in the fall.

All but onions can be planted two to four weeks before the first frost for harvest the following summer. Water them immediately after planting.

Onions should be planted after the first frost. Planting earlier is not advised because any top growth they may send up will be damaged by winter cold. Watering is not advised for the same reason.

Other vegetable seeds that could be planted in the late fall include parsnips, lettuce, radishes, and spinach. Care must be taken to plant into dry ground and late enough that the seeds do not sprout, however, or the hard winter frosts will kill them. Obviously, no watering should be done in the fall on these crops.

Be sure to mark the beds well. Otherwise you may forget and till them up in the spring, wasting everything you’ve done. Your planted beds should be protected from the wind and have a good snow cover if possible, to prevent the seeds from blowing away, and to insulate the soil against sub-freezing temperatures.

Do not plant warm-season vegetables, such as beans, corn and tomatoes in the fall. Any growth during a warm spell in the spring will only set them up to be killed by later frosts.

Remember to put Pre-Plant and Weekly Feed fertilizer mixes into your soil-beds before planting. Use 32 ounces Pre-Plant and 16 ounces Weekly Feed for each 30’-long soil-bed, or 1 ounce and ½ ounce per running foot.

Before doing the work to prepare your beds and plant in the fall, please keep in mind that fall seeding is not 100% successful. When they are dry, seeds are quite tolerant of freezing temperatures; however, at very low temperatures or when even slightly moist, your seeds may be killed. And even if your seeds do survive the winter, germinate, and emerge in spring, later frosts may damage or kill the tender seedlings.

Even with the problems stated, many gardeners still plant in the fall. They often mature earlier crops, and sometimes even get larger yields. If you are adventurous and anxious to get a head start on the spring growing season you might want to try planting some things this fall.

Please remember, however, our general recommendation for most crops is to get the early start in the spring by planting and growing seedlings in a seedling greenhouse, or a cold frame or hotbed. You may also want to look into growing in the early spring using the “mini-greenhouses” described in other articles, on the Foundation’s website, and in Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s gardening books.

At the very least, asparagus, garlic, leaks, onions, and strawberries are always a good bet for fall planting, so if you enjoy eating any of them, now is a good time to put them into your garden.

Good fall gardening.

How To Save Crops From Freezing In Your Garden

How To Save Crops From Freezing In Your Garden

Author: Jim Kennard

Q. I have a farm in Afghanistan, which is about 30,000 square
metres, 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, 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 be too expensive for you. We also use fans to blow the warm air throughout the orchard, garden, or vineyard.

The book Food For Everyone, available at www.growfood.com, is a college-level text with hundreds of pictures, and should be in the library of every serious vegetable grower.

What is the Mittleider Method?

The Mittleider Method combines the best features of soil-based gardening and hydroponic gardening, but without hydroponic expense! It's a complete, easy-to-follow plan that eliminates guesswork and ensures success anywhere: an apartment patio, a city yard, a country lot, or a farm.

The method is based on maximum utilization of space, time, and resources. Crops are large because plants are close together, nourished by supplemental feedings of natural mineral nutrients (as in hydroponics), but with no special equipment.

Also, unlike hydroponics, the Mittleider Method gives plants access to the natural soil for nutrients as yet unknown or that, while not essential to plant growth, are useful in human nutrition. You can use the Mittleider Method by raising crops in either soil-beds or grow-boxes.

Extending Your Growing Season - Both Spring & Fall

Author: Jim Kennard

Today I want to assist many of you who are wondering how to extend your growing season for a few more weeks. For some it may be too late, as in high elevations like Randolph, Utah, where it was below freezing more than one night in August, but most of the lower elevations in Utah and around the country are still frost-free as I’m writing this article.

How can you deal with the special challenges of living in colder climates? Several difficult weather conditions make successful vegetable gardening an “iffy” proposition, unless you learn how to protect your plants against them. The Mittleider gardening books, available at www.foodforeveryone.org, are excellent sources of information on this topic. Let’s discuss briefly what these challenges are, and how you can successfully mitigate their negative effects.

First off, many places have late spring frosts, which keep us from getting started in our gardens – often until mid or late May. Second, many of us have strong winds throughout the growing season that buffet our plants and dry everything out. Third, others of us face the scarcity and cost of water. And finally, we often have early crop-killing frosts, usually followed by several weeks of mild weather that could support continued growth and harvesting.

