This was put together by an old homesteader friend of mine who spent years in the bush raising his family and such. He is 69 and still gardens all day, he is turning my old farm into a virtual Amazon of useful plants. here goes, print it out and give it to anyone who needs it, or will need.

Keys to a Successful Garden (by P. Light via email)

The secret to a successful garden is paying attention to details. There are a major details and minor details. The major details are elementary and individually essential. The outcome of the overall garden rises or falls on any one of them. The minor details, taken together, determine whether a garden is merely adequate, or truly exceptional.

Major Details

1. Food – lots of it!! Feed the soil, not the plants. Much, much organic matter: manure, compost, mulch, organic supplements.

2. PH – correct acidity / alkalinity balance, or the plants will not be able to utilize the food properly.

3. Water – I suspect the principle reason for poor gardens is allowing freshly germinated seeds and tiny seedlings to dry out. One hour of bone-dry soil will probably doom most tiny plants. Start again! During hot spring days, soil must be checked by hand every few hours, unless properly mulched. Plentiful water throughout the growing season, with a few exceptions, will produce large lush plants, other factors being equal. Water deeply!

4. Sunlight – Many vegetables tolerate or thrive in varying degrees of shade, but many don’t. These latter could use 14 hours of direct sun a day for top performance. They’ll do okay with 9 hours, probably not with 6 hours. Four hours minimum direct Fall / Winter sun is necessary for winter gardening.

5. Mulch – mulch, mulch. Pile it on!! All the time!! Main ongoing garden task. Sawdust, grass, hay, straw, leaves, needles, seaweed, compost, manure, more leaves.

6. Never set foot on the garden soil. Make raised beds, or treat the whole garden like a raised bed. Keep the soil light, soft, fluffy, springy. Walk on boards, planks or footpads.

7. Time spent in the garden, cruising, looking, paying attention to the growing plants, particularly in the beginning, when a “stitch in time saves nine” and daily and even hourly checking is often necessary.

MINOR DETAILS

1. Use organic supplements., particularly before soil has reached top fertility. Bloodmeal for nitrogen, rock phosphate or bonemeal for phosphorus and sifted wood ashes for potassium and raising PH. Too much bloodmeal can burn plants and create a nitrogen imbalance. Too much wood ashes can make the soil too alkaline.

2. Keep nitrogen level relatively low for a few vegetables, mainly peas and beans.

3. Learn specific cultural directions for specific vegetables.

4. Use good seeds, select suitable varieties, persue the seed catalogues.

5. Pre-soak and sprout the seed of certain vegetables. Select vigorous germinators.

6. Germinate seeds at optimum temperature. Use a thermometer to check soil.

7. Sow in extra fine soil filling small furrow.

8. Don’t plant too deeply.

9. Don’t press down. Rather, water to settle soil around seed.

10. Use fish fertilizer or manure tea when planting, and when seedlings are small. Mix stronger than indicated.

11. Cover seed to half the correct depth with soil, then a layer of sawdust mulch, to prevent crusting of soil.

12. Lay clear or black plastic over seeded rows to raise soil temperature and regulate soil moisture for extra early plantings of all vegetables and early plantings of warm weather crops, or a few days before planting to pre-warm the soil; and lay old sacking cardboard over seeded row, to lower temperatures and, particularly, retain soil moisture for later plantings of cool weather crops.

13. Sprinkle sawdust mulch down over just-emerged seedlings.

14. Mulch 1-2” along rows of seedlings 1-2’ high. Mulch right up to and around stems, after removing small weeds right in row.

15. Thin and weed early and conscientiously.

16. Select and leave best seedlings when thinning.

17. Thin progressively – first to 1”, later to 3”, then to 6”, etc., as leaves begin to touch.

18. Grow plants close, but not crowded. Plants like to touch. A canopy suppresses weeds, conserves moisture, provides home for snakes and toads, etc. Overcrowding stunts plants, prevents air circulation and leads to disease.

19. Transplant very carefully and step-by-step correctly. (See “Steps to Transplanting”.

20. Side-dress heavy feeders during growing period with rotted, half rotted, or fresh manure, or organic supplements. Don’t let fresh manure touch plants.

21. Practice companion planting. Mix things up. Create micro-climates. Some plants do well in the shade of other plants. Some may aid growth of others. Some may protect others from pests. Plants with different growth habits (deep-rooted / shallow-rooted, spreading / upright) can be planted much closer together. Heavy nitrogen users like to be close to nitrogen fixers. Slow and fast growers can occupy same space – one is out of ground when they start crowding.

22. Seeds or transplants can be interplanted between rows of vegetables soon to be harvested, receiving protection from hot summer sun during their infancies. Particularly helpful when there is no immediate space available for a late drop.

23. Practice succession planting with many vegetables. A few at a time, to stretch out harvest time for weeks or months. This can also be achieved with different varieties of the same vegetables.

24. Practice anticipation, prevention, and early control of “pests”.

25. Keep records. Particularly note variety, planting date, location, special treatments, etc. Planting dates are particularly important for late crops for Fall and Winter. Timing is tricky. Learn by trial and error for particular garden site.

26. The best garden I ever had grew up listening to mainly classical eastern music. It’s worth trying, and sounds beautiful outside floating over the green!!

27. Make it beautiful! Stand back from your work! Look at the over-all. Check design, form, balance, colour, shape. It’s a big canvas. Fill it well. It’s kinetic architecture. Lay the foundations with care.

Happy Gardening