Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Companion planting
Gazing out at a winter wonderland, I’m making soup using herbs from last year, specifically oregano! They are a wonderful family of plants.
They offer fragrance, taste, medicinal properties and they repel some pests. While not always substantiated by University based information, there are a number of books and articles, as well as old gardeners around that swear by the use of herbs and companion planting.
So this isn’t “necessarily” scientific, however, I know plenty of University of MN horticulturists who DO use some of these “rules” for the vegetable garden.
There’s a book I recommend called “Carrots Love Tomatoes” by Louise Riotte. She also wrote a great article for Mother Earth News – “Companion Planting for the Healthy Garden” in 1992. It’s chock full of info!
Beth Jarvis with the U of MN was one of my instructors for the Master Gardener Program back in 2002. She compiled a list of companion plants as well. Click on the PDF: It’s quite extensive. CompanionPlantingGuideCompiledbyBethJarvis
There are many reasons for companion planting. Some to keep pests away, some to complement each other’s soil needs, some to deter rabbits. There’s another site I want you to check out too, Companion Planting, Secrets of Organic Gardening.