So how do you handle the shorter growing season with unseasonable frosts, the constant drying winds, and the lack of water? Let’s deal with the wind first, since the solution to that also helps reduce the other problems. To protect your garden’s tender plants, build solid fences or plant trees and shrubs between your garden and the prevailing winds - but put them far enough away that you do not shade your garden! Always remember that growing vegetables need direct sunshine all day long. This means that you also want to place your shade trees so as to leave the garden in full sun.

Some of you do container gardening, or raised boxes. When these are subjected to hot winds they are difficult to keep cool and moist. Consider either larger Grow-Boxes - we recommend 18” or 4' wide and up to 30' in length - or growing in the regular soil. Remember that Dr. Jacob Mittleider promises “a great garden in any soil, in almost any climate.”

Next is watering. You will save ½ or more on your water usage by following these procedures. And it’s amazing how much heat and wind plants can handle if they are properly fed and watered. First, make certain your Grow-Boxes or raised Soil-Beds are accurately leveled, and that Soil-Beds have a 4” ridge around them. Then apply 1” of water right at the soil surface (not by sprinkling!) before your soil becomes the least bit dry – even every day in the heat of summer if needed. This will place the precious water right at the plant roots, and waste none. Finally, automating your watering using ¾” PVC pipes, with 3 tiny #57 holes every 4”, will make watering fast, easy, and efficient.

Extending your growing season is accomplished in two ways. Next February and March we’ll discuss the first, which is how to grow healthy seedlings in a protected environment and transplant them into the garden after the danger of frost is past. The second thing you can do, even right now if frost hasn’t already killed your garden, is to make "Mini-Greenhouses" for covering your plants. By themselves they are good, but with a small heat source they can extend your growing season in both Spring and Fall even more, often by 4-6 weeks.

Use PVC pipe, bent in a capital “A” shape, but with a 6” flat top, to fit your bed or box, and covered with 4 or 6 mil greenhouse plastic. This provides some protection against frost at night, and will warm the plants on cold days. Cover the edges with dirt all around when frost threatens, and open up when it gets warm. More details are at www.foodforeveryone.org in the Gardening Techniques and FAQ sections. © 2006 - James B. Kennard

Jim Kennard, President of Food For Everyone Foundation, has a wealth of teaching and gardening training and experience upon which to draw in helping the Foundation "Teach the world to grow food one family at a time." Jim has been a Mittleider gardener for the past twenty nine years; he is a Master Mittleider Gardening Instructor, and has taught classes and worked one-on-one with Dr. Jacob Mittleider on several humanitarian gardening training projects in the USA and abroad. He has conducted projects in Armenia, America, Madagascar, and Turkey by himself. He assists gardeners all over the world from the http://www.foodforeveryone.org website FAQ pages and free Gardening Group, and grows a large demonstration garden at Utah's Hogle Zoo in his spare time.

Gardening Books, CDs and Software are available at http://www.foodforeveryone.org

Have you ever considered growing your own food?

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Companion planting yes or no?

This is actually a never ending debate among the scientific
community and the biodynamic gardening community. The biodynamic
gardening is based on some "bad science" especially with the
"sensitive crystallization method".

However, there is a type of "companion planting" done on large farms called no-till farming. This technique has become popular in recent years and is being used around here for the sorghum and grain crops. However no-till is planting in the residue of the last crop and not doing the traditional tilling of the land. This is different that the companion planting you are referring to.

The farmers here are for the most part highly educated with bachelors
and master degrees and keep up with the latest research, and none of
them utilize companion planting except "no-till".

I have never seen a lot of scientific studies that have really studied this technique but have personally tried it a few times myself and was not impressed with the results. The last time was two years ago when I tried doing the three sisters approach. Actually the corn did good but the beans and squash were nothing to write home about.

I am sure that Mittleider studied the technique thoroughly and came to the conclusion it was not useful and actually detrimental as I experienced.

