Chosen Theme: Companion Planting for Year-Round Harvest

Welcome, growers! Today’s chosen theme is Companion Planting for Year-Round Harvest. Together we’ll design living plant partnerships that feed soil, outsmart pests, and keep plates full across all seasons. Follow along, share your wins, and subscribe for monthly companion maps and planting prompts.

Soil-Centered Strategy: Roots, Mulch, and Microbes

Low-growing clover or creeping thyme between rows protects soil, hosts beneficials, and reduces evaporation. Trim rather than till to recycle nutrients in place. What living mulch has balanced weeds and moisture best for you? Share your experience to help others refine their approach.

Pollinators and Predators: Building a Support Crew

A Continuous Bloom Bar

Stitch calendula, borage, alyssum, and cosmos along bed edges to ensure overlapping blooms. This nectar bar keeps beneficials present when fruiting crops need them most. Comment with your region and bloom calendar, and we’ll compile a reader-made pollinator timeline.

Habitats That Matter

Add a shallow water dish with stones, leave small brush piles, and plant diverse hedgerows. These micro-habitats shelter lady beetles, spiders, and lacewings. Which simple habitat tweak changed your pest pressure last season? Share practical tips others can adopt this weekend.

A Garden Story: Aphids, Meet Dill

Last spring, a reader watched aphids blanket her chard. She interplanted dill and sweet alyssum, and within days hoverflies arrived. The chard recovered without sprays. Have a companion rescue tale? Send it in—your story might guide a neighbor through their next outbreak.

Balcony-Friendly Pairings

Dwarf tomatoes with basil and chives deter pests while maximizing aroma and flavor. Tuck lettuce at the tomato’s shaded base for longer harvests. Tell us your favorite container trio, and we’ll build a community list of balcony-tested combinations.

Vertical Companions

Train cucumbers up a trellis with dill and nasturtiums below; dill draws beneficials, nasturtiums distract pests and cascade beautifully. Peas can precede pole beans on the same structure. Subscribe to get our compact vertical companion map for tight urban footprints.

Succession in Pots

After early radishes, slip in bush beans; follow summer basil with fall arugula and mache. Refresh only the top third of potting mix and add compost to keep biology lively. Comment with your fastest pot succession win and help others replicate it.

Know the Exceptions

Avoid planting alliums too close to beans, and keep fennel largely separate—it’s famously unfriendly. Sunflowers and black walnuts can inhibit neighbors. Share your regional red flags so our community list reflects real-world experiences across climates.

Spacing, Water, and Shade

Overcrowding starves roots and invites disease. Use generous spacing, deep watering, and intentional shade from taller companions to cool soil. Which spacing tweak improved your yields most? Drop a note and help others calibrate their bed density.

Track, Test, and Tinker

Keep a simple log: dates, companions, pests, and harvests. Small trials reveal what thrives in your microclimate. Subscribe to download our printable companion log pages and share your findings; we’ll highlight standout experiments in future posts.