What is Companion Planting?

Some plants give off scents or chemicals that repel insects, insects like worms and beetles that can destroy your garden. Other plants help prevent disease or attract insects, which are beneficial to plants. And some plants are exceptional at breaking down the soil and helping other plants absorb vital nutrients. Essentially companion planting is used to help your core plants thrive without chemicals.

Examples of Companion Planting and How it Works

Marigolds are widely known to have a very strong fragrance. Many people consider it unpleasant despite the gorgeous flowers. However, many insects also find marigolds quite distasteful including nematodes (roundworms), whiteflies, beetles, and aphids. To use marigolds as a companion plant, plant them at the perimeter of your garden. If your garden is large you may want to plant them throughout. Take care to not plant them too closely to your vegetables because they do attract spider mites and slugs.

Alfalfa actually helps the soil absorb nitrogen, iron, magnesium, phosphorous and potassium which makes the soil ideal for growing vegetables. Because alfalfa has very long and sturdy roots, it breaks up hard clay soil. It’s a great plant to help keep your soil rich in nutrients.

Geranium another flower with a strong aroma repels cabbage worms and Japanese beetles, and leafhoppers. Gardening experts recommend planting them around grapes, corn, tomatoes, peppers and cabbage.

Deciding What to Plant and Where

Before you begin planting your organic garden, do a bit of research to find the best placements for your chosen vegetables. For example, tomatoes do well with a number of other vegetables including garlic, chives, cucumber and mint however not all veggies get along with tomatoes. Tomatoes can stunt the growth of carrots and dill and kohlrabi slow tomato growth.

Make a quick map of your garden before planting and chart where you want to plant each vegetable. A quick trip to an organic gardening or companion gardening site will help you make sure each vegetable’s neighbor is a helpful one.

Companion planting is a very sustainable way to affect the health of your garden. Not only do you help your garden stay pest and disease free, you receive the added benefit of a diverse and healthy garden.

In the mean time, here are a few tips to help you cut back on your organic shopping bill.

#1 – Eat in season – if you do anything at all do this. Eating in season is not only a pleasure to all your senses – tomatoes taste like tomatoes, strawberries are a delight and potatoes are fantastic – but it also makes food shopping more economical.

Buying foods in season will be more reasonable than paying for pricier foods which need to be transported from other countries. Not only will this step save you money but you’ll also be helping the environment.

#2 – Plant your own – you don’t need a whole lot of space or the ability to plant a full vegetable garden. While the idea of being self sufficient is fantastic, not everyone can do it. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t cut costs and eat healthy organic product from your own backyard. The trick here is to keep it simple.

Start by planting easy to grow fruits and vegetables that will give you a good amount of food for very little cost. Good ones are organic lettuce leaves of all varieties (these are easy to grow in the summer and will save you tons of money to their supermarket alternatives), carrots, potatoes, onions, cabbage, broccoli, runner beans, tomatoes, strawberries, peppers and herbs of all sorts.

All the above are pretty easy for even the most novice gardener to grow and don’t require too much space. By planting just a few useful crops you can eat delicious organic produce in season and save money.

#3 – Visit the farmer’s market – more and more farmer’s markets seem to be cropping up all over. But you don’t need to visit the fancy ones to get great fruit and veg. Seek out the most humble local small farmers which still use responsible, traditional farming methods. You’ll get great food at great prices and help the local economy.

Note: Many small farmers take great care to not use pesticides or unnatural farming methods but are not registered organic farmers – this takes a great deal of time and money and many small farmers just can’t do it. But just because they are not registered organic farmers doesn’t mean they don’t produce healthy crops. Speak to your local farmer about their farming methods. And keep in mind at certain times local responsibly produced food is a better option to organic produce flown in from another country.

Here’s how to do it:

#1 – Get the ingredients together. You will need:

2 ½ cups flour (sifted)
2 ½ cups sugar
1/3 cup pure 100% natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups water
½ ounce baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

#2 – Preheat oven to 350F.

#3 – In a large bowl sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda.

#4 – Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and water. Mix all ingredients together well. You can also use an electric mixer for a minute or two.

#5 – Pour into a lightly oiled 9 x 13 inch pan and bake in the preheated oven 45 minutes to one hour – or until you insert a knife or toothpick into the cake and it comes out clean. Tip: When checking if the cake is ready open the oven door very slowly to avoid the cake “plopping” and loosing height.

#6 – Turn to wire rack until fully cooled and enjoyed.

Serve and enjoy as is or if you prefer make a luscious icing using soya butter and cocoa power. Place 1 cup of softened soya butter and 2 tablespoons cocoa powder in a large bowl. Mix with an electric mixer for a few minutes until light and fluffy and spread on cooled cake. Enjoy!