Twenty perennial vegetables. What to plant in the garden - the list The best "neighbors" are
Plant once and enjoy always!
Perennial vegetables are crops that you plant once and harvest year after year - a rarity in North American gardens.
With the exception of asparagus, rhubarb, and artichoke, most gardeners are unaware of the tasty, undemanding and generous crops that can yield when most annuals are just starting to grow.
A brief history of perennial crops
According to Eric Toensmeier's Perennial Vegetables Handbook, most North American gardening and farming traditions come from Europe, where there are quite a few perennial crops, other than fruits and nuts. In a cold and unstable climate, the Eurasian agriculture concentrated around animal husbandry, the cultivation of annual grain and leguminous crops. And the first European settlers to North America simply brought with them seeds and methods of cultivation, as well as draft animals to work in the field.
However, in most areas of the temperate and tropical climatic zones of the world, including most of North America, perennial roots, starchy crops and fruits were widespread, actively cultivated, and were subjected to selective selection.
These perennial crops were popular, probably because they required less maintenance to grow, and another reason was the shortage of large livestock, as only manual tools were available to farmers.
But regardless of why these beautiful plants have been forgotten, we must not ignore these beneficial and productive crops further. Perennial vegetables should be much more widespread, especially compared to annuals, because they are more nutritious, easier to care for, more environmentally friendly, and less dependent on water and other external factors.
Benefits of perennial vegetables
Perennial vegetables are unpretentious. Imagine vegetables that require no more maintenance than flowers or shrubs - no annual digging of beds or sowing. They thrive and bear abundant and nutritious fruits regardless of the season. Once planted in the right place and climate, the perennial plant is virtually indestructible, even if not cared for. Established perennial crops are often much more resistant to disease, pests, droughts and weeds.
In fact, some perennials grow so well on their own that as a care they only need to harvest on time and often to prevent self-seeding. Ease of growing and bountiful harvest are the main reasons to start growing them.
Perennial crops lengthen the harvest time.
The growing season of perennial vegetables often differs from the growing season of annuals, which helps increase the amount of food you collect from your own garden throughout the year. While you are planting seedlings of annual vegetables in your garden or waiting out the summer heat, many perennials have already grown and are ready to harvest.
Perennial vegetables can serve a variety of functions in the garden.
Many perennials are, among other things, wonderful, ornamental plants that, among other things, can beautify your landscape. Perennials can serve as a hedge, serve as a ground cover or protect slopes from erosion. Other perennial vegetables can fertilize themselves and other plants by enriching the soil with nitrogen. Some may provide habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators, while others can curl around the trellis, providing shade for other crops.
Perennial vegetables help structure the soil
Perennial crops are amazing for the soil. Because they do not require annual digging, perennials help create favorable conditions for healthy and holistic soil food webs, including providing habitat for vast numbers of animals, fungi and other important soil microorganisms.
If perennials are well mulched, then they contribute to the improvement of the soil structure, the content of organic matter, porosity and water retention capacity of the soil.
The cultivation of perennial vegetables structures the soil the way nature intended, allowing plants to naturally accumulate more and more soil organic matter through the slow and gradual decomposition of their leaves and roots. As they develop, they also help form the topsoil and bind atmospheric carbon.
Disadvantages of perennial vegetables:
Some perennial vegetables develop slowly and may take several years before they begin to produce good harvest (asparagus - best example this)
Like many annuals, some green perennials become bitter after flowering, so they are only usable early in the season.
Some perennials have a strong odor that some people may not like.
Some perennials are so undemanding that they can quickly become weeds and fill your garden, or "escape" and settle in a neighbor's garden (Daylilies - good example this)
You need to be careful when choosing a permanent place for planting perennials in your garden. Separate planting of perennials and annuals properly
Perennials can have specific problems when dealing with diseases and pests, since you cannot apply crop rotation to minimize problems. If a perennial plant once got sick with something, then it is often almost impossible to get rid of the disease, and the plant will have to be removed.
Perennials grown as annuals.
Some perennial crops are grown as annuals because they are easier to care for. For example, potatoes are technically a perennial, but we grow them as annuals because pest and disease problems force us to frequently change crops (crop rotation). On the other hand, some of the plants that we grow as annuals can also be successfully cultivated as perennials, for example, cabbage.
Growing of perennial vegetables.
One option for introducing perennial vegetables into your garden is to expand your existing vegetable garden. Just dig up an additional meter and a half and plant perennials along the border.
Or, if you already have an ornamental shrub hedge, consider adding perennial vegetables such as chard or sorrel. Many perennials have attractive leaves or flowers that can beautify a garden.
You can also reclaim currently unused spaces by matching conditions for perennials. There are perennial vegetables such as leeks that will thrive in a shady, damp or cool place where you would normally not be able to grow vegetables.
If you are already growing perennial vegetables and want to take your garden or plot to the next level, check out Permaculture.
By mimicking natural ecosystems, this approach promotes the best interactions between plants, soil, insects and microorganisms. In permaculture projects, edible vegetables, herbs, fruit shrubs, and vines grow as undergrowth of second-tier fruit and nut trees. This technology is sometimes also called "tiered".
The tiers need to be formed within a couple of years. In the first year, plant fruit trees as your property's outpost. In the same year and the next few years, use leaf mulch to prepare the planting area under trees for undergrowth plants. Leaf humus is used to mulch seedlings within a radius of 0.5-1 m in the first year and, accordingly, increase the mulching radius as the tree grows. In the second year, you can start planting perennial vegetables, berry bushes and grapes in the spaces mulched around the tree.
