who does companion planting?

[HunkieDorie23]

OK Petey, this is what the book says: bush beans and strawberries are mutually helpful when planted together, as do beans and cucumbers. Onions, leeks and herbs such as rosemary, wormwood, parsley and sage act as a repellents to the carrot fly. Peas and beans help corn by restoring the nitrogen to the soil. You already know about the squash and melons with corn. Spinach, because of its saponin content, spinach is a useful pre-crop and does well planted with strawberries.

There is a lot of more in the book (Carrots Love Tomatoes), I haven't read it all yet but it is very interesting. The author is Louise Riotte (1909-1998), she wrote 12 books, I am going to check out some of her other material. She has one called Astrological Gardening which is the topic on another thread right now.

 

[catjac1975]

Several of you have mentioned hoop houses. I have a cheaper, faster method. I string a wire between two strong poles. I plant my crops, squashes benefit the most from this early method, and lay a soaker hose between the poles. I lay sheet plastic over the wire and it forms a long tent. Not as good looking as a hoop house, but cheap and easy to install. I get squash in may and June when my neighbors have to wait until July here in Massachusetts.

 

[peteyfoozer]

thats a great idea, catjac! I think I will give that a try this year, its a lot more doable for me. :tools

 

[peteyfoozer]

thanks for the info hunkie dorie! I might have to check into those books

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

petey, I have offically just spent the last hour of my work day reading your blog! I then, wrote the address down and brought it out to the receptionist so that she can read it too! Can I just tell you what you already know? You are soooooo blessed!! What a beautiful, wonderful lifestyle you lead! I have never been to Oregon, but can tell you without a doubt; if I were to show my husband your pictures, we would be on our way! Sorry for all of the exclamation points, but I am excited for you. Thank you so much for sharing in such a way that you do. I appreciate your hard work and sense of humor. Can't wait to see what is next for you.

 

[peteyfoozer]

Thank you so much. We are very blessed indeed!

 

[peteyfoozer]

I was thinking along the same lines as Lesa about hoop tunnels or a hoop house. Is that beautiful rock wall anywhere around your garden area Petey? That would be a great place to grow your heat lovers, maybe with an additional frost cloth/ row cover arrangement until you got some consistently warm weather.

I hear you about long cold starts to summer, ours was ridiculous, my tomatoes didn't start to ripen till about September, then they just got ripe in dribs and drabs. This year I'm building a hoop house with cattle panels and they're gonna live in it all summer!
Ripe tomatoes or bust!

I planted the tomatoes against the wall last year, but still no luck. Mine didn't even START to ripen!
Do you get much wind? I have cattle panel housing for my livestock, but I don't know how I would secure plastic or whatever to them without losing them in our winds....unless i sandwich it between two panels....hmmmm.....

 

[thistlebloom]

I saw a picture of one ( a cattle panel hoop house ) somebody was using as an animal shelter and they used a stretchy cargo net over it. They commented how well it secured the tarp in the winds. Seems like that would certainly work for plastic also.
Of course if you have an abundance of cattle panels that would work too.

You could also pound some stakes in about every few feet on each side of the shelter and zig zag baling twine (or what have you )
back and forth over the top of the plastic to secure it. Your handy husband could make rebar stakes with a loop at the top for the twine to thread through.

I don't have to deal with winds particularly, but my night time temps are consistently in the 40's. I just think mine will do so much better if they get more consistent warmth. I like Catjacs idea for shorter crops,

 

[peteyfoozer]

oh! cargo net is a good idea! Our winds are pretty bad here, so it just tears the grommets right out of the heavy tarps. Its been a real challenge to find a way to keep them covered. The one we had secure, the wind actually broke the wires that had it wired to the t-posts which anchored it and flipped it upside down so its now a very interesting shape! I am determined to get this all figured out though, as failure is not an option! Our temps go sub zero and its the only shelter the critters have from the elements.

 

[thistlebloom]

Oh, wind can be so annoying! Aren't cattle panels versatile though? I just bought a mini today, ( so finally I can smell like a horse again! ) and we'll be puttiing up a temporary shelter like that until the ground thaws and my better half can build a shed for him.