Companion Planting

I recently gave a presentation at the Somerville Garden Club about growing edibles in containers. After putting together an herb garden and a Tomato-Basil-Nasturtium pot, I spoke briefly about how to decide what to plant together in one pot. With so many delicious and beautiful choices, a few guidelines can make the process more manageable.

Much of the information on plant relationships (aka Companion Planting) is anecdotal. This is not at all to say that it is mumbo jumbo, but it does account for some variations in information from one source to another. Quantifying the affect of one plant upon another is tricky business, especially when there is an endless list of ever shifting variables that contribute to a plant's sucesses or demise. However, traditional planting groups, such as the Three Sisters (corn, beans & Squash) of Native American gardens prove to be wonderful companions, in the ground, on the plate, and in our bodies. This list, found on the ATTRA website, is a good place to start learning about what plants tend to get along in the garden.

Generally speaking, you want to group plants according to their needs: sun, moisture, pH. The one exception to this rule is that you don't want to plant a group of heavy feeders, like tomatoes and broccoli together. Also, you want to consider competition for root space, so growing beets and radishes together, for example, might not be the best use of space.

Another factor to consider when grouping plants in your containers is pests. Here is another table of companions to consider, whether you are battling it out with aphids or rabbits.

For more reading on Companion Planting, check out Carrots Love Tomatoes, by Louise Riotte. It is filled with tips on growing all kinds of edibles, from Asparagus to Walnuts.

Ladies and Gents, Start Your Containers!

Today is one of those days that makes me think, if I were a seed, today would be my day to sprout! Spring is here and it is time to get into the garden!

I live in the city, which means a few things:
a) space for a garden is quite limited
b) I don't know much about my gardening site's history or soil quality
c) the proximity of buildings makes sunlight a limited resource

For all of these reasons, I keep my home garden in containers, most of them found or free items. I don't need lots of room, I know exactly what the soil quality is, and I can move my containers around to maximize sunlight. Because I don't have/use much room, I grow intensively and amend the soil constantly to support the multiple plantings every season. Growing in containers also means that I can extend the season, starting early and growing later by keeping the soil warm and protecting plants.

What kind of containers are free, you might ask. Most of mine are old shipping or packing materials that have been discarded: damaged bread trays, fruit crates, milk crates (lined with cardboard or perforated plastic sheeting to keep the soil in). Occasionally I will buy a container for specific purposes, but I mostly reuse to keep everything low cost and low impact. Now, if I happened to have a stash of beautiful ceramic or fiberglass containers, I would gladly fill them with trailing nasturtium, swiss chard and cherry tomatoes...But, for now, I use what I have and keep trolling yard sales and nursery dumpsters.

So, what is growing in my pots and trays? Today I seeded Bok Choi, Radishes, onions, shallots, carrots, beets, swiss chard, spinach and peas. TOmorrow, arugula, mache, broccoli rabe and mesclun greens will go in. A few weeks ago I started some lettuce seeds inside, which I'll plant outside soon. I am also working on some containers that I'll be using as demos for the Somerville Garden Club in June--more to come on that later.

In addition to my containers at home, I also have a community garden plot in East Somerville, where I grow some larger crops: tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers. Tomorrow is community clean up day, so I'm off to pick up some snacks and yard waste bags. In the ground or in the pot, it is most certainly time to get growing!

If you are hungry, Eat The Garden!

Welcome to the Garden of Eating Blog! I will be using this space to write about goings on in the gardens, seasonal tips, troubleshooting, techniques, and treasures in the garden and the kitchen.
I am a Boston-based gardener and educator with a focus on community food security and home-grown goodness.