Grow a Healthy Vegetable Garden

If you have healthy soil and avoid planting the same crops in the same places each year, you may never have serious pest or disease problems. That's certainly been Nolan's experience. He set out a birdbath in the center of the garden and planted a few blueberry bushes along its perimeter to attract birds, which help keep insect populations in check.

Shown: Instead of buying wire cages, build simple supports that look better and store more compactly. On his table saw, homeowner Phil Nolan rips 1-inch strips from a 5/4 cedar board. He makes a point on one end of each pole and drills holes every 3 to 4 inches for jute twine.