Did you know that basil can kill rosemary? I had no idea. Did you know that some plants don’t like to be near each others while others do?
This concept is called companion planting and very important when planning an organic garden. As you know, the kids and I are moving the garden, planting in a new spot this spring, but “planter beware” when it comes to what goes where…
Cucumbers love sunflowers, so we’ll plant them both along the fence. But potatoes? Not so much. Best to keep them away from each other. How about corn? It wants nothing to do with tomatoes and vice versa, but it enjoys the companionship of squash and peas. And bush beans? Can’t stand everything about the onion family or basil, but they like potatoes!
Are you confused yet? Don’t be. It’s just a matter of using your reference guide well. Here’s a good list from Absolute Astronomy to get you started, but there are a ton of others out there so don’t be shy—click your mouse away! The main thing is to keep a plant’s needs in mind. For instance, in our garden here’s what we’re planting by row: cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, corn, squash, bush beans, potatoes. Along the fence next to our cucumbers will be the sunflowers. (We LOVE sunflowers!) On the opposite side, we’ll plant a small herb garden. We’ll interplant some herbs with our vegetables (basil with tomato, etc.) but we wanted to keep this area separate, as our rosemary and lavender will continue to grow. No sense pulling them out! Wanna see? Take a peek at our excel file: School garden layout
We’ve planted potatoes already and today the kindergarteners planted corn. Very exciting. You’ll notice we keep track of our progress by recording the dates of each planting.
I like to color code according to rotation group as well (another key tenet of organic gardening) such as beans (blue), leaves (green), roots (orange) and fruits (pink). Have to keep it fun! Corn is part of the grass family so it has its own color. And while potatoes are technically in the same family (nightshades) as tomatoes, I treat them differently when it comes to crop rotation.
As we move forward, we’ll talk more about the “what” and the “why” of how we plant, but in the meantime, check out the Garden Elements section of this website. You’ll find tons of information to get you started!
Happy gardening!
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