There are many perennial crops known and loved by gardeners around the world, including these ten well-known ones:
Blueberries, lingonberries and other berry bushes
Cabbage (usually grown as an annual)
Garlic (usually grown as an annual)
Italian chicory radicchio (usually grown as an annual)
Artichoke
Lovage
Watercress
But there are actually hundreds of other perennial fruits and vegetables that can grow in the temperate and warm climates that North America is in.
Perennial Vegetables by Eric Toensmeier is undeniably the Bible on this subject. This book describes over a hundred perennial crops that you can grow in your home. You will be delighted and inspired to try something new in your garden every spring! For each plant in this guide, there are maps with the distribution area, color photographs, climatic and historical information, full instructions how to grow, care and harvest, and even recipes and ideas for new dishes.
Perennial vegetables make a great addition to annuals in the garden. Here are ten delicious, easy-to-grow perennial vegetables that you may not have heard of before.
We have selected these from the many perennial vegetables described in the Perennial Vegetables book, considering criteria such as taste, ease of cultivation and preparation, and a wide climatic range.
Some of these perennials are found naturally in many parts of North America, but because they are too intensively harvested or grow in fragile landscapes, it is better and safer to grow them on a patch of land near your home. You can also plant special cultivars (cultivars) of these wild edible plants, selected for such characteristics as taste and adaptability to the conditions of the garden. No serious gardener or landowner considering growing their food can do without perennials in their garden.
1. Egyptian or tiered bow. (Allium cepa var. Viviparum)
Some types of onions such as winter onions green onions or Egyptian onions continue to produce crops even if some have already been harvested. Egyptian onions form small, airy bulbs at the top of the shoots in late summer. You can use these miniature bulbs on their own, or you can plant them in the fall to grow even more Egyptian onions. For zones 4-8.
2. Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.)
As gardeners say, daylilies thrive if not cared for. So much so that they naturalized all over the United States. While in North America they are grown primarily as ornamental plants, in Asia they are grown as a vegetable crop and their numerous buds are harvested daily and used as green beans. Flowers are added to salads, baked in batter or fried. For zones 2-10.
3. Whole-leaved Mary (Chenopodium bonus-henricus)
Whole-leaved Mary is a traditional European vegetable known for its delicious shoots, leaves and buds. This spinach relative grows in sunny or partially shaded areas in moist, well-drained soil. Gather tender shoots in spring. Resistant to frost up to zone 3.
4.American Peanut (Apios Americana)
Native to eastern North America, the groundnut is a nitrogen-fixing plant, the six-foot vine carries high-protein tubers that taste like a nut-flavored potato. The peanut vine grows alongside shrubs that provide support. Grows in humid places, prefers sun or partial shade. Resistant to frost up to zone 3.
5.Topinambur (Helianthus tuberosus)
Belongs to the same family as the sunflower. Jerusalem artichoke is grown for its underground tubers. They can be eaten raw or cooked like potatoes. Their adorable yellow flowers will attract beneficial insects to your garden. Jerusalem artichoke is a vigorous plant that spreads through underground roots and can be difficult to eradicate. Some gardeners find them aggressive. Zone 4-6.
6 ostrich fern. (Matteuccia struthiopteris).
Many gardeners grow the fern because of its high decorativeness, not realizing that it can be grown for the delicious, early spring fern shoots that are a coveted delicacy in high-end restaurants across the country. They love cool, shady places and are very hardy. For zones 2-8.
7. Ramson or wild onion (Allium tricoccum).
Ramson, a relative of onions, grows wild in deciduous forests east of the Mississippi, appearing every spring. It is a local delicacy that many people harvest in the forest (in the wild). Isn't it easier to grow it in your garden? Both the leaves and the bulbs are edible. Grows at the edge of the shade in moist loam or under trees. Hardy up to zone 4.
8 red beans (Phaseolus coccineus)
Red beans are commonly grown as a decoration in most gardens, but they are as edible and nutritious as green beans and dry beans. Flowers, young leaves, and tubers are also edible when cooked. It is known that red bean plants can grow in one place for over 20 years, practically gaining power in the garden. Frost resistance up to zone 4.
9.Catran seaside (Crambe maritime).
Sometimes grown as ornamental plant, thanks to its gray-blue leaves and white flowers on the bush up to one meter. Shoots, young leaves and flowers are also edible. Frost resistant up to zone 4.
10 sorrel
A perennial herb with leaves that have a tart lemon flavor. The leaves are used to make soups, stews, salads and sauces. Two types of sorrel are grown - common sorrel Rumex acetosa and French sorrel Rumex scutatus. These are relatives of rhubarb and the leaves contain a small amount of oxalic acid, which is not harmful because it is contained in small amounts (unless, of course, you are allergic to oxalates). Sorrel leaves taste best in early spring, and with the onset of warm weather it becomes bitter. Sorrel is a delicacy that can hardly be found in stores because it fades quickly after being picked. Garden sorrel is frost-resistant up to zone 5, French sorrel - up to zone 6.
Carrots grow well after cabbage, and beets grow well after parsley and parsnips. Knowing these tricks, you can get an excellent harvest of vegetables.
It's time to plan what and where to plant on the site. Remember that proper rotation (fruit rotation) of vegetable crops not only increases yields, but also protects plants from diseases and pests.
Each vegetable has its own mineral
Various vegetables consume minerals during growth, depleting the soil. But each plant has its own \\ "menu \\". Potatoes and cabbage are heavy on potassium and nitrogen. But cabbage also loves phosphorus, just like tomatoes and radishes ... Therefore, if you plant the same crop several times in a row, even if you apply fertilizers, the soil is still unilaterally depleted.
