A 400-square-foot garden could save you up to $600 in a single growing season, according to Kitchen Gardeners International. If your garden is smaller (say, 100 to 200 square feet), you’re still looking at several hundred dollars in savings — definitely not small potatoes!

Here are some tips for getting the highest, tastiest, most usable yield from your natural or organic garden:

Compost, compost, compost

Composting is a natural decomposition process that you’re speeding up. Using natural fertilizers not only saves you money, it allows your food and land to remain free of potentially toxic substances, improves soil texture, and helps save water. Compost naturally contains all the primary nutrients plants need, in forms they can easily absorb. It also helps drain away clay and bind looser, sandy soil, providing an optimal environment for your plants to flourish in.

Rich compost is composed of nitrogen-rich “green” (i.e. vegetarian kitchen scraps, coffee grounds, tea bags, hair) and carbon-rich “brown” (i.e. old grass, dryer lint, shredded newspaper) materials. Larger materials need to be shredded or chopped. Gardening supply stores carry composting bins, which allow you to monitor and adjust water, air, and temperature balances, but you can make your own bin or simply form a pile in your yard. You can even add certain worm species to your compost to facilitate decomposition. Best of all, most home gardeners can produce a nice, fertile batch of compost in just 3-4 weeks, at which point you just mix it with soil or use it as mulch.

When it comes to insecticides, go natural

Many people prefer to buy — and grow — organic produce because of concern over possible health effects of chemical insecticides. There are alternatives. Certain flowers protect your produce by attracting pollinators, birds, frogs, lizards, and bugs that eat garden-consuming insects. Plant varieties appropriate to your area and manage watering effectively, as insects can flourish when an imbalance exists. Row covers, netting, and plant collars can serve as barriers to pest infestations. As a last resort, try sticky traps and pheromone lures for cutting back on pests without chemicals.

Plant for climate and region

Optimal planting times differ by region. For instance, cooler climes have shorter growing seasons, so crops like sweet potatoes and peanuts don’t have time to flourish. Find out ahead of time what grows best in your area — your garden will be the richer for it.

Conserve water

Conserving water is important in natural gardens, both from a cost and environmental-impact perspective. Water can come from several sources, including mains (tap) or rain. Rainwater is ideal for natural gardens and can easily be trapped in cisterns placed under gutters.

Water your garden in the morning or evening, when less water is lost to evaporation.

In terms of plant choices, some veggies simply don’t need as much water as others; okra, carrots, parsnips, mustard greens, spinach, chard, and tomatoes are examples of hardier vegetables.

Rotate your crops

Crop rotation is a pillar of natural gardening. Rotating crops allows plants to pull different nutrients from the soil, producing hardier breeds and preventing blight from pests or disease. Also, as you harvest, plan on sowing seeds of quick growers and “cover” crops like radishes and lettuces to utilize every inch of empty space — another best-value method.

Companion plant

Companion planting, or crop pairing, is another way to get the most out of your organic garden. By planting certain plants together — like corn, squash, and beans (a.k.a. the “Three Sisters”) — you can fulfill the same goals as crop rotation, without as much effort.

Lean toward the copious

Plant produce that produces, plain and simple. Tomatoes, squash, peppers, and eggplant generate many dishes’ worth of food in a single season. Strawberries and blueberries yield generously, and are relatively easy to keep disease- and pest-free. By contrast, broccoli, cauliflower, and corn hog space and water and deliver much smaller yields.

Other high-value crops are cucumbers, green beans, zucchini, yellow crookneck and climbing squash, cantaloupe and other small melons, and Italian and Thai basil.

Ask your local gardening resource which plants are ever-bearing and can be planted vertically — again, these give you more value in terms of both yield and space allocation.

Plan for the future

Some varieties of food, though not technically copious, store well and provide good value. Potatoes, for instance, are usually cheaper than, say, tomatoes, and, along with winter squash, cabbage, carrots, and other tubers, will keep for many months if stored in a cool, dark place.

Following these simple strategies can lead to a truly bountiful natural garden. Bon appétit!

Kim Green has written for Mother Jones, Los Angeles Magazine, The San Francisco Business Times, and Yoga Journal. She is also the author of three novels, most recently Live a Little. Kim lives in San Francisco and has not given up her dream of growing tomatoes.