Mel Bartholomew, creator of the Square Foot Gardening method and author of the bestselling book on the subject, passed away last Thursday at the age of 85. A household term for gardeners, the Square Foot Gardening method of intense planting revolutionized backyard gardening. Green thumbs all over the world learned that you can easily grow an abundance of produce in a surprisingly small space.

Since Bartholomew’s seminal book on the method, Square Foot Gardening, came out in 1981, more than 2.5 million copies of books on the subject have been sold, making him a bestselling gardening author. Bartholomew used the proceeds from the sale of his books to create the Square Foot Gardening Foundation, which seeks to share the gardening method throughout the world in an effort to help end world hunger.

Bartholomew created the Square Foot Gardening method when he retired as an engineer and decided to use his engineering skills to garden. This resulted in a method that focuses on planting densely in a grid-like pattern in 12×12-foot planting beds that are further divided and planted. Each square within the bed is used for a different crop. In addition to producing an abundant harvest in a tight space, the gardening method prevents weeds and reduces the possibility of pests and diseases, which don’t tend to multiply when there are several different types of crops present.

During his career, Bartholomew hosted a PBS television show on the method and trained a wide network of instructors. The Square Foot Gardening Foundation has vowed to carry on his mission of fighting world hunger.

Julie Bawden-Davis is a garden writer and master gardener, who since 1985 has written for publications such as Organic Gardening, The American Gardener, Wildflower, Better Homes and Gardens and The Los Angeles Times. She is the author of seven books, including Reader’s Digest Flower Gardening, Fairy Gardening, The Strawberry Story Series, and Indoor Gardening the Organic Way, and is the founder of HealthyHouseplants.com.