Mike's Seven Garden Secrets

I belong to the Seed Savers Exchange, and they send out four publications a year. In the 2009 Harvest Edition, Mike McGrath shared his "Seven Secrets of Successful Organic Gardeners." Mike was an editor for Organic Gardening magazine, so he knows what he's talking about! Here's his list:

1. Use raised beds.
2. Do not till.
3. Feed the soil.
4. Invite pest-eating life into the garden.
5. Use mulch to prevent weeds.
6. Water wisely.
7. And, lastly, have fun.

About the mulch, Mike says that if all you use are leaves, that's all you need to feed the soil.

Now is a great time to gather leaves! If you see a neighbor raking leaves and putting them into bags, grab those bags and dump the leaves on your garden! That's what I did a few years ago (but now our community has recycle garden bins). The leaves are great and do keep annual weeds from sprouting; they also feed the earthworms, which mix up and fertilize your soil.

Mike's seven secrets is what I have been doing all along, and he's right--it makes for a successful garden!

Seed Savers Exchange is a huge group of people, mostly regular gardeners, that save their garden seeds and then share them with other members. All of these seeds are open pollinated, and many are heirlooms. The yearbook comes out in early spring and has all of the seeds listed--13,263 different varieties, and 20,733 total listings in 2009. Some of these seeds are rare; and you can find seeds from all over the world. If it's variety you want, this is the place to find it! If you want to learn more about Seed Savers Exchange, go here.