{"id":1875,"date":"2025-06-27T02:48:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T02:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/?p=1875"},"modified":"2025-06-27T02:48:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T02:48:31","slug":"7-simple-ways-to-get-more-veggies-from-your-summer-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/7-simple-ways-to-get-more-veggies-from-your-summer-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Simple Ways to Get More Veggies from Your Summer Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From Garden Fail to Bountiful Backyard: One Firefighter\u2019s Homegrown Tips for a Big Harvest<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Kyle Hagerty first tried gardening over 20 years ago, it didn\u2019t go so well. His only two tomato plants were eaten by deer before he even got a taste. But he didn\u2019t give up. Today, his lush 6,500-square-foot garden in Sacramento is packed with fruits, veggies, and flowers\u2014and he grows enough food to feed himself and share with coworkers at the fire station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are Kyle\u2019s go-to tips for getting a big harvest, no matter how much space you have:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Start with Healthy Soil<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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\u2014key for strong, healthy plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Grow Up, Not Out<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Stagger Your Planting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Mix in Flowers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Blend Edibles into Your Yard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Your garden doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Propagate for More Plants<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Instead of buying new plants every year, Kyle takes cuttings and grows more from what he already has. One favorite? Pepino dulce\u2014a sweet fruit from the Andes that tastes like honeydew and grows easily in different spots around his yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Try Something New Every Year<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kyle treats each gardening season as a fresh opportunity to test new varieties and see what thrives\u2014and what tastes best. He experiments every year with different types of tomatoes, peaches, and peppers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few of his standout picks:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Tomatoes:<\/strong> \u2018Sungreen\u2019 (a green-when-ripe cherry tomato with amazing flavor) and \u2018Striped German\u2019 (huge fruits up to 2.5 pounds!).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Chiles:<\/strong> \u2018Flaming Flare\u2019 for a kick, and \u2018Carmen\u2019 for a sweet, reliable harvest.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Peaches:<\/strong> \u2018Eva\u2019s Pride\u2019 for midsummer fruit and \u2018O\u2019Henry\u2019 for a late-season treat.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Zucchini:<\/strong> \u2018Sophy\u2019 hybrid is his top choice\u2014it’s upright, thorn-free, and super easy to harvest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    From Garden Fail to Bountiful Backyard: One Firefighter\u2019s Homegrown Tips for a Big Harvest When Kyle Hagerty first tried gardening over 20 years ago, it didn\u2019t go so well. His only two tomato plants were eaten by deer before he even got a taste. But he didn\u2019t give up. Today, his lush 6,500-square-foot garden in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-decor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1875"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1878,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1875\/revisions\/1878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thekitchendecorating.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}