I could not consider the article you posted as a "Well Researched Article" but it is a very well done general introduction of companion planting. I enjoyed reading it myself. Please refer to this article for what a "research article" is.
http://www.lib. utexas.edu/ lsl/help/ modules/research .html

Below is an article of a study that a student did for her masters degree She did a two year study of companion planting with potatoes. This is a summary article and of course not a research article. There is not a research article cited. However, it is interesting reading.
http://www.organica gcentre.ca/ ResearchDatabase /res_cpb_ companion_ tara.asp

This is an article from Cornell.
http://www.gardenin g.cornell. edu/factsheets/ ecogardening/ complant. html

Earwigs and Grasshappers

Hi from Gede & Darsi in Bali
We've written before about grasshoppers - catch them, blender with water, strain and spray the affected area - we didn't have problem again for over a year - even through rainy season. It's easy and effective - from a Permaculture friend. Why not try with earwigs - we don't have a problem in the garden but do around the house - so you've given me a new idea to try itl!!
Gede & Darsi

Darsi
"Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It was loaned to you by your children."
Kenyan proverb

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Gardening and health and good karma

My mother tells me that I've been planting seeds since I was 7 years
old - I asked her - if I plant this pumpkin seed - will it grow some
pumpkins? - She replied - only if I really cared for it...

There has never been a year without a garden. I grew up being
indoctrinated in the J. I. Rodale's Organic Gardening school of total
disdain for that evil factory fertilizer.

The gardens have always produced something, but when I moved to
Pinole, a suburb of San Francisco - very much a foggy coastal climate
- the tomatoes didn't ripen - the potatoes never sized to any thing
worth taking in for dinner - the thornless blackberries were mostly
small and totally seed - and I knew all the reasons/excuses why -
- - because - I know more than you.....

Four and half years ago I died. With the Grace of God and a skilled
heart doctor, and a kidney surgeon that tossed out the tumored right
one, I began a slow recovery. My garden didn't do too well during
that first year.

I decided that, having been given a second chance, I would quit the
ways of the first 50 years and try to LISTEN to that voice that daily
offered direction for most of Life's profound and silly questions.
So, my garden attitude began to change from one of knowing, to that of
listening - trying new things (arrogance & tradition hadn't work too
well, so why not...).

You have been messing with my head for many years. I've bought your
books twice, but couldn't make myself even try what you taught. Talk
about a slow learner! Last year I started to apply your techniques,
and some of that "evil poison for the soil" ---

it was a letter - you responded quite simply to that classic question
about the use of the chemical fertilizer - constant and small
quantities - something changed, and now in my "real" second
year as a Mittleider novice, the garden just works - strong,
beautiful plants - more BIG tomatoes already this year than the last
15 years put together - - - strange though - still the same summer
chill every night - still the same frequent foggy, cool days, same
beds of clay (although I did put a layer of saw dust on some of them).

I trust that our planet will have the courage to let go of the
stifling prejudice that dooms each next generation to the bondage of
stupidity.

Please keep up the effort to teach us - it's a slow process -

I AM grateful for your help.

New to the mittleider method whats the fertilier all about

I, also, have just found out about this method. I got the book and
read faithfully after I had put in most of the garden. I have
planted 13 tomato plants in a row about 25 feet long. Finally tying
them up was educational. I did it this morning. I have pipe above
about 6 foot and used clothes line to tie them up. Cutting off the
strong shoots hurt me and probably put the plants into shock. I did
keep the shoots that were flowering so three of the plants have two
strong stems tied up. What do I do with the one that is really a
bush of many small shoots. I left it alone for now and will try to
treat it as a bush and only thin it a little.

OK - Do I dress the plants with the #1 and weekly now? This is the
first time this land has been used as a veg garden. I tilled it last
fall and twice this spring prior to planting anything. I did no
testing of the soil nor did I add anything prior to planting. At
planting I added 16,16,16. What should I do now to my corn, zuchinni
and acorn squash, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant.

Keeping up with the weeds is daily work.

Thanks for being such a good recourse.

With plants 2' apart you can certainly let more than one stem grow. Keep them guided around your "string", and prune future sucker stems.

Is the tomato that looks like a bush a determinate? If it's roma, celebrity, or other patio variety then leave it a bush. It it's indeterminate you're best served to try and limit the stems, or it will be all stems and little fruit.

If you did not add calcium to your soil before planting I would certainly do THAT now. Make the Pre-Plant formula by combining lime (or gypsum if you receive less than 20" of annual rainfall), Epsom Salts, and 20 Mule Team Borax in a ratio of 80-4-1. Apply 1 ounce (2 tablespoons) per running foot, and work into the top inch or two of the soil, along with the #1 (Weekly Feed) mix.

Each week after doing this make-up feeding apply the Weekly Feed mix to your rows of plants at the rate of 1/2 ounce (one tablespoon) per running foot.. Corn is fed only until it tassels. The others are best fed until 8 weeks before the first expected fall frost.

Jim Kennard