Companion Planting:
Last summer I was talking to a friend, and they had done companion planting. I had never heard of it before, so I asked about it. What it is, is planting certain vegetables and herbs together to get the best results in your garden. Some herbs give vegetables better flavor, or keep certain bugs away, or help the vegetable plants grow better. Planting certain vegetables/herbs by one another can also cause problems. An example would be planting tomatoes and carrots by each other. They will still have good flavor, but the tomatoes will stunt the carrots growth.
It’s been really interesting reading about the different ones. Here’s a website that tells which vegetables and herbs work together better, and worse.
http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
Last summer I was talking to a friend, and they had done companion planting. I had never heard of it before, so I asked about it. What it is, is planting certain vegetables and herbs together to get the best results in your garden. Some herbs give vegetables better flavor, or keep certain bugs away, or help the vegetable plants grow better. Planting certain vegetables/herbs by one another can also cause problems. An example would be planting tomatoes and carrots by each other. They will still have good flavor, but the tomatoes will stunt the carrots growth.
It’s been really interesting reading about the different ones. Here’s a website that tells which vegetables and herbs work together better, and worse.
http://www.ghorganics.com/page2.html
Squash vine borers:
I am getting SO excited for my gardens this year! I think that they’re going to be a success!!!! :)
There’s nothing like harvesting fresh, organic produce from the garden!!!! It’s so satisfying!!! Last year I was trying to do the garden myself and it didn’t really work because of all of the weeds! This year, if there are few weeds, I think that it will be much easier to work with.
Have any of you had problems with squash vine borers? They destroy squash plants SO fast; pretty much overnight. I had my first encounter with them last year. They are the larva of a moth. The moth lays eggs on the squash plant base, and when they hatch, the larva drill holes in the vine and eat the inside of the vine hollow, even down into the roots. When I found out that I had them, I went out to the garden and spent several hours attempting to save my plants. It worked, but I don’t want to have to deal with them this year. The only thing that really works, is slicing the vine open vertically, and digging the detestable worms out. Then cover up the damaged vine and water the plant, hoping to grow roots above the damage. Then you just have to hope that you got all of the borers and and wait to see if you discovered them in time. You can also squirt BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) in the vine after you’ve dug the borers out, just in case you missed any. If they consume it, it will kill them. What I want to try is spraying the squash plants with BT (espeically down around the base) and see if I can keep the squash vine borers from getting into my plants. I also think I’ll try wrapping the plant base with foil. It’s supposed to keep them away. They say they are attracted to the color of the squash plants, and if you put foil around it, it disorients them because they aren’t sure if it’s the sky. They are the worst bugs!!! I read that if you plant radishes around the squash plants, it may keep the borers away, so I’m definitely going to try that this year, too!!!! If any of you know of any ways to keep them away PLEASE let me know!!! Well, I need to start my pepper and tomatoes inside this week. I’m going to try to get them in the soil today. :)
There’s nothing like harvesting fresh, organic produce from the garden!!!! It’s so satisfying!!! Last year I was trying to do the garden myself and it didn’t really work because of all of the weeds! This year, if there are few weeds, I think that it will be much easier to work with.
Have any of you had problems with squash vine borers? They destroy squash plants SO fast; pretty much overnight. I had my first encounter with them last year. They are the larva of a moth. The moth lays eggs on the squash plant base, and when they hatch, the larva drill holes in the vine and eat the inside of the vine hollow, even down into the roots. When I found out that I had them, I went out to the garden and spent several hours attempting to save my plants. It worked, but I don’t want to have to deal with them this year. The only thing that really works, is slicing the vine open vertically, and digging the detestable worms out. Then cover up the damaged vine and water the plant, hoping to grow roots above the damage. Then you just have to hope that you got all of the borers and and wait to see if you discovered them in time. You can also squirt BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) in the vine after you’ve dug the borers out, just in case you missed any. If they consume it, it will kill them. What I want to try is spraying the squash plants with BT (espeically down around the base) and see if I can keep the squash vine borers from getting into my plants. I also think I’ll try wrapping the plant base with foil. It’s supposed to keep them away. They say they are attracted to the color of the squash plants, and if you put foil around it, it disorients them because they aren’t sure if it’s the sky. They are the worst bugs!!! I read that if you plant radishes around the squash plants, it may keep the borers away, so I’m definitely going to try that this year, too!!!! If any of you know of any ways to keep them away PLEASE let me know!!! Well, I need to start my pepper and tomatoes inside this week. I’m going to try to get them in the soil today. :)
I'm looking forward to planting my veggie garden too! My problem is that our jersey cow gets in and eats it all just before its ready for US to eat!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your garden will turn out well, it is a learning process for us all :)
Oh, that's frustrating!!! I hope you have more success this year! I sure hope so! Thank you.
ReplyDelete