Any crop planted in a garden and prefers the same minerals as its predecessor will feel uncomfortable. For example, tomatoes that are located in the same garden for the second season in a row or are planted immediately after cabbage will lack phosphorus. In addition, each plant releases substances into the soil that suppress the growth of the same crop next year, which also leads to a decrease in yield.
Another danger is the accumulation of pathogenic bacteria and larvae of pests in the soil, \\ "specializing \\" in a particular plant. For example, tomato or pepper is not recommended to be planted after potatoes. And vice versa. Why? All of them belong to the nightshade family and can get late blight. If phytophthora spores get into the soil, then they are vital for several more years. And, repeating in this place the sowing of crops susceptible to phytophthora, we thereby only \\ "feed \\" the disease.
And the Colorado potato beetle, waking up after hibernation, in the absence of potatoes, will willingly switch to tomatoes and even peppers.
They grow poorly one after another in any combination: cabbage, radish, turnip, radish. All of them can get a keel. But with the correct sequence of plantings, it is much easier to resist diseases and pests.
Rotating vegetable crops also helps weed control. Plants with well-developed, fast-growing foliage (cabbage, potatoes, beans, squash and others) have the ability to suppress weeds. Conversely, crops that slowly develop a small rosette of leaves (carrots, beets) are highly vulnerable to weeds. So these two groups of plants alternate well with each other.
A special place in the garden should be reserved for perennial vegetable plants (rhubarb, asparagus, sorrel). They are usually placed at the end of the plot or along its perimeter, so that they do not shade the rest of the plants.
Attention
Related cultures with similar needs:
peas, beans, beans, rank, chickpeas (legume family);
potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers (nightshade family);
radish, turnip, rutabaga, radish, cabbage, watercress, horseradish, mustard, rapeseed (cruciferous family);
carrots, dill, celery, parsley, parsnips, caraway seeds, coriander, anise (umbrella family);
beetroot, Swiss chard, spinach (family of mariaceae);
cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash, zucchini (pumpkin family);
sorrel, rhubarb (buckwheat family);
basil, Peppermint, Lemon Balm, Marjoram, Thyme (Claret family);
leaf lettuce, cabbage lettuce, estra gon (Asteraceae family);
onions, garlic (lily family).
By the way
Onions and carrots are "friends". Planted side by side, they successfully protect themselves from pests. Each of them has its own pest - a fly, respectively, carrot and onion. But the onion fly does not tolerate the smell of carrots, and the carrot fly disappears if onions grow nearby.
It is better not to plant tomatoes and cucumbers nearby. For successful growth, tomatoes need dry hot air, rare but abundant watering. Excessive soil moisture provokes late blight in tomatoes. Cucumbers prefer warm dampness. These vegetables have a completely different approach to fertilizers. Unlike cucumber, tomato does not tolerate manure. Therefore, even in the open field, you should not arrange beds with cucumbers next to tomato beds, let alone greenhouses. But you can alternate them with each other.
Onions, potatoes, carrots can be grown in one place for a long time, if the soil is not infected with pathogens.
advice
Seven rules of crop rotation:
1 It is not recommended to plant crops that require early planting after crops harvested late. For example, carrots, parsley, cabbage and some other crops are buried in the ground until frost-resistant. Naturally, during the winter, the frozen soil will not have time to recover.
2 Make sure that crops of the same species and family are not planted one after another in the same place.
3 It is best to return plants from groups unfavorable to each other to their former "place of residence" in 3-4 years. Main culture
can be returned to the previous bed earlier if cereals (wheat, rye, oats) or green fertilizer are sown after it.
4 It is useful to alternate crops with deep and shallow roots, then the former can get their food from deeper soil horizons.
5 Alternate plants based on their ability to resist weeds.
6 It is advisable to divide the plot into two halves so that on one half it is possible to grow vegetables that grow well after the application of manure, and on the other - crops that do not tolerate manure. By this division, you provide the opportunity to grow a wide variety of crops every year.
7 Must be included in the crop rotation legumesas they enrich the soil with nitrogen. They are good predecessors for almost any crop.
When purchasing a summer cottage or a house on the ground, the owners begin to think about how to organize a vegetable garden and a garden. I would like to make it not only useful, but also beautiful, blooming, fragrant. Many budding gardeners get lost, don't know where to start and make many mistakes in their "growing career".
A bountiful harvest depends on proper crop planting planning. It is not enough just to stick the seeds into the ground and wait for the harvest. It is necessary to correctly formulate the soil mixture, choose a suitable place, organize watering and plant care. It is better to learn about all these features of splitting a garden in advance than to be disappointed in the results of your hard work later. Here the gardener will find everything useful tips experienced growers to organize suburban area, plant compatibility and many other useful information.
Garden layout: take into account the size and composition of the soil
Before planting a plot, pay attention to its size and soil. If the territory is small, especially with planting crops do not scatter. Therefore, experienced gardeners advise to break up a vegetable garden so that you can mix plants with each other - arrange beds where two or three types of vegetables will grow in one place. Of course, you shouldn't grow trees in small gardens. Their root system will "envelop" the entire plot, vegetable crops will grow poorly and slowly. If the area is more than 12 m2, you don't have to worry about the advisability of mixed plantings. Here, the gardener plans standard-sized beds and determines a place for growing fruit trees and shrubs.
