| Last year I tried out companion planting with herbs and vegetables for the first time and I learnt a few dos and don’ts – like nothing else grows except potatoes in a container and you can still get carrot fly ruining root crops in a container. This year I’ve tried a number of new ideas and they seem to be working, and will give me a range of fresh herbs and vegetables.
Here are the plantings:
Shallots and marigolds in a raised bed
Last year I made ointment from the marigold flowers that was snatched up by all my friends so I’m growing them again and twinning them with shallots
Shallots with Lettuce
I grow Little Gem lettuce which have pretty shallow roots and they are growing well with shallots and will be ready soon – I’ll cut the lettuce as soon as there are enough leaves and then give more room for the shallots to ripen.
Peas with herbs
I’ve set up a number of round containers with wigwams of canes and planted peas to grow up against them (I’ll keep planting new peas so I have them all season). In the middle I have planted a range of herbs – parsley, basil and coriander
Stawberries with herbs
This happened more by mistake – last year’s strawberries I dug up and replanted have grown again in a very big pot along with the parsley in its second season, and I’m going to put a couple of other herbs – probably tarragon in with them.
Potatoes on their own !
It’s the very nicest eating – your own new potatoes and I have three big containers that will give me several weeks of potatoes.
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