Companion Planting - What is it?

Companion Planting is a technique developed by few enthusiastic farmers in which certain combination of plants do well next to each other. The Companion plants assist growth by attracting beneficial insects, repelling pest and provide support/shade.

Last year I had no clue about this technique and my half shaded raised bed did not do well. Brussel Sprouts never matured and the Cauliflower never had heads. Kept wondering what went wrong! The main culprit was Strawberry plants. It took over all the nutrients, space and that dettered other plants growth. I planted 3 Strawberry plants and in spring it had multiplied 7 times and I now have 21 plants!!

Strawberry plant that over wintered and multiplied

Closer look at this cold hary plant

The best idea to restrict their ever invading behaviour is to contain them. I had few un-used containers and hence came up with this plan. I uprooted each of these plant and placed around 4-5 plants in each of this elongated container. They are flourishing in them now!! Have seen atleast some 30 fruits. As of now a bird netting is protecting them from Squirrels.

Now that my raised bed was free of the Strawberry plants, I came up with a list of companion plants for my 8*4 raised bed. Here it is....I might remove Fennel as they say it hinders growth of other plants near by. This might look cluttered but I have maintained about 6-8 inches of spacing for all planted seed.

Companion Planting Raised Bed

Last year we also maintained a leaf compost pile and it had accumulation of fall leaves from two fall seasons. It was left open all winter but fenced with chicken wire. We put 2 bags of top soil and planted few Cucumber, Sunflower, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Ash Gourd and Chayote Squash plants in row that was inspired by companion planting theory. Sunflower plants will act as trellis for these vining plants and may be some shade during peak summer!!

Leaf compost pile with top soil

Surprisingly my leaf compost pile is doing so well. The seeds germinated super fast and the saplings looks very healthy!! I am very excited to see how successful will companion planting theory work!!

P.S: I have planted 2-3 Marigold plants in each of these raised bed. These attracts butterfilies and bees that helps pollination. Marigolds are super companion plant that gets along with any plant :-)

My Fairy Garden!!

I first got to know about fairy gardens when I accidentaly saw some figurines in a plant nursery. The plan of having a my own fairy garden was intriguing. I began fixing a broken terracota pot but my efforts to glue the pieces went vain. So ditched the idea of re-using! I picked a wide mouthed terracotta pot that was shallow with a drain hole, filled it up with a potting mix and decided on what miniature plants to have.

My last year's fairy garden was pretty bare without any miniature plants but few yard moss, pebbles, insense burner house(souvenier from my trip) and few figurines(fairy and dog). I made a fence and bench out of mini popsicle sticks.

Last year's Fairy Garden

This year I was determined to do more so went looking for miniature plants. They are bit expensive but a right amount of care can keep them long in your garden. Our local nursery store H.J. Benken carries varieties of these plants. I did have them last year for my indoor terrariums and they are still alive. I re-used the potting mix, and planted 4 miniature plants(ferns, mini elephant ears, baby tears and spider plant).

I have seen buntings at nursery costing lot of money so an idea to make fabric bunding came out of desparation. Took 4 different kinds of fabric from my scraps, cut them into triangles using pinking shears so the edges won't fray. I joined the top edge of triangle with a fabric glue and ensured there was enough room for the wire to pass through. I now had a wire with fabric triangles. I used chopsticks as my poles and wound the two ends of wire at the top. To blend with the surroundings, taped the chopstick with brown floral tape. Used black and white pebbles to make a road that lead to the incese burner house. I used the moss to make it look like a lawn. Finally decked up my fairy garden with a dog, mushroom, bench and a fairy!!

I will eventually replace fake flower pot with a miniauture Begonias, incense burner house with a miniature house!! 

Tip: The miniature plants can't tolerate cold weather, so in winter the fairy garden should be got indoors.

Kiddie Garden Bed!!

My soon to be turning 9 year old daughter was asking for a garden bed since last year. I was very busy setting mine, so did not heed to her request. This year it was more like a demand rather than a request. She wanted few herbs with lot of flowers.

I headed to a dollar store to get garden fence. Got 4 of them for $1 each. They can be connected with each other and hence we came up with a garden bed for her. We cleaned up the weeds first, added my half done compost from last year and topped it up with a bag of top soil.

Mint is a perinneal herb that comes each year so that was her first option. I got few Pansy flowers which can sustain Ohio's spring weather.The only problem is that deer love them too! I will have to figure out to protect them. Need to try with blood meal or bone meal.

I had to salvage my perennial herb garden as the wooden crate planter that I made last year did not do well in cold weather. I moved my Lavendar, Winter Savory, Lemon Balm, Sage, Bronze Fennel and Chives onto her garden. All I need to get her are the flowers as per seasons. She shouldn't have any complaints!!

My hunt for 'Paan' plant.....

My quest for 'Paan' plant ends today!! Arrival of my new plant from Hirt's garden made my day!! I have been long hunting for this plant....Last year I ordered Piper Sarmentosum thinking it as Betel plant on eBay.com. It is used in Vietnamese cooking!! Don't they look similar!! It is no where close to Paan leaf in taste!!

Piper Sarmentosum

My hunt got serious when I saw a 'Paan' Ladoo' recipe on Euphoric Delight Facebook page. I did find few websites that carried this plant but was apprehensive to place order - once bitten, twice shy. I happened to visit Florida a month back in December and asked my cousin to find a plant for me. She said a local Indian grocery store owner gave away free plant to anyone interested. Since they can be propagated by cuttings, she had one pot ready for me. By the time I was there, the plant died because of excessive sunshine. My cousin got few more stems from the same shop and I really tried to get it home. Sad it could not handle the transportion shock of 3 days during transit, it died. I was so focused on getting one plant and was lucky enough to find a online garden which shipped this for a nominal price. The entire plant coated me $18 includes shipping. 

Betel Plant

I will make sure not to re-pot it for 2 weeks! Hopefully they stay alive and make it through this winter!!