Biodynamic Gardening
(Page 3 of 4)
January/February 1980
By the Mother Earth News editors
COMPANION PLANTING IN TIME AND SPACE
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The way in which the growing space is used is at least as important to success. ful "method" gardening as is the preparation of the soil. Vegetable types are grouped together—in single beds or, if the garden is a large one, in groups of adjoining beds— according to compatibility.
Intensive gardeners believe that different plants — especially when grown in close proximity—affect each other in a number of ways. The vegetables must, for example, be placed with a regard for simple physical compatibility ... that is, a slow-growing variety shouldn't be planted where it will soon be overshadowed by a rapidly maturing plant.
But companion planting goes far beyond such commonsense dictums. Certain vegetables, flowers, and herbs—as many of you already know—are actually mutually beneficial when grown together ... helping eliminate each other's insect pests, and ever, influencing the quality of each other's products! (Potatoes, as an example, can—when planted near beans—be very helpful in controlling the .Mexican bean beetle ... while bibb lettuce will taste better if it's grown in companionship with spinach!) Most of the volumes listed in the sidebar contain detailed companion planting advice ... as does the article, Companion Planting.
In order to make the most efficient use of both garden space and growing season, "method" gardeners also practice succession planting ... which is a kind of companion planting in time, or a smallscale, intensive form of crop rotation. This practice, of course, allows the grower's plot to yield the greatest possible amount of produce.
More important, however, is the fact that succession planting—as practiced by biodynamic/French intensive gardeners—alternates plants that are "heavy feeders" (those that take large amounts of nutrient from the soil) with varieties that are "heavy givers" . . . and thus the productive technique also helps the gardener return more nutrition to the soil than he or she has taken out!
NOW IS THE TIME TO BEGIN BIODYNAMIC GARDENING
Right now—while the snow is level with the windowsill and the chilled trees squeal in the slightest breeze—is the best time to begin planning a spring "method" garden. Your first plot needn't be a big project, either. In his book on the subject, John Jeavons presents a complete plan for a sample 100-square-foot bed—a plot only 5 feet wide by 20 feet long—which, he claims, will be enough space for an accomplished gardener to produce a full year's supply of vegetables for one person.
