Three More Easy Ways Observe and Record Start observing the place you think would be good for a garden for how much sun it gets. Note when the sun first hits every piece of your spot, as opposed to just starting to hit a part of it. Clearly being able Read more
Two Easy Ways The Simplest, Easiest Way: A Large Open Space Knowing the cardinal directions on your property, you can expedite this entire process by finding a very large, completely open spot on your land—a place with no trees, buildings, or any other obstructions to the northeast, east, southeast, south, Read more
Why Northeast and Northwest Instead of Just East and West? On the equinoxes—March 19, 20, or 21 and September 21, 22, or 23, depending on the year—the sun rises due east and sets due west. However, because of the tilt of the earth on its axis, from the spring equinox Read more
What if You Find You Don’t Have Enough Sun? So what if, after trying all of your best spots, you find that there just isn’t a spot on your property that gets enough sun? Do what you can, but don’t be too hard on yourself. Lack of sunlight is by Read more
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 know your basic directions, this will work. Set your compass Read more
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