To grow a good harvest, you need to take into account a lot – weather conditions, quality of fertilizers, seed material. It is really difficult for a novice gardener to understand the intricacies of watering, planting, and feeding features. If you are a novice gardener, you can use trial and error, or use the experience of professional practitioners. In the second case, we mean Mittlider beds.
American Jacob Mittlider has devoted more than two decades to the cultivation of flowers and vegetables for sale. Having visited different countries, he studied crop production and nutrition problems and created an effective way of growing vegetables, which today can be used by gardeners and amateur gardeners who do not have much experience in growing vegetables and seedlings.
The method is good for its versatility – you can grow almost anything – zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, potatoes, carrots. The beds can be made both in the open field and in a greenhouse. Garden farms have taken note of this method for a long time.
One of the features of such beds is that they are well warmed up even by the setting sun, all plants, if planted correctly, receive a sufficient amount of light
What makes Mittlider beds different from ordinary beds? They are rather narrow, with a wide passage, and are equipped with a special design – with earthen or wooden sides. The design invented by Mittlider proved to be highly resistant to weather conditions, particularly strong winds. There are very few weeds in such a garden; its cleanliness and impeccable geometry delight.
In addition to the convenience in caring for vegetables, the Meathlider beds also look very good, especially if you pay more attention to their arrangement.
In order to grow a good harvest, you need to adhere to the following rules:
- study the timing of planting the selected crop, compare them with the planting rules in your region, especially paying attention to the timing of frosts. If the culture is not resistant to frost, it should be planted a couple of weeks after the end, if it is stable – a couple of weeks earlier;
- do not place beds in the lowlands, on the northern slope of the hill and in other places where the temperature will be several degrees below normal;
- you also need to know when frost hits in your area in the fall in order to harvest and prepare the beds for the next season.
For installation, you need the following tools:
- two containers where you will mix fertilizers;
- rake for a narrow bed (the best size is 30cm);
- bayonet shovel;
- a hoe with a straight blade;
- pegs for marking;
- devices for fertilizing and irrigation.
And the order of work is as follows. First of all, we mark narrow beds using pegs. The width of the beds is 45 cm. The passage between them can be one meter or less – 75 cm. Its dimensions are determined by the size of the plot. The length of the bed also depends on the size of the plot – 3 – 4,5 or 9 meters.
The spatial orientation of the beds is of great importance. Ideally, the location is from east to west so that the plants get maximum light. Taller crops do not need to be planted from the south, so they do not shade the lower ones. This structure of the beds provides good lighting.
A variant of the layout of the garden beds. The distances between the aisles, between the plants are determined taking into account the characteristics of the growth of vegetable crops
Simple arrangement of the beds, which does not require special skills and work with complex equipment, will allow you to create a vegetable garden that brings good yields
Another feature of narrow Mittlider beds is the presence of sides. They are installed along the perimeter of the beds. The height of the side is up to ten centimeters, the width is no more than five. The space between the sides of the beds is within 30 cm. It is not necessary to place the beds too high, this will complicate watering.
It is very easy to build beds with a slate rim, it is enough to cut off strips of the required length from the sheet and fix them with pegs
Along the Mittlider, the aisle and the beds are located at the same level, but our beds are often located above the aisles. The cultivation option using boxes is more difficult and costly, it is most convenient to grow vegetables in the open field, it is also the cheapest way.
The soil between the aisles must be well compacted. You do not need to cover them with gravel or pave them with tiles – in this case, the roots of the weeds can remain in the soil and damage vegetables or seedlings. Almost all summer residents are very annoyed by moles – compacted soil in this case can help, because animals prefer loose soil for digging tunnels.
The scheme of the device of the beds according to Mittlider – the sides can be either made of wood or slate, or earthen. There is nothing difficult in the arrangement of such a vegetable garden, and it is much more convenient to take care of it
Jacob Mittlider has both supporters and critics. If you are fascinated by the creation of beds for seedlings and vegetables according to the Meatlider method, then with its proper use, you can grow a crop that is several times higher than usual using generally accepted methods.
When growing vegetables using this method, two types of fertilizer mixtures are used.
First option
The fertilizer mixture contains the following components: magnesium, molybdenum, nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. 60 grams per running meter – this is the consumption of this mixture, used for feeding once a week.
The second option
Fertilizer containing boron and calcium, used before planting. The rate per running meter for light soil is 100g, for heavy soil – 200g. Light soils – sandy and sandy loam, heavy – peat, loamy, clay.
Our gardeners have noticed that copying this method without a creative approach to understanding the processes of growth and cultivation of crops, their biological characteristics, does not always give a good result. Mittlider suggests using only mineral fertilizers, and with such feeding, the taste of the fruit seems to many to be chemical, unnatural. Many of our summer residents using this method replace mineral fertilizing with organic ones – they use compost, manure, humus, ash. In this case, your harvest will be an environmentally friendly product. When using mineral fertilizers, it is better not to feed the plants a little, than to fertilize them too much, so as not to harm your health.
If your area is often flooded with water – in the spring or during summer showers, boxes can also be used. If it rains for two or three days almost without a break, the vegetables in them will suffer much less or practically not.
Rich harvests, luxurious vegetables – many of our gardeners, who were carried away by this technique, have achieved excellent results in the course of some practice.
If you decide to equip the beds, guided by the Meatlider method, you will have the opportunity to grow rich crops, and caring for such a garden requires much less time. If it is not possible to travel frequently to the dacha, two days a week – on weekends and in the middle of the week – will be enough to water the garden.
