Use the cartons sideways, with the spout side cut off, to form a bed to start smaller plants in bunches. Remember to remove the lids, and once the sun is up and the temperature rises, lift the bottles away before the plants bake. When it looks like slugs and cutworms may destroy your plants, cut the bottoms and tops from milk cartons and ram the resulting sleeves one to two inches into the soil around the plants. Use sleeves of varying heights appropriate to the height of each plant. A sprinkling of diatomaceous earth around the plants inside the sleeves will ensure that no pest that moves on the ground will nibble on your plants.
Mites seem to be deterred by sunlight reflecting off aluminum foil onto the underside of leaves.
Anchor the foil with some stones, surrounding the stem of the plant outward for a few inches. If you use intensive planting techniques, foil won' t work once the plants create a canopy that shades the soil completely. If you have an area that won't grow crops, use milk bags as growing containers to create a movable raised bed. Push the seed into the soil or transplant your seedlings before you start the next row. With these bags, you can build as large an area as you can reach with a watering wand or hose nozzle.