Before you plant

Build your garden from the ground up. Be sure to dig the bed to a depth of eight inches and really break up the soil by turning it and bashing the clumps with your fork or solid-blade spade. You don't need a power tiller, but if you have one, go ahead and use it.

All across the surface of your garden, spread a two- to four-inch-thick layer of compost, composted manure, or other good organic matter, and dig it into the top four inches of soil. Compost adds life to your soil by providing food for microorganisms, worms, beneficial insects, snakes, toads, and other good creatures that make your garden as healthy as it can be. Compost also helps break up tough clay soil and firm up loose sandy soil. It aerates the soil, making it more water retentive. When it rains or when you irrigate, the moisture stays in the garden bed longer and deeper, so the plants can use it
when they need it.

Spread two pounds of granular organic fertilizer over your bed, and rake it into the top two inches of soil before you plant. (Organic fertilizer releases its nutrients slowly over the entire growing season, so you spend less time working. Chemical fertilizer releases its nutrients quickly, so you have to add more fertilizer often.)