Now that the seed catalogs have begun to arrive on a regular basis, we know spring can’t be far away. I have actually seen a couple of robins in my garden already, but they didn’t get here before the seed catalogs, so I have come to the conclusion that the catalogs are a better harbinger of spring than the robins.
Since the weather can still get ugly, this is a good time to peruse those catalogs and make plans for your spring garden. This is especially true if you are hoping for a successful vegetable garden as there are so many varieties of all types of veggies, so you may need a couple of hours to pick the ones best for your site. I always have a tablet nearby so I can jot down my thoughts as I go through the catalogs. Marking pages with colored sticky notes helps, too.
Since ideally a vegetable garden needs 8 to 12 hours of sunlight a day, you may be limited in your choice of a space. A lot has been written about intensive or “square foot” plantings to get the most from a small plot. The benefits include better harvest yields with less labor and more efficient use of water. The only drawback I have seen is that intensive gardens generally need to be fertilized more often as the nutrients in the soil are used up faster by the plants.
When planting, place the center of one plant so that it is equidistant from each surrounding plant. If you have a garden bed that is deeper than one row, stagger those plants so they form a sort of checkerboard pattern. Use the instructions on the seed packets or from the catalogs to gage the distance when transplanting. Many now have directions for intensive plantings.
One of the best tips for an intensive garden is to use companion planting. There are some plants that are, by nature, mutually beneficial to each other when planted together, while others have a detrimental effect when planted too close. For example, you can plant tomatoes and garlic together, but keep that garlic away from peas and beans. Bush beans will do well if planted with beets, potatoes, cucumbers and carrots, but not with the onion family or tomatoes. Pole beans don’t like beets but are okay with corn and radishes.
Another reason for being selective when companion planting is insects and diseases that can affect both plants. In one case, don’t plant corn and tomatoes together as the same worm attacks them both. Tomatoes and potatoes can be affected by the same blight, so keep them apart, too.
Dill retards the growth of carrots, but chives improve the carrots’ growth and flavor, and sage and rosemary can deter the carrot fly. Oregano is a benefit to all garden veggies. Choose a culinary variety and you’ll have an added advantage.
Probably the most famous companion planting is the Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash. The Native Americans planted a fish and on a slight hill above it they would plant the Three Sisters. The fish would slowly decay and add nutrients to the soil under the plants. The beans would use the corn as a trellis to climb, and also add nitrogen to the soil for the corn, a heavy feeder. Beans also helped to stabilize the corn stalks, making them less vulnerable to the wind. The squash would cover the soil underneath the beans and corn, acting as mulch and helping to hold in moisture. Their spiny stalks also deterred critters. The corn shaded the squash from the heat of the afternoon sun. This plan still works in today’s gardens. (However, we might want to replace the fish with an organic fertilizer to keep the cats and dogs from digging in the garden until the plants reach maturity.) The residue from this crop planting can also be worked back into the soil to improve it for next year. The Three Sisters also complement each other nutritionally. Dried beans provide protein, the corn supplies carbohydrates, and the squash supplies vitamins from its fruit.
Loads of books, charts, and websites can be found online that can give detailed information about companion planting as well as intensive gardening. Use your search engine and look for “Companion Planting” and “Intensive Vegetable Gardening.” Check your local Extension Office for handouts, too.
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