How our garden grows

6.13.2013

Previously I mentioned that I mixed up a variety of plants in each bed hoping that they would positively effect each other and grow better. For the most part, since this is my first year trying this, I relied on other people's experience and used charts I found on the internet for good companion plants. Here is an example:

In this first bed, I planted baby mesclun mix, cucumbers, and bush beans. The idea is that cucumbers will climb the trellis and stay dry, while also providing shade for the cool temperature loving lettuce. The bush beans in the middle put lots of nitrogen in the soil, which the other plants need.

cucumbers

The second bed has two varieties of tomatoes, some basil, and later I added merrigolds hoping to prevent some beetles from eating my tomato plants.

In the third bed I planted strawberries and baby spinach, which are supposed to do well together.

In the fourth bed I planted kale and nasturtiums. I also put in some zucchini on its own at one end, since apparently zucchini doesn't make friends well.

kale

 In the fifth bed planted rainbow chard, broccoli and marigolds.

rainbow chard

In the sixth bed, I planted a famous guild called the "three sisters". This consists of corn, pole beans, and squash...in this case pumpkins. The idea is that the beans put nitrogen in the soil for the corn, while the corn provides support for the bean plants. The squash provides shade on the ground with its large leaves. The three sisters guild is a technique that we have borrowed from our Native Americans because it gave them such great success.

corn and beans

corn and beans

pumpkins

6.29.2013

In the first year, you are supposed to pick off all the strawberry blossoms so the strawberry plants focus on extablishing excellent root systems so they thrive in the following season. I couldn't resist allowing one blossom to remain so we could sample a berry.

mesclun mix

bush beans and cucumbers

rainbow chard

brocolli

basil

nasturtium

kale

zucchini

7.21.2013

Our largest (sad) baby spinach plant

strawberries

Broccoli, rainbow chard and marigolds

One of the only broccoli to survive

Most of the broccoli was eaten by insects

The largest of the rainbow chard

Mesclun mix, growing back after one harvest

First of the bush beans

cucumbers

Blossoms in the zucchini

One of the surviving kale

Most of the kale was eaten by insects

Nasturtium blossoms

Nasturtium blossoms

tomato blossoms

First of the tomatoes

basil

the three sisters guild

corn and pole beans

pumpkins going crazy

first pumpkin blossoms appearing

So far, compared to other years I have gardened in tilled plots, the plants seem smaller and overall less fruitful. I think this is due in part to the fact that the soil hasn't been well established yet (it has still not broken down since we just assembled the lasagna style beds in the spring), we didn't fill the beds as much as we should have, and the cardboard we placed down as a weed block hasn't broken down enough to allow the plant roots to expand as much as they would like. In the past, we have had insect problems, but they haven't decimated entire sets of crops like they did our broccoli and kale this year. I think I will be spending this winter doing a little more research about what kinds of things to plant to help with insect control, because we will not be using pesticides.