Garden tales

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My grandparents always had a garden when I was growing up and I remember spending summers with them working in the garden, watering all the plants, and eating lots of yummy things. I remember running up and down through the rows of corn playing tag and hide n’ seek with my cousins. It was always the best part of summer.

So for several years now, I’ve wanted to replicate that in my own yard to not only give my kids some fun memories and teach them about sustainable living, but also simply for the benefits it brings – like natural, organic food, fresh vegetables, fruits and berries for canning for the winter months, and of course, to cut down on our grocery bills (which really seem to be rising quite dramatically lately).

I always wondered how in the world I could actually successfully grow that much produce in a relatively small and manageable area. From time to time, I go searching around the web looking for info and always seem to come up short of what I’m looking for. But one day this week, I was reading one of the family oriented blogs I read regularly where I happened upon some information called the Mittleider Method. And now I’m so excited because I think this method will actually work the way I want to.

If you’re not familiar with it, here a brief description from the Food For Everyone Foundation website -

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.

And to me it sounds like container gardening on steroids! Which is actually what I want – containers that maximize growth and are easy on my back.

Now my plan for the next week is gather materials and have my husband begin building the boxes and greenhouse. Hopefully the weather holds out long enough to get it all ready and set up before it’s too late. Although, I think if we do it right, it won’t matter much. I’m thinking our summer is going to be a decent one this year and having a greenhouse will allow us to extend the growing season long enough to compensate.

I’ll keep you posted how things go and if you’ve used this method or any other container gardening style with good success, let me know.

I hope you’re enjoying this beautiful beginning to the summer season. Have a safe and fun weekend!

In the arena,

God made rainy days so gardeners could get the housework done. ~Author Unknown

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.