Part of that success was the perseverance to find the right method for the region. Having a bit of a green thumb helps too. But here is where keeping chicken and rabbits really helps. This is where it all ties together.
Even though the dirt for my garden was hauled in (I live in the Granite Dells, and granite is the operative word here) it still was a poor growing medium and repelled water like ashes do. I worked copious amounts of rabbit droppings and scratched through chicken straw full of manure into the ground. I covered the mix with used straw and let it sit over the winter. By spring the soil took on water and was full of worms. The straw cover had decomposed to just a few inches.
Because I am too cheap to walk on dirt I had to pay money for, I have raised beds. Also being to cheap to buy wood for the siding of the beds I constructed walls of one foot chicken wire that is held up with rebar pieces woven through and driven into the ground. To keep the soil from falling through the wire holes I placed sheets of straw between the wire and the dirt. This makes for cheap straight walls that last for about three years. Then the straw will need to be replaced.
I bury soaker hoses, the black plastic type that oozes water, about 6 inches deep in the soil. Unless I have access from both sides, I keep my beds to around 2 feet wide. It takes two water hoses in a 2 foot wide bed. Since these hoses don't distribute water quite even, it's good to U-turn one hose. This way the heavy watering at the beginning will be offset by the lighter watering from the end of the hose. My hoses are hooked up to a timer. I have found it best to water twice a day for 15 minutes: Once in the early morning at a time that does not coincide with heavy water use inside the house and one in the heat of the afternoon at 2 p.m.
When I transplant my seedlings outdoors, I plant them left and right along the buried hose. Seeds that go directly outdoors will need a little help with top watering at first, until they can sink their roots down to the soaker hose. Once the soil has warmed up and all seeds are sprouted, I start adding more of the scratched through old chicken straw as mulch. This keeps my water from evaporating and weeds from growing. By the end of June I have at least 6 inches straw in place.
  Park's One-Step Seed Starter
My seedlings are started indoors under grow lights. I have two large shelves with four five foot lights over them. The lights can be raised as the plants grow. At first I used to spend a fortune on special grow lights. Now I use just regular bulbs with the same good result. Keep the bulbs dust free and exchange them every two years. The eye doesn't see the diminished light output after two years but your plants will notice. I buy the round 3" peat pots and put them in the trays the stores sell for that purpose. Then I mix seed starter in a large bowl with water until it is wet all the way through. This is important, because seed starter does not take on water readily the first time. I then seed on the wet soil and cover the seeds with more pre moistened soil. The amount of cover soil is determined by the size of the seeds. You don't want more than twice the thickness of the seed in cover soil. The trays then go under the grown lights. Once my tomatoes and peppers sprout I thin them to 4 good plants per pot. Later I reduce them to the two best ones. I read my seed bags carefully and work out a calendar for starting the seeds, so they are ready for the great outdoors at just the right time. Plus I want to be able to hold them over a week, if the weather is particularly nasty outside. Two weeks before transplanting I start to carry the trays outside during for the day, weather permitting. This is a stressful time. I always worry about the seedlings getting to hot and dry or too cold while I'm gone. I could just buy my plants. But I would have to get the tomato and pepper varieties the store wants to sell. So far I never have lost anything yet during the hardening off time. I only worried a lot.
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