“Community Building”
We are not talking about a community of people - but of plants. Deep Roots Project (DRP) likes to use this term when making reference to the types of plants that you decide to grow together. Most garden organizations refer to this as companion planting - but our crop advisor and horticulturist team member shared her wonderful vision of a plant community - each contributing something different and unique, just like people!
Have Fun & Be Creative
When we tell our new kitchen gardeners that they really don’t have to grow in rows - it’s an “aha moment”. But it is true - you can plant in any pattern that you want - as long as you give some though as to the plant community you will be building - and which might be friends or foes. Besides allowing you to be innovative and artistic, growing in a less-restrictive way offers some benefits.
Helpful Tips
When you decide which plants to grow together in your raised bed - you need to take into consideration which plants, such as legumes, can contribute to puttinng key nutrients into the soil (nutrient enrichment) and which plants can act as an insulator and give additional protection to the soil from the sun, beyond what any mulch you are using might provide (canopy enhancement). The most common crops used for this reason are nasturtium (flowers), and herbs like thyme and oregano.
Other considerations when choosing which plant to add to your raised bed:
Amount of sunlight or shade
Growing period (time to maturity)
Encouragement of predatory/beneficial insects
NOTE: if you are transplanting your seedlings on very hot days - be sure to wait until 1 hour before sunset - so the sun will not be too extreme. Your seedlings need a restful and cool night in their new home - and be sure to water in the morning on their first day in the raised bed. On hot days - always water at least twice. Some of our blog readers mentioned a broken link for our new, updated watering post - please view it here.
Tall & Short of It
When you have harvested all of one crop and you want to plant another one in its place - think about how much shade is in the area where you are planting. If you are planting near tomato plants that will become very tall - plant seedlings that can grow well in partial shade like lettuce, basil or beets next to them - they can grow in shadier areas .
Some extra tips (tomato-friendly plants).
Plants that need more sun should be further from the tomatoes.
These sun-lovers should not be north of the tomatoes since the sun comes from the south, east and west.
Lettuce, carrots and beets and most short veggies need more sun than herbs.
Some herbs can be near the tomato and like more shade. Basil likes more sun than other herbs.
BEETS- A DRP FAVORITE: Many of our kitchen gardeners have discovered the delicious greens made from the leaves of this colorful, versatile plant. The greens and the stems offer a welocome substitute for spinach, swiss chard and other leafy greens. So when you are cleaning the beets - remember that the beet greens are not only delicious, but full of vitamins - so don’t toss them! MORE.
Friendly Neighbors
Some flowers like marigolds and nasturtiums discourage preditory insects and certain native plants that grow in your area might encourage beneficial insects - we will have an entire webinar discussing this topic.
Great Gap Fillers
As you start eating more of your harvest and find empty spaces in your raised bed - - consider filling the gaps with herbs like basil, dill, and green onions. Pay attention to the sun exposure for each herb . You will never tire of them and learning new recipes where you can experiment with spices is exciting when they are fresh from your garden and not from the store!
New Service
Get your lists of questions ready…
We are very excited to be able to offer customers personalized garden mentoring with our new team member and Kitchen Gardening Guru, Rafa Crevosay, Horticulturist and Certified Crop Adviser. We will send details about our Soil Health/Garden Coaching services soon. If you’d like details ASAP, write lesley[at]deep-roots-project.org an please put “coaching” in the subject line.
During the pandemic, we will continue to offer door-to-door delivery of our Store products - but no pick-up.
New Text Messaging Service
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You can UNSUBSCRIBE at any time by sending “unsubscribe” to the same number.
NOTE: sometimes there is a delay in the UNSUBSCRIBE process. We try to do our best, but if you continue to get text messages after you have asked us to unsubscribe you, please send an email to Customer Support at the email address listed below.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions?
Please write our new Garden Support Manager at: rosita.deep.roots[at]gmail.com
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