When planning a garden, rely on the basic rules for its organization:
- Consider the size of the lot
- Decide what crops you want to grow
- Collect all information about them to know what growing conditions they need
- Depending on this, divide the site into zones
- Explore the soil. Add compost, humus, peat, or sand as needed
- Immediately decide if you need it and choose the best place for it
An important item on the list is soil research. Why is it so important? The thing is that there are types of soil on which it is impossible to grow certain vegetables. Knowing the composition of the soil, its acidity level will help not to waste time growing crops that simply will not grow. It is very easy to check acidity at home. To do this, take a little earth - a couple of spoons - fill it with vinegar and watch the reaction. If the substrate begins to foam and hiss, then the acidity is moderate. If no reaction occurs, the soil is acidic, it must be deoxidized with slaked lime and ash.
Most vegetable crops do not tolerate acidic soil.
Compost, humus and sand are added to clay soil. If the plot is damp, it is necessary to arrange good drainage under the beds - constant puddles do not contribute to the growth of vegetables. Complex and rotted humus is introduced into sod-podzolic soils. Only after planning the zones and improving the soil can you start cultivating the beds and planting vegetables, flowers and trees.
How to make beds: choosing vegetable crops
The organization of the beds requires certain knowledge from the gardener. First of all, this is orientation to the cardinal points. The beds should be arranged in the direction from north to south. it the best way for crops. It is advisable to choose areas that are flat, without ridges and bumps.
The vegetable area should be open, free of trees and shade.
Most crops love sunlight, air movement - aeration and soil moisture. With this in mind, the beds should be broken. Many now organize a place for vegetables like a high ridge. What? The place is delimited by boards - they build a rectangle above ground level. The substrate necessary for the culture is added to it.
Such high bed has a number of advantages:
- It is easier to work with it - weeding, watering, thinning
- The earth keeps warm longer
- Orderly appearance vegetable gardens - everything is organized
But if you do not want to build such structures, cultivate ordinary beds. The optimal width is about 90 cm. Do not make too wide areas for vegetables. It is problematic to look after them. We have to violate the integrity of the ridge when weeding and. There should be enough space between the beds for a person to move freely with a small garden cart. Narrow passages do not allow normal work with plants - watering, weeding, fertilizing.
Any kind of crops can be grown in the beds. Everything will depend on the family's diet and the wishes of the owners themselves. It is important to consider the order of planting vegetables and their compatibility. The first to land, and. A little later, the rest of the cultures -,. The latter are usually grown in seedlings, planting in the ground occurs when there is no threat of frost. This is mid or late May depending on the region. When choosing vegetables for cultivation on your plot, always consider the family's diet. What will be eaten, and what the household does not favor. Waste time on plants that will then be thrown away is not worth it. It's a waste of space and a waste of time.
The concept of plant compatibility is relevant for small garden areas. As a rule, it is on them that the mixed method of growing crops is used. Several types of vegetables and herbs are planted in one bed in order to save space. For this, plant compatibility should be taken into account. What to plant with what? Below are the pairs of crops that can be combined:
- Potatoes are well adjacent to, and
- gets along with, peas,
- likes to grow up with catnip
- side by side with spinach, and
- get along well with celery, peas and
- friends with catnip
- better to plant with and
- with, and
In this order, you can combine vegetables and safely harvest bountiful crops. Look out for flowers like marigolds. This is enemy number one for vegetable crops. Therefore, experienced gardeners are advised to plant them around the perimeter of the beds. Vegetables are often mixed with herbs - parsley, dill, salad. These plants are so called "mediators". They help the mainstream culture grow.
Observing these simple compatibility pairs, you can harvest a good harvest even from a small garden plot... However, it is necessary to observe not only the rule of "friendship" of plants, but also crop rotation.
The rule of crop rotation is reduced to one thing - in the same place you cannot endlessly grow one type of crops. They must be swapped. Otherwise, the soil will be depleted and impoverished. We'll have to enrich her and give her rest, which is usually not part of the gardener's plans.
So, a novice summer resident should consider the following rules:
- Potatoes are planted in the place where they grew
The correct placement of plants in the beds affects their yield more than it seems. The fact that some crops grow better if they are planted together, while others, on the contrary, interfere with each other, was noticed by the Indians, who planted pumpkin, beans and corn together. Now many gardeners and summer residents know about the successful and unsuccessful neighborhood of vegetables in the beds. The table of "friends" and "enemies" of each vegetable has been studied in detail and is available to everyone.
Successful garden neighbors
Planting vegetables together not only makes full use of the available land, but also has a positive effect on the growth and yield of both plants. As a nice addition, such beds will look very beautiful from the side. Smart garden planning and plant interactions combine many nuances that have been studied by both scientists and farmers alike.
Many plants are known to secrete chemical compounds that can both promote the growth of neighbors and suppress it. In addition, they can provide protection to each other from the heat by providing shade, enrich the soil, inhibit the growth of weeds that are harmful to another species, or deter pests. Each crop has its own list of useful and harmful companions in the garden.
The benefits of joint planting
Rules for joint planting of cultivated plants are designed primarily to increase yields. Observing them, a person receives the following benefits:
Different neighbors are good for each plant, so you need to carefully consider the layout of the garden before starting mixed planting of vegetables in the beds. An example of a successful neighborhood: cucumber and corn, when cereals protect the vegetable from the scorching sun and at the same time serve as a support for it. Corn is also good in the vicinity of tomatoes, but it is better not to plant tomatoes with cucumbers themselves - they require completely different amounts of moisture and fresh air for optimal growth.
Vegetables can be planted not only next to others edible plantsbut also with aromatic herbs or even flowers.
