Big Secrets
Using a Compass
Using a Compass to Find Your Cardinal and Ordinal Directions This is the most basic way to use a compass. If you’re orienteering, there is a whole other set of ways to use one, but, if you just want to Read more…
Big Secrets
Orienting Yourself
Orienting Yourself Family Touchstones Like many “older-timers,” as a child, I saw the sun rise so many times over the same tree-covered hills on the east side of our family farm that I took knowing my cardinal directions there for Read more…
Big Secrets
Finding A Spot That Gets Enough Sun — The First Steps: Marking Out Your Spot, Orienting Yourself, and Choosing a Method
The First Steps for All Methods Outline Your Spot Pick a spot you think is most promising for getting the most direct sunlight, and mark out its boundaries. To outline your prospective spot, start by marking the corners with stakes, Read more…
Big Secrets
How Much Sunlight Do Garden Plants Really Need?
How Much Sunlight Do Garden Plants Really Need? As much as you possibly can possibly give them! There is no real upper limit. Have you ever seen the pictures of the record crops grown in Alaska? There’s a reason that Read more…
Big Secrets
What Green-Thumbed Gardeners Know About Sunlight
What Green-Thumbed Gardeners Know About Sunlight The Common Read Plants need light. We all know that, but some of us get confused on the needs of our garden plants because some of our non-garden plants do well with smaller amounts Read more…
Big Secrets
Why Garden Plants Need So Much
Why Garden Plants Need So Much There are three reasons your garden plants need so much direct sunlight: 1) garden plants’ natures as annuals, 2) our expectations for their production, and 3) how they’ve been treated and have adapted since Read more…
Gardening
Seed and Plant Selection
Seed and Plant Selection Somewhere in the middle of winter, the bug hits us. We start roving around the house looking out the windows, pining for fresh, warm air—and the joy of gardening. It’s then we break out the seed Read more…
Garden Health
Transplanting
Transplanting You’ve grown or purchased the strongest seedlings you can find and can’t wait to get them in the ground. Sitting there in their flat, they’re so clearly healthy and vibrant, ready to produce all your heart desires. But the Read more…
Gardening
Hardening Off Seedlings
Hardening Off Seedlings Seedlings grown indoors need a little time to gradually get acclimated to direct sunlight and wind in a process called “hardening off.” The Process To harden them off, expose your seedlings to increasing amounts of direct sunlight Read more…
Crop Rotation
Crop Rotations
Crop Rotations Put simply, garden crops need to be rotated, or planted in a different spot, each year. The reasons usually fall into two categories: First, some plants pull so much of a certain nutrient out of the soil—corn feeding Read more…