Companion Planting

Native Sustainable Agriculture  Here's a quick video from the Rocky Mountain area about Native American agricultural practices.

Here in Rhode Island, we've been enjoying dandelion greens, claytonia, chickweed, and the reinvigorated thyme.  This year, I'd like to find some fiddleheads and experiment with ways to prepare them.  I plan to put milkweed in the school garden to attract monarchs.  Here are some other plants that attract desirable insects: Attracting Beneficial Insects

It's just about that time in New England to be able to plant most crops.  My carrots, beets, and beans are in. The school garden has sprouted its snow peas.  Last year, I had a lot of success interplanting broccoli and carrots, where the broccoli matured before the carrots and hid them from pests.  The carrots that were planted out in the open received a special visitor, which I can't say I mind:

This is a swallowtail caterpillar, taken in my front yard.

One pest problem I did have was when I inadvertently planted breakfast, lunch, and dinner all together for the Mexican squash beetle.  Sure, the plants all enjoy the same soil, water, and light requirements, but these guys that look like orange ladybugs sucked the life out of most of the crop.  This year, I'm companion-planting lemon balm and tansy to attract the tachinid fly who will lay eggs in these guys and other pests as well.  The wild chives seem to be deterring the seed bugs from the strawberries, but I've got to get some diotomaceous earth for the slugs and snails.  I tried beer, but it only gets a few of them and the yeasty smell is actually attracting them to where I DON'T want them to be.  I'm also going to grow all my squash, melon, and cucumber vertically this year, which should also minimize pest damage. Last year, they looked like this:

But one combination I highly recommend is planting tomatoes with basil, parsley, and nasturtium.  The basil and parsley attract beneficials and improve the taste of the tomatoes.  (Compare the taste of a tomato from the basil side of the plant to one beside nothing.  The tomato actually tastes like basil! )  The nasturtium repels some insects and last year I saw most of the nasturtiums planted beside my peas covered with aphids, and then ladybug larva, while the other plants went untouched.  While I enjoy the peppery taste of nasturtium flowers, I'd rather have aphids eat them than my main crop.

I'll be working on a spreadsheet on what to plant with what and why (which will be in the book), but in the meantime, check out these links: Attra  GH Organics  Gardens Ablaze.  Seeds of Change