Intuitive gardening

My first garden came as a package with a husband and a house - and I didn't have a clue how to garden (or clean a house!). I read books, watched TV and it seemed you had to plant in rows, rotate crops, use plenty of artificial fertiliser/sprays - but that's no good when you have a small garden and want to grow lots of different things - so I experimented to see what would work and what wouldn't - and I've been doing that ever since.
Maybe its intuition, maybe its experience? All I know is, I still cannot plant anything in a row, rotate crops or use artificial fertilisers or pesticides - and I've been growing tomatoes and courgettes every year since that first year!