Last year was our first real experience with companion planting and this year we really ran with the concept.

The big idea is to maximize your growth and minimize the dangers by planting friendly plants in the same pots/beds. We have found that basil is the most popular girl at school and that melons would rather die than grow with zucchini.

Right now we’re experimenting with tomatoes and peppers, we already know that basil and strawberries love to be roommates, arugula did really well with onions and carrots, I have cucumbers trellised next to some flowers and herbs, spinach loved living with zucchini and herbs, I’m testing the waters with habaneros and green beans, last week I planted marigold seeds with the baby bell peppers. It seems like no one sleeps alone in our planters.

Last year I discovered that zucchini didn’t particularly enjoy being planted in the tomato bed, and this year all the melons I planted shriveled up and died in the squash bed. I later read that they were bad companions for each other and that this was not uncommon. Now I know to keep them separate like dueling mean girls.

Google has been an excellent source of garden knowledge and helps a lot when it comes to finding out how we should be mapping the gardens. We also have several books that have been fabulous reference material, I’ve created a Garden Library on Amazon of the books we’ve purchased over the course of this adventure.