For example, basil enhances the taste of tomatoes, and mint enhances the taste of cabbage. Almost all crops can be planted next to garlic and onions, because these odorous plants release a large amount of phytoncides that work well for many vegetables.
All plants need pollinators, which can be attracted by planting flowers next to vegetables - they will not only benefit, but also serve as a decoration for the garden. In addition, herbs such as mint, lemon balm and marjoram will help attract pollinating insects. Earthworms also have a good effect on most crops - they loosen the ground, increasing the amount of oxygen available to plants. They like herbs like chicory, valerian and green onions.
Versatile neighbors that are good for almost any vegetable are legumes... Their roots are home to nodule bacteria that recycle nitrogen from the air, which the beans can supply to closely growing plants. The most nitrogen-rich soil remains after the end of their growth, therefore legumes also serve as a good predecessor for crops that are demanding on this parameter, for example, pumpkin or cabbage.
Another plant that is friendly with so many vegetables is spinach. It releases special substances that help plants to better absorb useful elements from the garden. In addition, spinach leaves grow quickly and cover the ground, protecting it from drying out and preventing weeds from growing while the neighboring vegetables are still small and do not occupy the entire garden.
All cultures prefer different friends - there are many factors to consider in order to understand what to plant with what in the garden. The compatibility table for the most popular vegetables looks like this:
Pest defenders
Many plants scare away or entice food vegetable crops insects or animals. They can be combined with vulnerable plants or planted between rows for preventive purposes. If you do it right, you can significantly reduce the use of chemicals in the garden or completely eliminate them. Different crops will help protect your garden from such pests:
Warring vegetables
In addition to the plants-friends, which strengthen and support each other in the garden, there are neighbors that are very bad for some species, inhibiting their growth and having a bad effect on the harvest. The consequences of joint planting of such "enemies" are often the attraction of pests, disease, waterlogging, due to which fungi develop, or even a complete cessation of the growth of one of the crops. Enemies of the most common garden plants:
Rules for a successful combination
In order to get a rich harvest, it is not enough just to plant suitable crops nearby and protect their enemy plants - there are many more factors to consider. It is best to combine species favorable to each other both horizontally and vertically, and also plant them at the right time so that vegetables grown too early do not ruin their neighbors.
Plants in a joint bed should first of all be combined according to preferences for temperature and amount of water. It is also worth considering the structure of their root system - vegetables with different root depths need to be planted nearby so that they do not intersect and there is no competition.
Another important parameter is the amount the plant needs nutrients... The crops that need them most are planted in the center of the planting, and the less demanding ones - on the sides. You should never plant crops with the same height and width of leaves on the same bed - one of them will surely destroy a neighbor.
For correct cultivation vegetables you need to know and after what crops they can be planted.
Onions, for example, prefer cucumbers, legumes and early varieties potatoes as predecessors, but does not like it when celery, radish or carrots grew in front of him in the garden. In both small and large crop rotations, you should not use plants of the same family twice in a row: this is especially true for beets, chard and spinach.
Vegetables grow faster in a greenhouse - this is also worth considering if you want to create joint landings there. Before starting work, you need to carefully consider the layout of the beds - take into account the cardinal points (some crops, such as cucumbers and tomatoes, are grown on the southern sunny side of greenhouses), find those plants that suit the same humidity and temperature and make sure that none of them did not interfere with the other.
Planting vegetables together is a very effective and useful way., which will help to grow a good harvest even under adverse conditions or in a small area. Using various tables, you can easily create your own combinations suitable plants and enjoy delicious and juicy vegetables from the garden every year.
Compatible vegetables in the garden
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What, already n aboutlito? .. Then I have a toast.
Let everyone who has thought of this grow stronger and prosperous!
Chapter 6
Viviparous combs of Vladimir Rozum
Vladimir Nikitich Rozum is a resident of the Ternopil region. His soil is light yellow loam, which turns into concrete in summer. There is no black soil even in the upper layer. Droughts are common. There is little water for irrigation. Well, what can you grow here ?! Rozum grows everything. And so are his students. And the harvests are excellent.
It's all about the magic beds. They are similar to the beds of Oleg Telepov, and work on a similar principle. But there are major differences. Each second path for the accumulation and decay of organic matter, Vladimir Nikitich, wedge-shaped deepens on a bayonet - it turns out a composting ditch 55-60 cm wide. On the sides, he makes two ridges-ridges 30-35 cm wide. double. Such is the bed: "comb - compost - comb" (Fig. 35). Between the beds there are passages 50–60 cm each, covered with live grass turf.
Figure: 35
These beds, of course, need to be dug up and filled with organic matter. But labor is the same as just digging up a garden bed. And organic matter is refueled for a very long time: at the bottom - thick branches and poles, above - weeds and grass-foliage, and then green manure and tops (Fig. 36). Once laid, the basic organic matter includes humification for many years. Literally in the second year the soil turns black, and in the third year it gives excellent yields. Of course, neither the beds nor the aisles are ever bare, and by autumn it is a continuous carpet of green manure (Fig. 37).
Figure: 36
Figure: 37
An important plus of the Rozumov beds is the shallowness and wedge-like shape of the compost ditch. In such a ditch, organic matter does not sour, does not wander without air - everything happens here with the help of aerobic microbes and fungi, which ensure the process of fertility. The heat from the condensation of morning moisture and from the decay of organic matter is given to the soil in the root zone - it is not lost. There is always moisture under the compost and foliage layer and is used without loss. Plant roots feed on both sides all summer long at a feast of worms and microbes.
