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Tomatoes and basil are good friends. Plant them together and they'll both do well.
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Tomatoes tend to look reasonably compact and sturdy as small plants, but as they get bigger they become rather monstrous and unwieldy. You'll have a much easier time preventing damage to plants and keeping fruit off the ground if you train them with stakes and/or cages as they grow.
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Marigolds and nasturtiums keep some pests away from your plants. Plant a border of them to keep other plants from being bug infested.
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Nasturtiams are edible. Put the petals in salad to make it more colorful!
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Plant a variety of lettuce for the best salad. Some varieties get bitter and need a milder green leaf to complement them.
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Letting grass grow between plots of crops helps the soil hold moisture. This helps especially if you have a dry growing season as we did last year.
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Corn needs to be planted in at least a 4x4 plant section to cross-pollinate. If you don't plant them this way, you're likely to have some thigh-height plants with no ears for a long time.
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Another way to hold moisture in -- and keep weeds out -- is to put hay down between beds and even in beds among plants when they're big enough. Make sure the hay is weed and seed free, or you'll cause more weeds than you'll prevent. And only get the hay when you're ready to use it. Don't leave it out uncovered in the rain and heat -- it gets moldy. I mean really moldy. We're talking mushrooms and big clouds of mold here.
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Start tomatoes, peppers, broccoli and things like that inside. Herbs are okay, too. But please keep your peas, beans and lettuce out of the greenhouse. Friends don't let friends make the same mistake they did. You can plant peas, beans and lettuce right outside and pretty early, too.
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Rotate your crops so you aren't taking the same things out of the soil each year. Some crops like beans even put nitrogen back in to the soil. Remember, it all starts with good soil.
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