In this compact volume the author presents a concise look on growing fresh vegetables to meet the needs of the family with a surplus to share or sell - is the outgrowth of many years of research and experimentation im more than two score countries around the world under most unusual and varied circumstances, most recently in Africa, Southern Utah Indian reservations, Trinidad, Tobago, W.I, and Russia.
After these years of research a simple garden method has been perfected. The method is not limited by poor soils, rocks, hillsides, swamps, city limits, long seasons, short seasons, rain, arid regions, waste land, weeds, lack of powered equipment, or no equipment.
The Grow-Bed garden program outlined in this book is simple, inexpensive, and easy to implement. It will help you to eliminate failures and experience the best in gardening satisfaction and enduring success.
Jacob R. Mittleider was born in Blackfoot, Idaho. After completing formal schooling there, he moved to California and concentrated on a scientific and practical study of agriculture, which he mastered.
His primary interest was raising beautiful flowers and shrubbery, and the result was the founding in Loma Linda, California, of Mitts Nursery, Inc., in 1947. For 15 years his products sold widely and graced the homes and flower gardens of thousands of people from California to Maine.
He invented nine new varieties of carnations, which carry such intriguing names as Moon Moth, Firelight, and April Dawn. Franchise arrangements also produced these in Europe and South Africa.
To speed delivery of his plants, he developed Magic Mitts, a new method of growing, packaging, and delivering plants and flowers through a nation-wide retail chain.
During these years he conquered weeds, harmful insects, and plant diseases and perfected a technique for making soil produce near-perfect plants and flowers in budget-balancing abundance.
In 1964, he closed his successful nursery business and decided to live on his modest annuity so he could devote his remaining years to serving mankind in the field of scientific food production. He was an instructor in the Extension Faculty of Loma Linda University and has been an International Agricultural Consultant and given extensive instruction and successful vegetable-gardening demonstrations in many locations throughout the U. S. A. and Canada, as well as New Guinea, Fiji, Okinawa, the Philippines, Trinidad (West Indies), Mexico, Honduras, Guyana, and Africa. From 1989 to 1996 he conducted season-long gardening courses in Russia, helping those people increase their food crops from 4 (cabbage, potatoes, beets, and carrots) to 23. His gardening books have been translated into Russian, Japanese, and Spanish.
During the time he was teaching in the developing countries, Dr. Mittleider was honored with two Doctorate degrees - one from Florida Beacon College, and the other from Timorazi University in Moscow, Russia (reputedly the most prestigious school in the Russian Commonwealth).
For the past 3 years Dr. Mittleider has been a consultant at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah, supervising the planting and growth of the lawns, trees, and shrubs. He also established an extensive vegetable-garden show-place and supervised and taught gardening classes there. He and his wife, Mildred, are currently living in Salt Lake City, Utah.