Convex ridges accommodate almost double the number of plants - there is space, there is enough light. Everything grows according to I.E. Ovsinsky: the plants, feeling crowded in the roots, tend to spread out to free space - and they have it. Edge effect everywhere.
Figure: 38
Hence, new opportunities to combine landings. In fig. 38 is a piece of just one comb. How good it is for vegetables here is evident from the beets.
Chapter 7
You can tighten the fit
Everything has everything.
Wisdom!
The main thing: if you already know how to grow good vegetables and you are satisfied with your result, you do not have to combine something. It is hardly necessary for those who are not inclined to invention: finding a successful way to combine is not easy. You have to think, plan, keep records. In general, for an amateur.
I see a lot of sense in combining. First, you can manage to squeeze two beds into one. Harvesting carrots in a narrow bed is good. But to grow here a trellis of cucumbers, albeit with an average harvest, is even better. Most of Russian summer cottages are 4–6 ares. Involuntarily you will think about it! Secondly, plants can protect each other from pests. In a combined garden bed, the pest is not so comfortable. "Combined" allows you to do practically without poisons - this is very important if you are trying to turn a site into a sustainable ecosystem. Thirdly, the combination gives a more permanent and dense vegetation cover, which is better for the soil. Finally, it's fun to experiment! In general, this is a very reasonable path, full of pleasant finds.
Combining plants successfully is much easier in theory than in practice. Here I have already "broken a lot of firewood." The hardest part is figuring out when to sow what. It is necessary to ensure that the plants do not jam each other. For example, if you plant cabbage and cucumber seedlings at the same time, the cucumbers will hopelessly lag behind - the cabbage will crush them. Among the plants, there are "sprinters" who take the lead. There are also "invaders" rapidly occupying the area. But they also behave differently in different weather and on different soils. You can find out all this only on your own experience.
Here is the basic fact of combining: you will get the most luxurious and productive plant if nothing else grows on a whole square meter! Therefore, reconciliation is essentially a compromise between plant freedom, land scarcity and our unwillingness to work hard. And only for thinking gardeners - the art of making the most of the sun and soil.
In general, cultivated plants do not tolerate very close proximity. Once in the ring of neighbors, they are greatly inhibited in growth, and the more light-loving they are, the more they lag behind. However, having escaped into the light, many quickly gain power. Such are pumpkin, salads, tall tomatoes, cabbage. Cucumbers and climbing beans retain their strength if they have time to stick the tops out of the thickets. In general, in order for all plants to receive, and then give their own, they have to divide between them not so much space as time.
The simplest and most sensible is to combine vegetables in narrow beds, growing them in two rows. It is also possible in three rows, the middle of which is a trellis. But there are good options for wide ridges. I have come to the conclusion that it is much more convenient to combine rows or stripes than individual plants. It is even easier to combine "spots", plots of different vegetables in the size of one and a half square meters... In the south, the “amphitheater” method works well. There are other observations as well. I offer them to you.
Conclusions on "square foot"
This method of placement, or rather, a way of understanding the placement of plants in a small area, was invented by the American Mel Bartholomew. His book "This Extraordinary Square" has been translated into many languages.
Mel suggested the utmost simple model the combined garden bed is a 30 x 30 cm (square foot) square. It is very easy to place several plants of different heights on it, see the result and understand how they get along. For example, in the center - a pepper bush, in the corners - four carrots, and between them - four parsley bushes.
I took a square half-meter closer to us. You can fit more here. For example, in the center - a tall tomato, a couple of cucumbers or four bushes of beans on one vertical stand, the stems of which are exposed from below as quickly as possible; in the corners - four beets or four nests of three carrots; and between them along the edge of the square - three or four bushes of parsley, cilantro, watercress or radish.
You can stretch the square in time. First, grow radishes from below - 30-40 bushes, in five rows, after about 5 cm in a row. Then plant cucumber seedlings, sow carrots or beets. And after removing the roots, in September, sow the radish or salad again (Fig. 39).
Figure: 39
I tried to make a 1 by 4 meter garden out of such squares and failed: the plants that fell in the middle lagged behind and did not develop at all. The narrow bed has won! Now I can tell you something to those who liked the idea of \u200b\u200bsquares.
1. Fact: a square fenced in and covered with humus works best when it is alone, by itself, and the circle is empty. Then all the plants are well developed. Conclusion: there is no need to combine vegetable squares into large arrays. But you can make a strip of them one square wide. The central, high row in the strip will no longer be compacted by other plants. We got a narrow bed.
2. Plants on the north side of the square will be underdeveloped due to the shade of the central, taller plant. This means that tall plants must be planted from the northern groan of the square. This is already a small "amphitheater".
3. If a wide bed is made of squares, it is better to plant only the shortest vegetables and low-growing flowers. Zucchini, pumpkin, Swiss chard and all cabbages, except kohlrabi, are not suitable for compacting: they crush everyone with their "burdocks".
4. Squares with branchy plants growing for a long time should also be staggered. If a flower garden is broken into squares, it is better to turn it into a "chessboard", the light squares of which are rugs of bent grass, stonecrops or other unassuming cover plants.
5. A box with squares, and especially a flower bed, is better to immediately decorate with beautiful light strips. It is more convenient to plant in such a "net", and you can see better what you are doing. But the main thing is the elegant look!
The squares method is good for experimentation and better understanding of alignment. Suitable for winter gardens, loggias and patios. It is also very good for small rectangular wall-to-wall flower beds where mostly the most compact plants are planted. In an ordinary garden, it is hardly applicable. A strip of squares is applicable - a narrow bed.
Triangles are better
It's about how to fill the area more efficiently.
