Trellis Forum February 15, 2020

The announcement in the Neighbors magazine brought in 3 gardeners: Jackie, Trevor and Stacy. They were new to Trellis, but not to gardening.

Old-time members Gloria and David were present. Topics ranged from the stated compatible plants to cover crops, soil amendments, watering raised beds and container plantings; row covers, cold frames, tents and greenhouses; onions, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers. The conversations were informative and enthusiastic. A few highlights of our discussion of companion plants, we realized that there are lots of good sites covering this topic that we can discover in Internet searching. Implementing effective companion planting requires planning and diligence.

Briefly, some potential benefits of companion planting: Some plants grow better when they are in the company of others.

Some plants either attract or repel insect predators. When they attract predators such plants form a "trap crop" that keeps predators away from other veggies. When they repel predators, keeping them close to their companions discourages predators from getting to the good veggies.

Another benefit is that some companions have scents that mask the attractive scents of vegetable crops. Some plants are good companions because they attract beneficial pollinators.

So there are several different ways careful choices of plants in our gardens can benefit the overall health of plants.

I have tried to attach a sample soil report, but Ning isn't cooperating. In case it makes it through, it shows minerals in the soil. It appears ning will not allow it, so if you want to see the information on it, let me know. It isn't a physical soil test (sand, silt, clay) and it isn't a soil health test. This information allows me to amend my garden soil with the minerals that it needs.

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