Companion planting is part science and folklore. Putting plants together in the garden can help enhance growth and flavor they say. I know that planting some of them together does help deter insects and make for pretty containers.
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| If you can't grow them yourself pick up great heirloom varieties at your farmers market |
1. Thyme - My favorite for spilling over the edges of containers full of tomatoes.
2. Basil - I turn my tomato containers into herb gardens. And almost everything you grow a tomato for can use a little basil. Since both are annuals, at the end of season it all comes out.
3. Chives - Another easy grower. Since theses can be perennial i tuck them into the corners of my containers... (with thyme trailing down.. so pretty)
4. Peppers - I have a theme here... if it goes into cooking with tomatoes it goes into grow pots either with them or right next to them. I put both peppers and tomatoes iinto the same 20 gallon container and let them both grow up through a trellis and then tie them to my fence.
5. Onions - I tuck these into all the edges of my containers where i DON'T have chives although they can go right together. I find when they are little i can't tell them apart.
6. Leaf Lettuce - Since lettuce likes a little shade and a tomatoe plant gets big i simply trim back the bottoms of tomatoe plants and plant around them. Lettuce has a shallow root so it doesn't compete with the deep root tomatoes.
7. Marigolds - again.. these come super easy from seed so i plant them everywhere.. they help keep bugs away since they make a natural pyrethrin.
8. Sage - i don't cook much with it but some of the new sages have pretty flowers and bugs hate them and stay away from the plants they are near.
9. Borage - This helps keep hornworms away... or so they say. I think all the companions that deter bugs help so plant this one too. You can pluck it and add it to your leaf lettuce.
10. Cilantro - Another herb that we use daily in our cooking that bugs seem to hate to be near. There is a rumor that cilantro improves tomatoes flavor. Don't know the science about that. I simply regrow amazing heirloom tomatoes that have beautiful flavor.
Companion planting is an easy way to get more usage out of your garden and everything listed on our companion list is super easy to grow.. have fun...
Tomato and White Bean Salad
2 cups of Cherry tomatoes
1 cup of cooked, drained and cooled white beans
Small clove of garlic diced
Small onion sliced
1/4 cup basil diced
Olive Oil
Red wine vinegar to taste
Toss it all together and serve... we make a different version of this with cilantro instead of the basil and add peppers and green chilies making it a western salad.
