Sunday, August 31, 2014

Feeding a Family of Four - Gardening Part 3, companion planting and perennial vegetables.

Let's talk saving space and time.  Well, technically saving space will save you time weeding, so let's talk about saving time. Companion planting saves room in the garden.  Instead of planting a tomato vine every 3 feet, and having to weed in between you can put other vegetables that compliment the plant in the open space and have less area you need to weed.  There are many different plants that can be planted near each other, so this is just my short list of how I'm changing my garden plot for 2015 to maximize space. 

Pepper plants between tomatoes.  If our basil needs thinning, I will transplant some of it in the free space between peppers and tomatoes.

Peas on a trellis with spinach underneath. 

Cucumbers on a trellis with lettuce underneath.

Summer squash on a trellis with Radish underneath.  If the dill needs thinning those will be transplanted between radish rows.

Arugula planted between rows of beets.

Chard between broccoli plants.

Collards between Cauliflower plants.

Brussels Sprouts will be planted in the peas place after they have been harvested.

We have a hillside that needs to be planted to keep us from having to manage.  I'm planning on putting our perennial garden here.  In it will be Kale, Asparagus, Horseradish, Walking Onions, Sun Chokes, Day Lillies, Rhubarb, and eventually lots of berries and larger herbs for healing.