Everything You Need to Know for an ABUNDANT Garden-Part 1

Massive Cabbage from the Mittleider Method

Will your gardening skills today be enough for your survival tomorrow?

Perhaps not, but that can be easily remedied!

There’s no denying it, when it comes to our food supply in this nation, we are in deep trouble.  I won’t get into all of the reasons why I say that, as I believe it would be better in a different article, but I will say that I’m sufficiently convinced  of this potential

There’s a problem that I believe I have to GROW as much of my food as I possibly can and then eat it or preserve it for future use.  I don’t know about you but I feel a sense of urgency to not only grow as much food as I can, but to also stock up on what food I can get my hands on that hasn’t yet been converted into some Frankensteinian version of food. It may only be a few syllables, but I’m Frankenseinian food is a nightmare for me and for you–in my opinion.  I’m tired of not knowing where my food was produced, HOW it was produced, and what chemicals were used.  Anyway, as such I’ve felt a sense of urgency in growing, preserving, and ensuring that I have all of the supplies, seeds, and knowledge that I need so that I can grow and assure myself healthy foods in the future. To this end I’ve been purchasing heirloom, open-pollinated seeds over the past year like a madwoman, paying close attention to every single gram of seed and studying every single species I’ve purchased as well as the various idiosyncrasies pertinent to each type of seed that I intend to grow. (When my Baker’s Creek catalog arrives every January, I’m in for sitting down for a couple of hours just do delve into the glorious pictures and fantasize about all of the delicious possibilities!)

First Step: Strategic Seed Selection

Rather than just selecting seeds based on my appetites and the ingredients I need for my favorite dishes, I’ve also meticulously selected each seed based on a criterion that I believe will strengthen my security and survival in a not-too-distant time. I’ve deliberately selected high-value, rare, uncommon heirloom seeds as those which I believe will be in high demand at a future time, which I can grow and rely upon to take care of my family and perhaps even my community both nutritionally and economically. In other words, I can grow tomatoes and offer them at a farmers market, but I can also grow big, beautiful,

The meaty orange and purple and striped tomatoes that will be in big demand by foodies, chefs, and those who want something a little more “special.”  I’ve been watching what the health food stores charge for the unique produce such as the small scalloped squash and the golden beets and the beautifully mottled brown and orange tomatoes. Those kinds of items are going for $5 to $6 a pound. So this kind of stratagem can earn an income with the produce OR just selling the seeds outright someday. By selecting my seeds this way, I not only am in position to provide food for our needs, but also income today and tomorrow under more trying circumstances. I’m positive we’re nearing a time in which it will be very difficult to find heirloom, open-pollinated, non-gmo seeds. I look at my seeds much like many view their gold or silver collections. The only thing is that none of my seed assets will decrease in value in a crisis.

Second Step: Foolproof Growing Method

Being a woman of priorities, I understand that these seeds are useless to me if I can’t convert them into the promised fruits of my labors. But the problem with that is that up until 3 years ago, I had never planted my own garden. I realize that might sound a bit loony coming from “The Preparedness Pro”, but I moved around SO much and have been such a “city girl”, that gardening was never on my radar—not to mention the fact that I’ve managed to kill more than a few “foolproof” houseplants along the way. As such it might surprise you to hear that it is with no small amount of confidence that I share with you today that I’m absolutely certain that I can accomplish these goals, and that I can likewise direct you to the same level of certainty regardless of your previous gardening background.  I’ve discovered a truly foolproof gardening method that will turn a novice into a blue ribbon gardener; but just as importantly, a method that will convert a Certified Master Gardener into a gardener who will have no choice but to re-learn some of the principles he’s been taught as he discovers the power and potential which THIS simple gardening method holds. I’m referring to the Mittleider Gardening Method, of course, and I’m taking the time in this series to provide greater detail in using this method, as well as making good on some promises to take the time to answer several of the questions that I’ve received ever since my first hastily written article that came out on the topic about 2 weeks ago.

What’s the TEN Criteria for a PERFECT Gardening Method?

