The Gardening Place

Natural Grown Gardening

Common Garden Vegetables,
Their Companions, and Their Antagonists

Vegetables Companions Antagonists
Asparagus tomatoes, parsley, basil
Beans Potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, cauliflower, cabbage, summer savory, most other vegetables and herbs Onion, garlic, gladiola, chives
Pole beans Corn, summer savory, sunflowers Onions, beets, kohlrabi, cabbage
Bush beans Potatoes, cucumbers, corn, strawberries, celery, summer savory Onions
Beets Onions, kohlrabi Pole beans
Brassicas (Cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli) Aromatic plants, potatoes, celery, dill, chamomile, peppermint, sage, rosemary, beets, onions Pole beans, strawberries, tomatoes
Carrots Peas, leaf lettuce, chives, onions, leeks, rosemary, sage, tomatoes Dill
Celery Leeks, tomatoes, bush beans, cauliflower, cabbage
Chives Carrots, tomatoes Peas, beans
Corn Potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, pumpkin, squash
Cucumber Beans, corn, peas, radishes, lettuce, sunflowers Potatoes, aromatic herbs
Eggplant Beans, Potatoes
Leek Onions, celery, carrots
Lettuce Carrots with radishes, strawberries, cucumbers, onions
Onion (and garlic) Beets, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, summer savory, chamomile, leeks, parsley Peas, beans
Parsley Tomatoes, asparagus
Peas Carrots, turnips, radishes, cucumbers, corn, beans, most vegetables and herbs Onions, garlic, chives, gladiola, potatoes
Potato Beans corn, cabbage, horseradish, marigold, eggplant (as a lure for the Colorado potato beetle) Pumpkin squash, cucumber, sunflowers, tomatoes, raspberry
Pumpkin Corn Potato
Radish Peas, nasturtium, lettuce, cukes
Soybeans Grows/helps with everything
Spinach Strawberries
Squash Nasturtiums, corn Potatoes
Strawberries BUSH bean, spinach, borage, lettuce (as a border), onions Cabbage
Sunflower Cucumbers Potato
Tomatoes Chives, onions, parsley, asparagus, marigold, nasturtiums, carrots Kohlrabi, potatoes, fennel, cabbage
Turnip Peas

These are perennial crops that occupy the ground only the first part of the season. Planting these is session will yield at least a double harvest.

Perennial

Asparagus
Rhubarb
Chives
Horseradish
Winter Onions
Early Beets
Early Cabbage
Lettuce
Onion Sets

Occupies the ground a short time

Peas
Radishes
Early Spinach
Mustard
Turnips Bush Pole Beans

These are crops that occupy the ground the major portion of the season.

Occupies a major part of the season

Lima Beans
Cabbage
Celery
Sweet Corn
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Muskmelons
Okra

Peppers
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Squash
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Swiss chard

These crops are to be planted in July or later for fall and winter gardens.

Plant in late July for winter crops

Bush Beans
Beets
Broccoli
Chinese cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Endive
Kale
Kohlrabi
Radishes
Spinach
Turnips
Collards
Lettuce

Helpful Hints for your garden

Dill - plant near cabbage, lettuce, corn, and cucumber- don't plant near fennel to avoid cross pollination.
Garlic - plant near fruit trees and tomatoes - repels red spider mites - great insecticide steeped in water
Geranium - plant near corn and grapes - it's also effective against red spider mite
Horseradish - loves potatoes but spreads prolifically - repels potato bugs
Hyssop - plant near cabbage and grapes
Lemon Balm - great for tomatoes
#1 Lovage - a garden sweetheart - it loves practically everything
#2 Marjoram - close second to Lovage
#3 Tarragon - to Lovage and Marjoram - likes almost everything
#4 Nasturtium - loves cole crops (collard, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower), fruit trees, and radishes - is a great insect repellent
Mint - plant near cabbage but usually not near parsley
Oregano - loves cole crops and grape vines - is an insect repellent for cucumber beetle
Parsley - loves tomatoes, carrots, chives, and asparagus but cannot abide by mint
Rosemary - loves beans, carrots, cabbage and sage, but not potatoes
Rue - it is effective near strawberries and fig trees but never near basil - plant it wherever you don't want cats to go
Sage - keeps company well with rosemary, cabbage and carrots - but never with cucumbers.
Summer Savory - has been seen in the company of onions and beans.
Tansy - likes fruit trees
Thyme - keeps worms away from cabbage

Herb Gardening to Enrich Your Soil

Valerian - Good in compost heaps and good for earthworms.
Caraway - Breaks down heavy soils because of its long roots.
Elderberry - Helps break down soil and compost. Dig it out and check out the black gold around its roots - rich topsoil.
Comfrey - This herb is often used in compost and as organic fertilizer made into a compost tea. Also is a great soil enhancer.

Back to Eden Principles

1. Get Connected to Creation

Allow God to reveal himself to you through nature.
"Go out to where nature has not been disturbed, look at what it is doing and copy it!” - Paul Gautschi

2. Get “The Covering”

Find a source of “covering” that is local and readily available to you. Note: *If you are using raw wood chips, allow time for them to break down (at least Fall - Winter). You will experience more work fertilizing if you wait until the Spring to apply raw wood chips.

