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Here it is... I am growing this year's vegetable garden in blocks, with several varieties of plants mixed in together in order to save space and allow these plants to benefit each other through their symbiotic relationships. It's an experiment that I toyed with last year with such great results, I'm planning my entire garden this way this year.
Corn, Pole Beans, and Winter Squash will be planted together.
Tomatoes will be planted with basil around the base and carpetted by carrots (Danvers). I purchased a 1/4 pound bag of Danvers carrot seed from Baker Creek for $3. What a deal.
Peppers will be planted with basil.
Lettuce will be planted with dill and radishes.
Cucumbers will be planted with dill.
Potatoes will have flax plants scattered amongst the hills.
Cabbage and other brassicas will have sage and thyme as companions. (Deters those evil white moths that devastated my brassicas last year).
I will once again have sunflowers bordering the garden. The sunflowers attract aphid-killing ants.
And, finally, here's the coolest tip that I can give: Four O'Clocks! (Miribilis jalapa) Here's what they do: They attract Japanese Beetles (in droves) who come and decimate the 4:00 plant. Then, the poison in the plant kills the bugs before they have a chance to move on to other plants. I grew 4:00's in my veggie garden last year with astonishing results. Literally thousands of J. beetles covered the plants and virtually destroyed the four oclocks, and completely left the rest of the garden alone. By the time the four oclocks were dead, there was not a single japanese beetle to be found anywhere on my farm. Beware that four oclocks are just as poisonous to humans as they are to j.beetles. I will be putting out several more 4:00 plants this year, in strategic locations of the garden (edges)
Anyone else have any tips to share?
Dave
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