Share some of your garden tips you've learned in the last few years.

Do you still hill your potatoes with lots of dirt? Well I've learned that you can do tomato plants and corn plants the same way. As your tomato and corn plants grow, keep throwing more dirt around the stalk of the plant. Each time you do your plants will shoot out more roots to gather more nutrients and water plus make the plant much, much, stronger to stand up against strong winds. Plus, if you live in a drought area like I do then your tomato plants have a much better chance of producing all summer long.

What have you learned in the last few years?

[Cyngbaeld]

I've learned that I don't need a hoe, or a shovel or a tiller or a plow. All I need is lots and lots of straw and cardboard and sawdust and manure and grass clippings and anything like that I can get my grubby lil paws on. Pile it high, wet it down and stick in the seeds. Next to no weeding needed and less water. Bigger crops and fewer pests. What else ya wanter know?

[mama2littleman]

When trying to stave off slugs ... If you can't drown them in beer, then drink the beer yourself and you won't care about the slugs

Really though ...

Don't think that you can nurse a diseased plant back to health. Yank it immediately and move on. Otherwise, you can lose your whole crop. And always plant more than you think you need. This way you can yank that plant without any remorse and if you have too many veggies, people are always willing to take them off your hands.

Nikki

[suelandress]

If it grows like a weed,...it probably is a weed

[Rita]

This is a trick I have used for the last few years. When I plant my corn I plant a dozen or so seeds in paper pots at the same time. If for some reason (like the deer ate an area of the corn one year) you need to fill in gaps you have the corn at the same age to plant.

[Cindy in NY]

When I start my seeds, I do not label them with the name since these can change each year. Instead, I label them with a number. Then I list out the numbers on a sheet of paper along with the name of the seeds and the year they were sold. I also put the planting year at the top of the sheet. As the seeds come up, I can note on the paper any that were really fast to germinate or really slow. And I can note how they did in the garden that year. After the garden is done, I save the sheets to review them in the coming years.

I save eggshells all year round and add them to the top of the garden soil. They deter slugs and add a bit of calcium.

I don't hill my potatoes. Instead, I dig a hole about 8" deep and drop the seed potato in. As it grows, I add fresh compost to the hole.