Garden Spotlight: companion beds

I want to start this series off with the main workhorse of our garden this year: The companion beds.

This space started off as an unkempt mess of juniper shrubs and a decorative fruit tree of some kind that shaded the whole patio and dropped crap on it three seasons of the year. It was the only space in my back yard that could have housed a garden of any significance without cutting down some major trees. So we decided to cut down a minor tree and bunch of gross shrubbery! 

In 2020, I spent my summer digging out stumps while tending to my only 8x3' garden box jammed with tomatoes, squash, and a few pepper plants that got obliterated by the preceding two. That fall I knew I'd have a better space for a garden in spring, so I planted the whole box with Garlic.

Spring of 2021 I picked up an electric mantis tiller and stirred up the ground for an in-ground garden plot. It went very well! I had several beautiful tomato plants, a bumper crop of spaghetti squash, peas, peppers, and two types of summer squash that did not produce a single fruit across 6 plants (for whatever reason, the whole neighborhood had no zucchini or yellow squash all year. May have been something to do with the pollinators?) 

That fall I picked up 8 raised bed boxes for $5 each and decided to reorganize once again, and the companion beds were born! One thing I knew I wanted was hog fence tunnels for beans, peas, and cucumbers, so I spaced the 4 biggest boxes (5x5) 4 feet apart in each direction. During the winter, I took inventory of my seeds and made a plan as follows:

Box one is my take on the famous "Three Sisters" garden. I have two types of corn (jeweled and blue popping) with climbing pole beans planted along side each. Then I'm filling the remaining space with squash (mix of summer and winter) to block out the weeds. I also sewed Mache in the open space, planted 3 red cabbages along the side, and did a line of scarlet runner beans along the trellis. I'm afraid I planted the Kentucky Pole beans too early as they'll soon outpace the corn and have little support to climb. This box is going to be a beautiful mess by August!

Box two is tomatoes with herbs, root crops, and leafy greens planted throughout and spring blush peas along the trellis. I'm experimenting with a single-stem method of growing my tomatoes this year to get more plants in the small space. As far as herbs, I have sweet and mini Greek basil, lavender, and sage. For root crops I have 2 varieties of carrot and Salsify. I also broadcast sewed a mesculin mix and some slowbolt lettuce. My hope is that the tomatoes will give shade to my lower-level plants and the greens will keep the soil cool and weed-free.

Box three is an absolute mess in this photo because I took it before I thinned the radishes. This box is 3 types of cucumbers (climbing chompers along the trellish) and 3 types of radish that will all produce at different times. Nothing too fancy here, just a large-leafed vine crop and a sturdy root crop to grow between and underneath.

I'm very excited for box 4! I have several varieties of sweet and hot capsicums, 3 varieties of bunching onions, and sugar snap peas along the trellis. I also broadcast a handful off carrot seeds in here this week too, just to see how they do. My family isn't much into hot peppers, so this box is mostly all mine. I like to make big batches of fermented hot sauces each year out of various chilis. This will be fun.

I have space in the center to place some large planters. Right now I have some okra, a few tree seedlings I'm trying to raise, and a flat of unplanted cucumbers that I need to find a home for. I think I'm going to try to find a galvanized fire ring to put in there as a permanent raided bed that I could grow potatoes or something else in next year. Also, the mulch is inoculated with oyster mushrooms, so those may come up this year again as well.