I had some good information on a website that broke back in 2012. The content below is a partial recovery of that old website from the waybackmachine at archive.org.

The goal of this website is to share my knowledge of growing food in my backyard garden.  I believe the skill of growing your own food is important and in danger as we move to a more convenience-based lifestyle and centralized food distribution model.  I also believe in sharing knowledge, so I’m making an effort to document and publish my gardening activity so that others can learn from my mistakes and successes.  I try to experiment with different techniques, use what works, and understand why things fail or succeed.  One of the great things about gardening is that there is no single ‘right way’ to do something and you can pick and choose the techniques that work for you.

I do not claim to be some sort of expert or master in this field.  I’m open to trying new things and on a quest to have a garden system that produces a large quantity of healthy, good-tasting food, with a minimal amount of effort, expense, and resources given to it.  If you are interested in my personal gardening experiences, you can visit my blog and read more.  

There is a growing community of folks interested in vegetable gardening who live around the DFW area at northtexasvegetablegardeners.com/forum.

Getting Started

Where to Start?  There is so much information out there, it seems overwhelming.  Here is what I suggest doing:

1. Build a raised bed out of 2×6 or 2×8 lumber.  4′ x 8′ is a common size to make raised beds, it lets you reach the center of the bed without stepping in it.
2. Fill your box with good garden soil.  If you have a farm store that has vermiculite, you can use ‘Mel’s Mix’, which is 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 blended compost, and 1/3 course vermiculite.  
3. Plant a few radish, tomatoes, bush beans, cucumber, and potatoes.  Most of these are best started directly from seed, you just need to keep the soil moist until the plants sprout.
4. Watch your plants grow while you learn more.  In a short time you can enjoy the fruits of your labor. 

Favorite Books

Gardening When it Counts – Steve Solomon

Square Foot Gardening –  Mel Bartholomew

Here is a table that lists information on some common plants.   (most of this was compiled mostly from ‘Square Foot Gardening’)

Plant Information

Alliums: Onion, Garlic, Chives

Helps	fruit trees, nightshades, brassicas, carrots
Helped by	carrots
Avoid	beans, peas, parsley

Pepper

Tomato

Keep sucker vines pruned, and keep branches pruned to prevent overcrowding around other plants.

Prune bottom 12-24″ of branches to keep splashing soil from getting on leaves and to provide better air circulation.  (said to help prevent diseases)

Planting Dates

Planting Dates for my area: (north Texas / Dallas Ft.Worth Metroplex / Allen)

Additional planting date information:

Making your own Complete Organic Fertilizer

(from Gardening When it Counts)

Mix by volume (not weight):

• 4 parts seedmeal (or 3 parts seedmeal and 1 part tankage (AKA blood-and-bone, meatmeal))
• 1/4 part agricultural lime
• 1/4 part gypsum
• 1/2 part dolomite lime
• 1 part phosphorus source: finely ground rock phosphate, bonemeal, high-phosphate guano, kelpmeal, or basalt dust.

Apply at the rate of 4 to 6 quarts per 100 square feet once per year.  

For high-demand vegetables, side dress a few weeks after seedlings have come up.  Sprinkle small amounts of fertilizer around each plant, thinly covering the area that the roots will be growing withing the next few weeks.  Repeat this process every 4 weeks, placing each dusting farther from the plant’s centers.  4 to 6 quarts per 100 square foot can be used each year in this way, but if an increase in growth rate is not noticed, stop adding more because it is not needed.

Compost

Add compost to your soil as often as you can.  A 1/2″ layer added each year is typical.

Low-Grade Compost

Use a typical compost bin that creates a high-heat situation and converts the material quickly.  Most of nutrient value is lost.  A good set of plans for one type is located here.  

Medium-Grade Compost

(from Gardening When It Counts)    Build one compost heap a year in early fall.  Accumulate all vegetative wastes and kitchen garbage into one big stack and let it dry out throughout the year.  

1. Keep average C/N below 25:1.  
2. Create a layer of ‘dry stuff’ about 8 inches thick and no wider than 7′.  
3. Cover with 1/2 of soil.  (the soil absorbs gases and converts them into nutrients, and also regulates the temperature of the pile)  
4. Cover with ‘strong stuff’ (dried poultry manure, fresh cow or horse manure (without bedding material), or  seedmeal.  
5. Water the layer throughly.  
6. Repeat and taper as you go up in height.  Try to plan the size of your heap so that the height is between 4′ and 5′ high.  
7. Cover the whole heap with another layer of soil.  
8. Within 5 weeks, turn the pile, placing the material that was on the outside on the inside.  Remoisten when you turn.  
9. After three turns, your compost is probably done.

(from John Jeavons – How to Grow More Vegetables…)  

1. Loosen the soil 12″ deep w/ spading fork where the pile will be located.
2. Lay down roughage (brush or woody material) 3″ thick for air circulation
3. Put down 2″ of mature material -dry leaves, weeds, straw, dry grass clippings, hay, old garden waste.  Water it thoroughly.
4. Put down 2″ of immature material and kitchen wastes – fresh weeds, clippings, trimmings, green cover crops.  Water
5. Cover w/ 1/4 to 1/2″ of soil.  Moisten.
6. Add additional layers until the pile is 3 to 4′ high.
7. Cover the pile with 1/2 to 1″ of soil.
8. Water the completed pile regularly until it is ready for use.
9. Let the completed pile cure 3 to 6 months while you are building a new pile.