Our machinery can only sow, plant and cultivate in right angles. That is why the "square" fit is more familiar to us. But she's not the most rational. There are no squares in nature, but there are hexagons: they use space more rationally. In our country, agronomists Vladimir Petrovich Ushakov and Petr Matveyevich Ponomarev studied this. Biointensives have long been compacting crops by placing vegetables in the corners of the hexagons.
Sitting in the corners of a square, the bush tending to roundness is under pressure from its neighbors from four sides. It is enough to shift the rows relative to each other by about half the interval, and the bushes appear in hexagons - we saw this in Fig. 28. The space of each bush increases, the pressure of the neighbors decreases, and there are fewer unoccupied spaces. In narrow beds it is recommended to plant bulky plants - cabbage, peppers and eggplants, zucchini. And planting other vegetables like that is harmless. And seedlings. On a large area, for example for potatoes, the effect can be significant: on the same area, under the same conditions, it fits by almost 20% more plants... Equally less space is left for weeds - also good!
Separate rows of plants are also best done not with a line, but with an "accordion" - a two-row winding strip. If the strip of plants is open in both directions, then you can move the accordion more, almost to right angles between the plants (as in Fig. 29). In free space (say, along the paths) it is always more rational to plant in two lines with a shift than in one.
Vertical alignment
Doctor! Give pills for greed. Yes, more, more !!!
Theoretically, it is possible to fill not only the area, but also the maximum volume - both above the bed and on the sides. So much air, and wasted! It is so tempting that I continue to experiment all the time.
In a narrow bed, you can combine two or three crops. On the sides, with a shift, sit cabbages, beets, carrots, Peking, lettuce, peppers, bush beans. And along the central line, cucumbers, tomatoes, climbing beans, vigna, or sweet corn grows on the trellis. Three crops in a narrow bed are better at repelling pests than two. For example, on one side of the trellis - dill, and on the other - carrots. The main thing here is not sparing, quickly remove the lower shoots and leaves of the vines. Otherwise, no combination will work: the vines will crush everything on the sides.
In practice, greens most often sprout by self-sowing, and the garden bed itself becomes a variegated salad carpet (Fig. 40).
If the bed is stretched from north to south, trellis plants should be planted one and a half times less often than usual. Light must pass freely through them, otherwise each row of low vegetables will be in the shade for half a day. If the bed is stretched to the east-west, the trellis should be placed along the northern edge. And this is already an "amphitheater".
Figure: 40
The main problem: the central trellis is thermophilic, and the side rows are often cold-resistant. Therefore, early vegetables, planted on the sides as early as March-April, often stun the later-planted climbing "southerners". And finding themselves under the canopy of a cabbage leaf or in a bush of peas, a cucumber or beans just freeze and hopelessly lag behind. Even among the carrot tops, cucumbers sit quietly, waiting for freedom. Tomatoes are a little more hardy - they still knock out to the top, but they are greatly delayed in growth.
What do we have to do? 1) First, sow the "ephemeral dwarfs": radishes, watercress, cilantro. Then plant seedlings of vines. And sow the side rows even later, when the central plants have already climbed onto the trellis. 2) Make sure that the side rows are as far as possible from the trellis. In a narrow bed it is 20–25 cm in each direction. 3) Plant high-quality potted seedlings in the center with intact roots so that they do not stand idle. 4) Thin side rows on time and carefully so as not to delay the growth of plants.
Conclusion: the easiest way is to combine climbing vegetables with those that can be sown all summer, or it is not recommended to sow very early because of the flowering. These are beets, radishes, bush beans, chinese cabbage, daikon, carrots, salads, kohlrabi, turnip, peas, chard, herbs.
I should especially say about onions: As it turned out, he cannot stand any shading neighborhood at all. But we found a neighbor for him too: after the onion had begun, we sow carrots in the aisles. The onions are soon selected for food - the carrots remain. But garlic gets along well with any trellis - it is shade-tolerant, it hardly shades itself, and it leaves early (Fig. 41).
Figure: 41
Provided that the trellis confidently ahead of the side rows, spread cucumbers, zucchini, squash, zucchini, broccoli, and bush tomatoes are also suitable as lower crops. Bush beans are especially good under the trellis of tomatoes. Having twisted, I managed to grow a radish between them (Fig. 42).
Figure: 42
It is very convenient to sow side crops already in June, when early harvest greenery at the edges is removed, the central vines are already without lower leaves, and the bed is essentially free. Here you can sow all early ripening vegetables that grow normally in summer - they are listed above. You just need to achieve good shoots with frequent watering, and then mulch the soil.
The alignment of longitudinal rows in a wide bed is much more difficult than in a narrow one. The main thing: no matter how the bed is located, the row spacing should not be less than 15–20 cm. For example, on a bed 120 cm wide, you can fit three rows (stripes) on each side of the center line. The rows closest to the trellis are dill, basil, marjoram: they can be plucked mercilessly so as not to interfere with the extreme rows.
Planting peppers or carrots here is useless: sandwiched in the middle, they do not give a crop. Their place is in the extreme, lateral rows.
Vegetable "amphitheater"
It is even more difficult to combine three crops in a wide bed. The only simple way is stepwise: a) the bed is stretched to the east-west, that is, it is illuminated "in the face"; b) the trellis stands on the northern side of the bed; c) vegetables vary greatly in height. The garden bed resembles a stadium tribune.
