Real Food – Gardening – Getting Started

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I’ve decided to plant a garden this summer. A small(ish) container garden. Not just any old container garden though, I am going to use the Mittleider method. I first heard about this method last year while reading Jessica’s gardening posts at Balancing Everything. The seven foot beans and tomatoes convinced me to give it a try.

Real Food - Gardening

It’s still a wee bit early to plant here in Alberta, so I’ve started some seeds in the house. Mr. MK has volunteered to build the grow box. I’ve read my Mittleider Manuals from back to front.

I can’t wait to get started –> 5-10x the produce as a regular garden! Well that’s if I remember to weed and water it, my flowerbeds don’t usually fair too well.

Are you planting a garden? What are you putting in it?

MK xo
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23 Comments

Amy from She Wears Many Hats · April 26, 2010 at 6:43 pm

Cool. I’ve never heard of the Mittleider method but I’ll definitely go check it out. I’ve started our garden but am still looking for a few more things. We’ve got a ton of tomato plants, peppers, okra, leeks, eggplant, maybe some melons and an herb garden to compliment it all. I get so excited at this time of the year, watching things grow.

Can’t wait to see how your garden grows!
.-= Amy from She Wears Many Hats´s last blog ..On the dark side. =-.

    MommyKnows · April 26, 2010 at 9:35 pm

    I can’t wait either. I’m hoping to have a great tomato crop. We so many. The kids are excited to grow pumpkins!

Megan · April 27, 2010 at 12:26 am

I’m in California and we got a surprise in our garden – a green bell pepper! Have no idea where it came from but the little guy is hanging on, and super early in the season.

It looks like you have fun stuff planned. Mmmm pumpkin seeds.
.-= Megan´s last blog ..The Secret of the Dreaded Reading Log =-.

Madeline · April 27, 2010 at 1:47 pm

Oh, envy! Stephan and I both love to garden, but we managed to buy a house with a large, extra shady yard. Not good for a veggie patch. We’re currently spying out a few places for potted herbs and such. Good luck with yours!
.-= Madeline´s last blog ..Eating His Greens! =-.

    MommyKnows · April 27, 2010 at 3:23 pm

    @Madeline, most of my front yard is in the shade, yet every year I insist on flowers. Never works. I am hoping my garden in my sunny back yard works.

Jenn B · April 27, 2010 at 1:59 pm

cool! i’ve never heard of that, i’ll have to read up on it. i had threatened to do SOME sort of garden this year, but we are (still) up in the air as to where we may be living from month to month (renting a condo that is currently for sale & figured for now we’ll just stay till is sells & then rent elsewhere…that’s the (lack of) plan for now anyway..). so…maybe next year? have to admit im almost nervous as i’ve killed so many potted herbs & flowers that it’s too many to count. wonder if i’m responsible enough for a ‘real’ garden! :)
.-= Jenn B´s last blog ..Ryan’s Tweets for 2010-04-27 =-.

MommyKnows · April 27, 2010 at 3:26 pm

@Megan, I love pumpkin seeds too! Last Halloween I spend nearly $60 on pumkins, so I figure I can lose with a $2 pack of seeds.

I bet the green bell pepper was courtesy of a bird :)

MommyKnows · April 27, 2010 at 3:28 pm

@Jenn B, I think the Mittleider is right up your alley. The site isn’t very pretty but it is full of great info. Apparently you can use 5 gallon pails to grow the 7′ tomatoes using the same method. You should try it :)

Distracted Daddy · May 16, 2010 at 9:29 am

Our garden is out of control. Didn’t do anything with it last year because we were expecting. This year, I’m staying at home with the little one. Hope to have some time to garden. It’s all weeds back there and rhubarb.

-DD
.-= Distracted Daddy´s last blog ..Bottle and a movie. =-.

Tillie · May 18, 2010 at 10:02 am

I am going to learn more about this method, it sounds like you will be getting great rewards growing such a great amount of food. My balcony is my garden and living room in summer time as well here in UK.

Best wishes
Tillie

<a href="http://www.potsgardening.com

Chris Barry · June 26, 2010 at 4:45 pm

I love tomatoes, cucumbers and a couple kinds of squash. I am going to try organic gardening next year. I am using the traditional fertilizers and insect control this year. The produce is looking pretty good and I have some super looking tomatoes!

    MommyKnows · June 30, 2010 at 10:20 am

    @Chris Barry, You are doing better than I am Chris. My gardening plans have sort of fallen by the wayside. :(

Garden Pavers · July 30, 2010 at 3:37 am

I have 2 gardens. One is located in the back yard and hidden as that is my primary source of food. The other garden is on the bank in front of my house where hungry people (and rabbits) can pick an occasional meal. Next year the front garden will be the biggest of the two and most of the vegetables will be planted in containers.

Starting a Garden · February 15, 2011 at 10:36 pm

Your zucchini plant looks healthy and promising. Vegetables gardening is a great way to grow your own organic vegetables and can save you money at the end.

MaryJones · March 2, 2011 at 12:21 am

My kids are funny! They tell me they watching as my tomatoes and pumpkins grows grow. “mommy look at that!” those are the main noises around my yard. They are nice though they help me water the crops. Last month I got 500 bucks from the sale.

Praveen M Nair · June 5, 2011 at 12:23 pm

Gardening had always been one of my passions ,never considered it as a hobby rather took it really serious just like a mission or job or something, your article was really captivating and will surely be a source of motivation for the people who wanted to do it full time or as a hobby, even I had got the same from one of the writings when I was in my school days. The presentation which you gave was really simple yet colorful and complex if one wants it that way, you can widen the details on certain sub topics, just a suggestion but really a nice work. Anyway looking forward to read more of your stuffs, Cheers for Garden
Regards
Praveen M Nair
steins garden.

Aquaponics System Plans · July 28, 2011 at 4:43 pm

I grow a lot of tomatoes for my family. I have a Aquaponics system which if you didnt know is a great way for organic gardens to grow lots of organic food. I am unfamiler with Mittleider methods so I will make sure I look abit more into him and his garden methods.

Privacy Fence Prices · August 1, 2011 at 2:23 am

I also make a little garden at our backyard.. I planted veggies.. And now we don’t have to go to the market to buy vegetables to cook.. We can just get it in our backyard.

Aquaponics Garden · September 14, 2011 at 8:31 pm

I am about to start my winter garden using aquaponics. It usually works well as I have a small room in the backyard that I grow vegetables in the winter in. Good info, always looking to learn more about gardening.

Anita · January 20, 2012 at 10:58 pm

For first time gardening it would be a good idea to start out with a few common herbs such as basil and oregano as they are hardy plants

DIY Aquaponics Plans · September 18, 2012 at 7:07 am

Like a couple of others above, I too vote ‘aquaponics’ …. :)

I am simply in love with this amazing technique of growing fish and organic veggies in a closed-loop system.

mommyknows · April 27, 2010 at 1:36 am

The latest post –> https://mommyknows.com/real-food-gardening-getting-started/

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