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 granted. Knowing east, I could point to any of the Read more…
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, sticks, rocks, or the like—or just rough up each corner Read more…
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 happens in a place where plants get ridiculous amounts of Read more…
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 of direct light or even indirect light. Not so with Read more…
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 being domesticated. The Reasons First, except asparagus and rhubarb, common Read more…
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 catalogs, daydreaming in wonder at what the next year might Read more…
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 next step seems daunting. How do you transplant them so Read more…
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 and wind each day, typically starting with about an hour Read more…
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 heavily on nitrogen, for example—that the soil needs a year Read more…
Starting Your Own Seedlings — Part 3: Planting Depth, Watering, Light, and Heat Starting your own seedlings is both empowering and exciting! We’ve already delved into several options for both the soil and containers you can use, but what are the best ways to water and add light and heat Read more…