First of all, remember that I am a complete gardening novice. I’ve heard, read, watched, and discussed dozens of different gardening methods out there, but none of them met my logical criteria.  I don’t have any “flesh in the game” so to speak when it comes to deciding on a particular gardening method. I DO feel a responsibility though to do the studying necessary to find one that I can confidently submit to our readers as being the PERFECT gardening method regardless of where they live in the world. As I researched all of the various methods out there, I felt that if a gardening method was going to be reliable in a time of “crisis” or  “survival time” then it had to be reliable and universal in its application NOW with the following criteria:

1. Simple: Simple to set up, simple to maintain, simple to teach others how to implement.

2. Universally applicable: It needs to be realistic to be implemented in S. Africa, the Philippines, Norway, and anywhere else that good food is needed.  But it also needs to be applicable in areas where there’s limited water resources and where there might be poor and nutritionally deficient soil.

3. Preparedness Oriented: I need the method to be realistic enough that I can gather what I need now so that I can still have what I need ten years from now when growing my own garden might mean the difference between life and death. I need whatever I stock up on now to implement the method to still be usable 10 years from now. I expect nothing less from my shelf-stable food products so I need the same kind of reality from my plans to grow food too.

4. Creates nutritional food via all-natural methods: if the nutrients aren’t in the soil, then they aren’t in the food. It’s been a LONG time now since we’ve had the necessary nutrients in our soil that we really need. In fact, as long ago as the early 1980’s Green Giant farms’ soil was tested and found to be woefully inadequate to provide the nutrients in the produce they grew. In other words, the nutrients that you’re expecting to be in your produce isn’t there unless you make sure it’s in your soil. The method that I was looking for HAD to have a solution for this BUT it MUST be an ALL-NATURAL solution. No chemicals or synthetics for me. The body can tell the difference and will reject the synthetic garbage.

5. Easy on the soil: I don’t want a method that’s so intense that I need to give my soil time to rest. I don’t believe that I have that kind of time, do you? And I know that I don’t have that much soil to use as it is. (Which is why I had to have these planters built to go on my patio–because I’m out of yard space that gets sufficient sunlight!)

6. Maximum yield for the space: I need every square inch of my gardening space to produce the maximum amount of food. I’m sure there are apartment and city dwellers who might have no more than a couple of pots on their balcony that they can use to grow food. Space is the ultimate premium when it comes to gardening.

7. Inexpensive: In order for this method to be viable for me, it cannot demand that I spend money on special chemicals, fertilizers, equipment, and especially NOT dirt!! I can’t believe how much money people are spending to implement the hydroponics, or Back to Eden Gardening or some of these other foo-foo methods! Furthermore, I want to be able to spend the money once to set it up and have that set up last me a long, long time!

8. Grow FOOD FAST: I can’t believe that some of the methods actually require years of nurturing the soil in order to get good food!  Again, I dont’ have time for that. In fact, in my fantasy of fantasies, I’d love to find a way to grow quality food a little faster than “the norm.” Or at the very least, when I see the number on the low end of expected germination time, I’d like to know that I can at least achieve THAT number as opposed to the higher end of the spectrum. I’d love to be able to get more than one crop of peas and corn and beans planted each summer–but perhaps that’s too much to ask. (Spoiler alert: it’s NOT! The Mittleider Gardening Method actually does make it possible to grow more than one crop of several of my favorite foods.)

9. Easy to maintain: I don’t want to have to work so hard to get the garden going only to feel like I have to work just as hard every week to keep it going. Come on! I’m not Superwoman. I’ve got to have some energy left in my day so that I can PREPARE and PRESERVE what I grow after all, right?

Last but not least…

10: Require a minimal amount of water: While I know that I CAN create an effective aquaponics scenario, I don’t believe that that is the norm for most people living all over the world.  Such a method requires a LOT of water and a lot of equipment to filter that water and that means a lot of electricity. Sorry, but that’s not a part of my “off the grid” plan.  In fact, my research as of late is showing that there’s a DRASTIC DECREASE in the amount of available water.  I have reason to believe that it was possible that I could find a method that cut the water needs down dramatically by as much as 50% or more. I don’t want to HAVE to have abundant rainfall in order to grow, or unlimited water supply needed for a sprinkler system.

Well, there you have it. My TEN criteria that I set out to find out if there was a gardening method that matched what I felt I needed. And the good news is that yes, there is. The Mittleider method not only met all of this criteria, but it exceeds it and provides even more assets that I hadn’t considered. So, now that we have the criteria mapped out, let’s move forward and see what kinds of principles we can apply from the Mittleider Gardening Method to make this a reality.

Tune in tomorrow as I begin to address each of these criteria AND provide you some of the actual principles in using the Mittleider Gardening Method that you can implement right away.

How to Get the COMPLETE Mittleider Gardening Course–FREE

Until tomorrow…