I wrote these last year. The goat is what I call my compost piles.
One Line Words of Wisdom
These aren't in any particular order except the order I thought of them.
1. Seeds know when to sprout. Plant early
2. If a leaf is dying, it's killing the plant. Cut it off.
3. If a space is open, the soil is dying. Fill it with something.
4. Whatever grow along the fence, let it grow. Trim it for the goat.
5. Trim any tree branches hanging down when you need twigs for the bottom of a new goat.
6. Scuffle hoe the soil every day. Or use a pointed hoe (Warren Hoe) if the soil is wet. This will prevent weeds and aerate the soil.
7. don't plant too many beans. Plant a few and plant some more when the last beans planted get 3 leaves on them
8. Plant beans between brassicas when they get 6 inches tall.
9. Chinese vegetables prefer some shade.
10. Mark every seed planted with a popsical stick so you don't scuffle hoe them.
11. Mark every patch planted on a plastic tag with the name of the vegetable and the date planted.
12. If a leaf is touching the ground, snip it off.
13. If a plant is diseased pull it.
14. If a leaf is diseased, snip it off.
15. Cut suckers out of tomatoes.
16. don't stir up very wet soil. It will compact.
17. Fill spaces with new seeds before filling spaces with mature crops.
18. Take off your shoes before you come in the house.
19. Take pictures every day.
20. Keep a diary or make a blog.
21. Have a shady relaxing spot near the garden where you can think and plan.
22. Carry a notebook to record thoughts.
23. Have a daily cycle for daily work.
24. Make a list of fun projects like building a trellis. Do one at a time.
25. don't put chemicals on your lawn or you can't feed the grass to the goat.
26. The ground with an eastern exposure will usually warm first.
27. Ground with a southern exposure will warm first.
28. Too much green matter in a compost pile will make it stink.
29. Pick vegetables for a breakfast when the early work is done.
30. Weeds are the goat’s friend.
31. Weeds along the sides of a raised bed will retain water and prevent soil loss.
32. Feed your extra vegetables to the goat.
33. Beans and peas produce more if you keep picking.
34. Twist off a small cabbage and 2 or 3 more heads will form.
35. Eat the greens. The leaves of all brassicas, beets and many other things are edible.
36. Plant broccoli 3 inches apart. Thin and eat to and keep the ones that are 12 inches apart.
37. Buy lots of seed. Plant as if you don't have much.
38. Plants do best when the leaves are almost touching each other. Thin as they grow.
39. Every extra seed you plant is an extra weed you will have to pull. Plant carefully.
40. Set the lawnmower at the highest level
41. Bag your grass for the goat. Enough will be left behind for the lawn.
42. Drip irrigation is worth the expense. Have valves for every drip line.
43. don't water a wet spot.
44. The most popular varieties of seed are usually popular for a reason.
45. After about 1970 varieties were developed for shipping, and not for taste.
46. Hybrid varieties have less taste and may have been developed to solve a problem you don't have.
47. If it doesn't grow, don't grow it.
48. Birds seldom find your seed, but they do find weed seeds.
49. Plant 3 kernels of corn for every one you want to grow.
50. Roll bean seeds in a moist paper towel until they sprout. Then plant them carefully.
51. Walk around the garden and think.
52. Sharpen your tools frequently. Hoes should be sharpened on the side facing you when you hoe. Buy an inexpensive bench grinder.
53. Conventional wisdom often isn’t.
54. Make a small shed for the tools near the garden.
55. When you weed at night, what you pull sometimes isn’t a weed.
56. Observe and imitate nature.
57. Learn the names of weeds. It makes it more interesting and they tell a lot about the soil.
58. Dandelions are a bee’s first food in the spring.
59. Keep a pile of brush in a corner and watch how things grow around it.
60. Brush collects dew which then runs downhill.
61. The soil under trees stores water.
62. Put extra late extra tomatoes in a mature compost pile and mix them in. Plant the best volunteers in the spring.
63. Put extra peppers in a mature compost pile. Plant volunteers in the spring. Or just thin and let them grow where they are.
64. Mark the corners with pumpkin plants. Cut them back for the goat if you don't want big vines.
65. Young broccoli leaves taste better than lettuce. The plant won't mind if you steal a few.
66. Tomatoes produce more than you think. Still, they are fun.
67. Space some radish around everything. Pull any that go to seed to feed the goat and loosen the soil.
68. Old bean plants make deformed beans.
69. For a new garden, plan the location of the compost bins before planning the location of the beds. Never be more than 25 feet from a compost bin.
70. New leaves on new dandelions can be used as lettuce.
71. All vegetables are good on a pizza except beets.
72. All vegetables are even better in a calzone.
73. All vegetables are good in a stir fry.
74. Support your local natural or organic farmer.
75. don't work after you are tired. Unless you want to.
76. don't destroy a spider web.
77. If your plants aren't healthy, pay attention the soil, not the plant.
78. Many bad insects sleep near the surface. Keep waking them up before it warms up with a scuffle hoe and they will go away.
79. Watch the butterflies, bees, dragon flies, lady bugs and all the other insects.
80. Go to your garden store often for new ideas.
81. Nature’s compost collects in low spots. Just take a little from each spot.
82. don't clean low corners. Scrape off the loose stuff with the side of a small shovel and take a scoop from the cat poop zone. Cover it back up like a cat.
83. Keep stored compost in a sealed coffee can so it doesn't dry out. Use quickly after collecting.
84. Clean up old junk piles 5 minutes at a time.
85. If you find worms in a pile of leaves or someplace, take a scoop of dirt. Go back every so often.
86. Collecting compost is a great excuse for a hike.
87. Side dress with compost in the cat poop zone.
88. Almost anything is good in scrambled eggs.
89. Only buy eggs from someone after you see how the chickens live.
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