Have you ever stumbled upon the most perfect book at the most perfect time? This just happened to me, and I can't get over the, well, perfectness of it all. I can almost hear the click! as the universe aligns with what I need right now. As you know, my little food garden is 4" x 4" plus a small container of sunflowers and two more containers of corn. Small, in other words.
So you'll understand my joy at finding this book: One Magic Square: The Easy, Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot Square. (I love when the title says it all!) Last night, I read the chapter on Companion Garden/Intercropping. This is a method of gardening that seeks to exploit the fact that some plants benefit each other when placed in close proximity. After reading it, Nia and I went out this morning and made some adjustments.
We added corn seeds to our bean patch, so the corn can act as a climbing support for the beans. We planted beans in the corn containers, and we planted a row of lettuce between the peas to eventually shade their roots and keep them cool. That was all the seeds I had available this morning. Next, though, I want to plant mustard near my tomatoes to help keep them happy with some extra nitrogen. And hopefully all this mixing will keep the predatory bugs confused and away from our babies!
