Mittleider garden method

Curious who uses the Mittleider garden method? Some of you may not be familiar with the method https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://growfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Mittleider_Soil_Bed_Gardening_v5_download.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjfxuDsmqngAhXumq0KHR_ZDIsQFjAAegQICRAB&usg=AOvVaw2jC5fwW_Z-Lvou8m2Fl08L .

Looks like that takes the guesswork out of it. I’d say for a city dude or gal recently moved to a more rural area with some gardening space…this would be a good guide to make sure you don’t fail.

I could do quite well at age 5 or 6 with a hoe and barefoot (provided I didn’t hit my toe with the hoe). So, this seems like a full time job to learn and implement this “method”…but I’m sure it works.

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I’ve seen it before, but haven’t tried to implement any of the practices. An immediate turn-off for me is the heavy fertilizer recommendations and no mention of soil tests. As I understand it, he has no plant science education and he is a Dr only by honorary degree from someplace in the USSR.

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There are a few things I like that he does like growing the taller things on the north and shorter things on the south since the sun is in the south that makes sense. Dont want big tall corn plants blocking the sun from tiny bush green bean plants as an example. Like the fact he recognizes more nutrients than NPK. I don’t think enough importance is given to soil. If you really follow this method many people who use it grow in sawdust and sand. Some of those people using this method do have pretty incredible results. Verticle gardening is highly efficient which is also recommended. If you really analyze it much of it is what others have done but its combined into one method. Hopefully others will give their opinions and we can get the good from the plan and leave the bad. Perhaps all of us will learn a new trick or two about growing vegetables.

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In my opinion, growing in a dead medium that makes you solely dependent on third party input (not to mention costly), pretty much negates the reason to grow. You might as well go to the store at that point.
Feed the soil, not the plants.

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I like the idea of the wider beds and a ditch in the middle. I do not have access to a pressurized water system and I have to conserve the water I do get, so when I water it has to be on the plants not the entire garden.

I used to do raised beds but the water runs off and the beds dry out faster. I went back to the wide flat beds, but still, unless I had perfectly smooth ground the water would run and pool in the paths.
His method certainly has merit for those of us on limited water. There is also the possibility of mounding mulch in the ditch.

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All this is good. But where to take so much space to make wide paths between the beds? I recently rearranged from 1.5’ path to 2’ for the path and now can’t find a spot to stick 2 extra tomatoes :grin:.

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