The 10 Laws of Gardening

A veteran gardener shares the practical, hard-earned lessons that transformed his years of trial and error into abundant harvests.

Home gardens can produce far more food than many families expect, especially during peak summer harvests. Tatiana Buzmakova/Getty Images

As the 90-pound “puppy” bulldozed his way through my corn patch, he flung himself against a five-foot-tall stalk with nascent ears just starting to form—and the top of the stalk snapped off as the shock traveled up the stem. Did you know that green corn stalks are brittle? Simon (his nickname is Pork Chop) happily bounded off toward the orchard while I ruefully examined the amputated corn.

I love sweet corn. It’s my favorite garden vegetable. I can easily consume 50 ears per summer—which is what I did last year, including one ear from the remaining bottom half of the broken plant.