Be resourceful:

If you have local tree service companies, call them and ask for a delivery of wood chips.
If you have access to a chipper, chip yard waste on site.
If you have access to a tub grinder, it will save you a lot of time chipping.
If you have a lawn, collect your grass clippings.
If you have trees, gather its leaves.
If you have rocks, they will retain moisture and slowly release nutrients.
If you have weed free hay or straw, assemble a pile together.
If you receive or purchase a newspaper, save it.
Grow plants that can help provide an onsite resource for a “covering.”

“The ground is a living organism. As all living organisms, God has designed and made it so it is always covered with something. It's all about the covering!”
- Paul Gautschi

3. Apply “The Covering.”

“Anything that comes in contact with God gets changed.”- Paul Gautschi

If you are starting a new orchard or garden plot:

Dig out any tenacious weeds.
Call local resources such as Recycling Centers, Rescue Missions, businesses or neighbors and ask for their expired newspapers.
Apply at least 3 sheets of damp newspaper over your garden plot to suffocate any other grasses and weeds.
Resist the temptation to work, mix, prepare or till your soil!
Cover it! Simply add a layer!
How thick you apply the cover depends on the material, soil type and weather. For wood chips, if you apply 4-6 inches in the Fall, it will be ready to plant in by Spring.
Note: *The thicker you apply the cover, the longer it takes to break down.
When you apply the covering is up to you! If you look at creation, nature drops its needles and leaves in the Fall.
Note: *If you are using raw wood chips, allow time for them to break down (at least Fall - Winter). You will experience more work fertilizing if you wait until the Spring to apply raw wood chips.
Note: *If you are using composted wood chips that have had time to decay, you may apply and plant in them immediately.
Note: *If you are using composted wood chips that have been screened, you may apply and plant in them immediately (Paul prefers this method for his home garden).

If you already have an orchard or garden in place:

Resist the temptation to till your soil!
If you have weeds or grasses, see instructions on starting a new orchard or garden (above).
Cover it!
Paul Gautschi originally applied 3-4 inches of wood chips to his garden plot.
Paul Gautschi initially applied 12-16 inches of wood chips to his established orchard.
In an orchard, if you apply 12 inches deep of wood chips, they will suffocate grasses and weeds.

“No matter where you live, if you apply a covering to your garden, God will do the rest, and you will be blessed!” - Paul
Gautschi

4. Plant Seeds

Where you plant in the wood chips depends on how much they have broken down.

For those starting a new garden or orchard plot with wood chips:
If you are using raw wood chips, pull them back and plant in the soil (ground below the wood chips). Allow the seeds to come up before pulling the wood chips back around the base of the plant.
If you are using composted and/or screened wood chips, you can plant directly into the composted material.
Note: After many years of applying a “covering” to your garden and/or orchard, you will notice your covering break down and transform the soil beneath. After your first year of using wood chips, you will want to plant just below the surface of your wood chips in this fine grained, slightly compacted, aerated, dark compost that will continue to develop over time.

Order Heirloom or open-pollinated seeds.

“I love Genesis, the first chapter, and I love the way it starts.. And God said, fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts; this is what I made for your food.” - Paul Gautschi

Heirloom Seed Companies:

Save your seeds!

“Right in the beginning, in Genesis, God talks about how He created plants, vegetables and fruits that bear seed after their own kind... What that says to you is that once you have this plant or vegetable, you have its future generations in seed form. And it’s all free!” - Paul Gautschi

5. Nourish Your New Growth

Every time you water or it rains, compost tea is being deposited into the soil.
If you have chickens, feed them scraps, give them your yard waste, and their manure will accumulate into a wonderful compost.
If you have any farm animal, give them organic weed free feed, mix their manure with sawdust or straw, and apply as much compost as you can as a layer over your garden or orchard.
Initially you may need to use an organic fertilizer as a supplement for the nitrogen used in breaking down the wood chips. Organic blood meal (dried blood) is a good source of nitrogen and organic fish emulsion is also a beneficial organic fertilizer.
Note: If you use chemical fertilizers, you may see immediate results but your need for fertilizers will increase and your natural soil's nutrients will decrease in time. On the contrary, the use of organic fertilizer will provide sustaining nourishment for your soil and you will need less fertilizer as time goes on.

Note: *Do not till or mix. Just add a layer

6. Water

Water to germinate your seeds and as needed.

“Here is the incredible thing about God and His design, when there is too much water the wood chips displace it and when there is not enough, the wood chips retain it.” - Paul Gautschi

7. Reap a Bountiful Harvest

Eat your food when it is fresh and in season.

“The advantage of harvesting when things are fresh and in season is that you are getting the ultimate food value.”
- Paul Gautschi

8. Reapply “The Covering”

At the end of the growing season, reapply a new layer as needed.

“Overtime, you are getting a higher and higher yield with less and less input.” - Paul Gautschi