From Garden Fail to Bountiful Backyard: One Firefighter’s Homegrown Tips for a Big Harvest
When Kyle Hagerty first tried gardening over 20 years ago, it didn’t go so well. His only two tomato plants were eaten by deer before he even got a taste. But he didn’t give up. Today, his lush 6,500-square-foot garden in Sacramento is packed with fruits, veggies, and flowers—and he grows enough food to feed himself and share with coworkers at the fire station.
Here are Kyle’s go-to tips for getting a big harvest, no matter how much space you have:
1. Start with Healthy Soil
Kyle swears by raised beds, where he can control the soil mix. His winning combo? Topsoil, compost, and lava fines. That last one helps get more oxygen to the roots—key for strong, healthy plants.
2. Grow Up, Not Out
To save space and prevent plant diseases, Kyle uses DIY arched trellises made from bent hog panels. They support climbing veggies like cucumbers and squash while also keeping the garden looking beautiful and breezy.
3. Stagger Your Planting
Want to avoid a mountain of tomatoes all at once? Kyle recommends planting in waves (called succession sowing) and mixing early- and late-ripening varieties. That way, you get a steady stream of harvests all season long.
4. Mix in Flowers
Planting colorful annuals near his fruit trees helps in more ways than one: they attract pollinators, add beauty, and give him a constant supply of fresh flowers to cut and enjoy indoors.
5. Blend Edibles into Your Yard
Your garden doesn’t need to be limited to beds. Kyle lines his bocce court with potted blueberry bushes and shades his backyard pool with avocado, banana, and mango trees. Edibles and landscaping can absolutely go hand-in-hand.
6. Propagate for More Plants
Instead of buying new plants every year, Kyle takes cuttings and grows more from what he already has. One favorite? Pepino dulce—a sweet fruit from the Andes that tastes like honeydew and grows easily in different spots around his yard.
7. Try Something New Every Year
Kyle treats each gardening season as a fresh opportunity to test new varieties and see what thrives—and what tastes best. He experiments every year with different types of tomatoes, peaches, and peppers.
Here are a few of his standout picks:
- Tomatoes: ‘Sungreen’ (a green-when-ripe cherry tomato with amazing flavor) and ‘Striped German’ (huge fruits up to 2.5 pounds!).
- Chiles: ‘Flaming Flare’ for a kick, and ‘Carmen’ for a sweet, reliable harvest.
- Peaches: ‘Eva’s Pride’ for midsummer fruit and ‘O’Henry’ for a late-season treat.
- Zucchini: ‘Sophy’ hybrid is his top choice—it’s upright, thorn-free, and super easy to harvest.