The main "rule of the amphitheater": the higher, "back" rows should outpace the growth of the lower "front" neighbors (Fig. 43). In fig. 44 cucumbers are just sitting from the north - in a week they will crawl out onto the trellis. First, seedlings are planted for the trellis - "balcony". When it grows, an average crop is planted or sown - the “amphitheater”. The last, ten days later, is sown "parterre". In its place, a radish, watercress or coriander has just ripened - they are removed.
As medium crops for the amphitheater, only peppers (sweet and bitter), eggplants, bush tomatoes on stakes and herbs: basil, catnip, dill are suitable. They are planted when a curly stalk is allowed to grow in cucumbers or beans. Tomatoes planted with beans are first jammed. Peppers do not suppress. Vigna and some varieties of climbing beans are so thermophilic that they begin to grow only in the June heat, although they sprout together with bush beans. Tomatoes and cabbages grow more powerful and earlier than all.
It is better to separate the rows of vegetables in the amphitheater from each other by 30–40 cm. The high, rear row is at the very edge: there is no need to leave space for weeds. After 30–40 cm - the middle row. Further, after 20 cm, there may be rows of carrots, beets. Bush beans can only grow from the edge - their bushes require a lot of free space and always fall apart on the path. The bow is also on the edge, it needs light.
Figure: 43
Figure: 44
The amphitheater yield is definitely no more than monoculture. And yet this is a pretty productive bed. And beautiful, too. The "amphitheater" looks best near the house. The tiled semicircle, open to the south, is quite beautiful.
The simplest thing is spots!
In fact, it is not enough patience to plant all the beds exactly. And all the methods mentioned are applied from case to case, as the land is freed from more early cultures... I would like to somehow easier: waved his hand once or twice - and so that everything is in the right places!
The closest to this simplicity is sowing with "spots" in wide boxes. This applies to "little things": greens and salads, root vegetables, onions, bush beans. The bed is sown in sections with transverse rows, as in fig. 45. A meter of radishes, half a meter of salad - and you can sow something else on the vacated places. Ten rows of beets, ten - carrots, six rows of onions, three rows of parsley - and very simple, and colorful enough for pests. You just need to make sure that one does not press on the other: leave space on the border of the "spots" and use more of the edges of the beds. In this mode, perennials along the edges of the beds get along well.
Figure: 45
Quite easy alignment
"He waved his hand," like Vasilisa the Wise in a fairy tale - a lazy person's dream! And I did it. There are very few weeds on the compost beds, but I agree to weed thoroughly once. In the spring, at the end of March, I cut the bed with a rake and cover it with a film. After a week or two, I cut the carpet of young weeds with a flat cutter. After a couple of days, I take the seeds of radish, watercress, cilantro and lettuce - and just scatter them around the garden as necessary. I close it with a rake, spill it, cover it with a film. After a couple of weeks, I sit down on the board, slowly weeding and tearing through everything unnecessary. It remains to regularly choose young greens on the table - primarily from the central strip, where cucumbers or tomatoes are soon planted.
Do they want to live together?
Relatives are people who are not connected with each other, who periodically gather to recount and eat tasty meals on the occasion of a change in their number.
A. Knyshev
The more diverse the community, the more sustainable it is. It is difficult for pests to work in a diverse environment: it is more difficult to find their plant, there are many unpleasant and frightening odors, and many enemies. However, the plants themselves strongly influence each other: they shade, produce aggressive volatiles and root exudates.
Let us recall the experiments of L. Moser. He clearly showed that some plants stimulate the growth of grapes, while others suppress it, regardless of their size and with a guaranteed excess of food and water. It is already a proven fact: plants actively communicate chemically and by means of electromagnetic signals. There is even science about this - allelopathy. However, there is such a mass of data, moreover often contradictory, that it is difficult to apply anything in the case. I tried to collect the data available to me in one bag, shook and squeezed a little. Here's what happened as a result.
1. Do not get along together: a) plants of the same height and burliness, if planted very closely; b) representatives of the same family, that is, relatives. This is natural: you want the same thing, and similar things are thrown out. It's the same with us: often relatives are the worst friends. Umbrellas are especially fighting with each other: dill, parsley, celery, parsnips, lovage, cilantro. Only carrots are quite loyal.
2. Fennel and wormwood oppress everyone without exception.
3. Onions and garlic are aggressive towards legumes and cabbages.
4. Carrots, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes - basically all the same.
5. Lettuce and spinach release substances that activate the roots of other plants and shade the soil. General helpers and breadwinners!
6. Protect everyone from pests: beans, parsley and herbs from the labiate family: lemon balm, basil, savory, thyme, catnip, hyssop, marjoram. And also spicy flowers decorating the garden: calendula, nasturtium, marigolds, chrysanthemums, zinnia, cosmea. Onions and garlic inhibit fungal diseases.
7. Corn, Jerusalem artichoke, sorghum and millet shade everyone, protect from the wind and create a good microclimate. A sunflower, on the contrary, can be aggressive towards many vegetables, and it is better to move it to the edges of the garden.
T. Yu. Ugarova cites some couples that help each other well to resist pests. These crops can be placed in adjacent rows. Carrots and onions protect each other from carrot and onion flies. Celery frightens off white flies from different cabbage. It is planted between cabbage and it grows after the cabbage is harvested. Spread cucumbers and dill get along well in one place - provided that there is not so much dill. Basil and tomatoes work well together. Kohlrabi and salad coexist quite well in the same row: the latter is removed earlier than kohlrabi. Cucumbers, weaving on corn or sunflowers, feel great and bear fruit before the cold weather. Beans on poles get along well next to low cucumbers and tomatoes. Radishes are good to sow where zucchini, courgettes and other late vegetables will later be. But this is already a matter of alignment in time.
