Something I need to learn more about is companion planting. I find in the rush of spring planting , the thought of suitable companion plants is often overlooked. However, I did manage to plant lettuce and radish together (see photo below), which I now discover in hindsight are good companion plants. Reader's Digest has a good companion planting list which confirms this.
I planted some spearmint among the raspberries and rhubarb, though these are not listed together in the above list. In hindsight, I should have planted the mint in a container to keep it from spreading. But does not appear to be germinating, which may be due to use of seed several years old.
I gambled and planted the potatoes early (above photo), first week in May, as well as several other veggies. This year we were fortunate to have the last heavy frost on April 30, well before the average last frost date of May 20. Now to see if we have a below or above average hail year...
Future posts will include a scan of the garden layout for this year. Overall the plantings are more of the same that was planted in previous years. I did not plant peas this year as they did not do so well in the last two years. Most plants are doing well except the beans, which are struggling with poor germination and insect (or bird?) nibbling.
Looking really great. Have you ever heard of planting potatoes in rubber tires? You just keep stacking more tires and adding dirt as the plant grows and you get potatoes all the way up. No idea if it works or not as I have not tried it but it doesn't take much space and you reuse the tires year after year.
ReplyDeleteNo, I have not tried the tire method for growing potatotes. I have heard from someone who did try it and was not impressed with the results. I think they need a lot more watering in the tires, which can be overlooked causing them to dry out.
ReplyDeleteI assume I need to prune the lower branches of the potatoes to mound up the soil around it? I'm not sure how much I should be pruning at one time and how close to the stem to cut the branches.
Certainly you have to water the bejabers out of it. As to pruning, I have no idea. I see people here hilling potatoes without pruning.
ReplyDeleteI plant potatoes in tubs every year, starting off half full and then filling in with potting mix when they get tall enough - never prune.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying my first tire potatoes this year, starting in a raised bed - only one tire, though (the other blew out and was disposed of), so not much worry about too much extra watering. In a stack, you might want to include a pipe with drilled holes to increase watering efficiency.
Companion Planting
ReplyDeleteTry Marigolds/Tomato's especially it the greenhouse alongside Basil they get rid of whitefly