Compost Technique from my PDC

Dick Pierce taught me the following in his class:

• he prefers a 1:1 ratio of green:brown material in the compost pile
• says a 1:2 ratio of green:brown is more normal
• does not like to put soil in the compost pile
• builds on a pallet, to allow airflow under pile
• alternates layers of green and brown
• fluffs and mixes every 2 layers
• adds cottonseed meal
• lots of water, until wet sponge feel
• covers with 1″ layer of grass clippings for ‘insulation blanket’, to keep sun off of pile, and keep moisture in.
• turns compost 14 times – can be each day or each week
• says slow compost is created more by fungus, and best suited for forest plants
• says fast compost is created by microbes, and best suited for annuals
• says the reason domesticated pet waste should not be used is because human pathogyns might be present

General Tips

Sowing Depth

• Tiny seeds like basil and most herbs = barely covered, then press down to restore capillary action of soil.
• Small seeds like carrot = 1/2 inch.
• Larger small seeds like spinach, beet, chard, radish, and okra = 3/4 inch.
• Large seeds like legumes, corn = 4 times their largest dimension.

Fertility Needs

Minimum soil fertility requirements are based on type of plant.

Plant Spacing

More space lets the root system grow larger, producing a stronger plant and more nutritious, better tasting fruit.  Backyard gardens are often very limited in space, so this becomes a compromise.  Tightly spaced plants will require frequent water to survive.  Hi-res pictures CHART 1 and CHART 2. See also, the column ‘spacing’ in the chart on the ‘plant information‘ page. 

Progressive Thinning

Even if it seems counter-productive to cut down plants that you just planted, the process of thinning out your plants will help the remaining plants live a much more productive life.  When your plants sprout, immediately thin seedlings so none of them are touching.  Once the plants start competing for light, thin again so that none of the plants are touching each other.  Continue this process until you thin the plants to their optimal spacing, choosing the strongest plant to survive each time.

My Preferred Methods

Organic

Chemicals cause problems, learn how nature performs and reacts and work to recreate natural solutions.  Focus on healthy soil with lots of bio activity and diversity.  Treat the problem, not the symptoms.

Intensive

Maximize plant output per square foot of land, take advantage of vertical growth using trellises.  Lots of plants growing in a small space.  Requires more input (requires the use of irrigation and fertilizer).  I generally follow the recommended spacing from “Square Foot Gardening”.

No-Till

Leave the roots of your plants in the ground, just cut the stem off at the ground level, instead of pulling out the plants or tilling up the soil each season.  (exception: completely pull up diseased plants and throw them away)  The new plants will use existing paths created by old plant roots that are decaying to ease new plant growth.  This method encourages soil activity, (doesn’t disturb the worms), and keeps the organic material in the soil longer.  

Start Seeds Indoors

Seed germination, Grow lights, when to start, 

Hardening Off

exposure to real sun, wind, cold weather

Other Tricks I’ve Tried

Tire Stacks

Start 3 or 4 potatoes in some soil in a tire.  Once the plants get tall, pile on more dirt and another tire.  In a season, you should be able to stack 3 or 4 tires high, multiplying the output of the potato crop by the end of the season. See these websites for more information: Website1, Website2

What DOESN’T work:

Don’t fully cover the plants with dirt.  They won’t survive.  Only cover about half the plant at a time, then wait a few weeks.

Don’t use hay (by itself)  It starts to compost and gets very hot, killing any plants growing in it.

Trellis / Vertical Crops

When growing space is limited, you can save a lot of precious space by ‘going vertical’.  Most people put cages around tomatoes to keep them from becoming a big ground cover bush, but you can also train squash, watermelon and cantaloupe to grow up instead of out, saving you lots of soil space.

Pruning Tomato Plants

Tomatoes will grow to be a big bushy clump on the ground unless you support them, but another trick to maximize your yield of fruit per area of soil is to keep the sucker vines pruned. 

Tools

It will save you a bunch of time and effort if you use quality tools and put a proper edge on your hoe and shovel.  I use an electric grinder to start with and then keep it sharp with a hand file.

Make the Best Use of the Area

Companion Planting

One of the many things native Americans figured out was the Three Sisters Garden (Corn, Beans, Squash)

Click here for a chart of common companion planting suggestions  

Succession Planting

From wikipedia.org:

In agriculture, succession planting refers to several planting methods that increase crop availability during a growing season by making efficient use of space and timing.

There are four basic approaches, that can also be combined:

• Two or more crops in succession: After one crop is harvested, another is planted in the same space. The length of the growing season, climate, and crop selection are key factors. For example, a cool season spring crop could be followed by a heat-loving summer crop.
• Same crop, successive plantings: Several smaller plantings are made at timed intervals, rather than all at once. The plants mature at staggered dates, establishing acontinuous harvest over an extended period. Lettuce and other salad greens are common crops for this approach.
• Two or more crops simultaneously: Non-competing crops, often with different maturity dates, are planted together in various patterns. Intercropping is one pattern approach; companion planting is a related, complementary practice.
• Same crop, different maturity dates: Several varieties are selected, with different maturity dates: early, main season, late. Planted at the same time, the varieties mature one after the other over the season.

Guilds (Permaculture term)

Notes/Lessons Learned:

Start seedings early, provide with strong enough light to grow thick, harden off properly before transplanting, plant twice as many seeds as you think you will need to allow for animals and other problems.

See also: Steve’s Lessons Learned