Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

Jim, I listened to your Friday show yesterday evening. I was pleased that you referenced my In The Garden Greenhouse but held my breath hoping you wouldn't notice the weeds. But alas you did: Guilty as charged.

Those pictures were taken in 2010, my first year of Mittleider gardening. I really bit off more than I could chew that year! I put in 15 Mittlieder rows all 30' long. Five had the T-posts. I also did a 4' by 30' grow box. That was in addition to over 700 square feet of raised beds that I also converted to the Mittlieder Method that year. I had my hands full with a full time job, an extensive commitment to an assignment with my church and this garden.

Let me confess my other errors!

I got behind on mowing my lawn and between the winds and the rains my garden became inundated with grass. Lesson learned: keep the lawn mowed before it goes to seed.

On the In the Garden Greenhouse I didn't put up the hoops across the top. I quickly fashioned a bit of a peak to shed the rains. However there were some spots that sagged after a heavy rain and snow. I was using electrical conduit as a roof ridge which bent under the weight causing more accumulation, more ice and eventually the plastic tore and caved in. Oops!

I didn't use a solid sheet of plastic. I found some pieces just over 10 feet wide so I put 3 down each side plus three over the top. In a heavy wind it was hard to keep it sealed. In fact impossible. But despite all those errors it did prove that I could keep growing well into the fall season. I might have started earlier the next spring but because I didn't do the roof correctly I had a mess. Lesson learned.

Another error: On my tomatoes I suspended electrical conduit between the T-posts from which I tied the string for trellising tomatoes. Early on they began to bend under the weight. I had to cut supports to place in between the T-posts because of the heavy weight of the plants. At the end of the year I replaced them with the recommended 2 x 4's. (But at least I used baling twine for my string!)

Also, I was lax on pruning my tomatoes and other plants that I trellised. Part was due to my schedule but part was due to my inexperience. I just couldn't bring myself to cut out all that growth. The net result was crowded plants and the late blight in my tomatoes wiped me out a month before the end of the season. But meanwhile I had harvested a bunch of tomatoes!

For 2011 while I haven't enclosed the in the garden greenhouse yet, I was better at weeding and pruning. As a result despite the terrible drought here in Missouri my garden did well. The tomatoes lasted until our first frost a week or so ago. Some kept on producing until hit with a second frost a few days ago. And, you would have been proud of my weedless and well pruned tomatoes!

I continue to make mistakes and I could go on but you would make me the poster boy for "What Not to Do with the Mittleider Method".

Despite my mistakes I have had some huge successes with this system. I have 60 broccoli plants that are starting to produce as a fall crop. I protected them from the heat and sun when I first planted them using those hoops that I bent with the heat gun and some shade cloth. If it is going to freeze I use a thick row cover. Last year we had fresh broccoli for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanks again for all you do. The information and support is appreciated. I will try to post some weedless pictures soon to redeem myself!

Berlan Crouch
Cassville, Mo

• New Members 7