A garden journal for every season
Tend the soil. Notice what changes. Harvest what matters. The Wealthy Earth is a place for practical growing, patient observation, and the rich life that starts close to home.
Garden photographs
A living gallery of seedlings, harvests, experiments, and the small details worth remembering. More photographs can be added as the garden grows.
Wealth is measured in good soil, useful knowledge, and food shared.
About this place
I teach people how to grow the best, easiest garden around. Twenty-five years ago I interned with Mel Bartholomew, the inventor of the Square Foot Gardening system, and I've been a certified SFG instructor ever since. I'm a four-season gardener.
This method requires no heavy digging or hard work — no weeding, no thinning. You get 100% of the harvest in only 20% of the space, with no chemicals or pesticides. Have a better eating experience: eat clean food, stop worrying about the food supply chain, get outside and exercise — and save money. A lot of it.
Garden journal
A record of changing seasons, garden lessons, and the work of growing.
Late October, and the leeks are still going strong. Leeks don't mind the cold — they'll sit in the bed and keep growing long after the summer crops are finished.
That's what a four-season garden looks like: there's always something coming along.
Right now is the perfect time to amend your soil and set yourself up for success come spring. I cleared out the beds, left the old feeder roots right where they were, and layered in a thick blanket of shredded leaves. Then I covered the leaves back up with soil.
Leaves are one of the best amendments you can give your soil, and they're free. As they break down, they feed the worms and microbes, hold moisture, and loosen the soil up. And while the bed is open, take the time to aerate it too — run a fork through and loosen things up so air, water, and roots can move freely. That air is what lets everything break down and keeps the soil alive through the winter.
Over the winter, the leaves and roots break down and feed the soil, so when spring comes the bed is rich and ready to plant. The work you do now is what makes next year's garden.
This is what it looks like when you get too busy at your job and haven't had the time to pinch suckers back. It's a tomato jungle. There's a lot to tomatoes but it's a mess! I would have gotten more if I had kept up with removing the suckers. Lesson learned.
A few more days and temps at night go into the 40's, which change the taste of tomatoes. Time to harvest what's out there, put them on a cookie sheet and then freeze them. In the morning they will be frozen. Pack them up in a ziplock bag and you've got tomatoes to use all winter long. And when you use them in sauces, they taste as good as just off the vine in summer.
First post on my brand new website. And it just happens to fall during the end of gardening season! It's been a different gardening year for me. A new job has taken me away from my typical time in the garden, but that will change next year. A very long and hot summer stalled all my tomato plants. But the weather has now cooled and I've got so many! Almost time to get the garden ready for winter. This will be the first winter in 15 years when I wont garden during that time. The reason? To give my garden a rest. To open it up to the air, snow, cold weather, etc. Keeping your garden covered all winter does keep certain pests and bugs around. So, it will be a rest period until about mid-February.
I'm posting a picture of these great tasting and looking tomatoes from MIGardener. Heirloom with unbelievalbe taste. Coming on strong now.
Seasonal field notes on starting well, watching closely, and giving young plants what they need.
What the garden gave, what it held back, and what the season taught along the way.
Simple observations on herbs, everyday growing, and making a small patch work harder.
Grow crisp, delicious lettuce all summer long with five simple heat-beating techniques.
Buy the EbookSpring 2027
Saturday, March 27, 2027 · 10:00 AM–1:00 PM · Draper, UT (street address provided when you register)
Three hours with a certified Square Foot Gardening instructor: the full method taught step by step, a hands-on workshop planting a real square foot garden, open Q&A, and a take-home SFG handout.
$125 per person · $99 early-bird (ends February 27). Pre-paid online only — full refund up to 3 days before class. Limited to 12 seats.
Register & pay