Planning an organic vegetable garden that thrives using companion planting and crop rotation

Long before I was growing gardens of organic produce, I was planning them. A dreamer from way back, it was a common sight to see me parked up somewhere (often at the table, but usually on the bed) with a cup of tea, drawing my gardening aspirations onto a large sheet of paper, surrounded by piles of gardening books and magazines. My parents had handed me down their much-treasured copy of The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour, so that was always there in the mix. Now, twenty-five years later not much has changed, and although I don’t refer to the books quite as much, I still like to take the time each season to plan for a garden that thrives, using companion planting and crop rotation as a guide.

There are a few more reasons for pre planning your gardens; one is that for me, I am a visual person, and if I can draw my garden dreams on paper before I start planting things out, I can see the bigger picture and spot any potential problems or issues before they happen. The second reason I plan my beds is because when you begin vegetable gardening on a large scale, building up disease and pest resistance through companion planting and crop rotation becomes imperative, and arranging this on paper before planting time means I can keep my rotating crops organised, and anticipate where I need to leave room to include my companion plants.

Now this may feel easier said that done; through spending many hours talking to women who are just beginning their vegetable growing journey I know that companion planting can feel complicated, and crop rotation can feel, well, pretty boring…! But both are important - especially if you want to garden organically - and are all the more reason to plan your gardens out on paper.

Why Crop Rotation Matters

When you’re planning what to plant in your garden each season, it’s not just about what grows well together - it’s also about moving things around each year to avoid the spread of disease. In short, crop rotation means not planting the same crop (or crop family) in the same spot every season. However, there are some crops that can stay in the same space each year, such as pumpkins (I always put my larger pumpkins next to my compost) and sweetcorn, providing the previous crop was healthy and happy.

But in general, you will have a more resilient garden with better yields if you shift things around on a regular basis, and not only does crop rotation decrease the likelihood of serious disease taking hold, if done right it can mean your soil won't need as much feeding, because you can tag team your plants to make the most of what is in the soil at the time.

The main families that always need rotating are:

• Brassicas (like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, radish, mustard and kale)

Clubroot is a terrible disease that can spread through the entire brassica family, disfiguring the plants roots, and deeming the vegetables themselves inedible, as the disease itself depletes the plant of nutrients and water. Trust me when I say you don't want this disease in your garden, so keep an eye out, and be diligent about moving these crops around.

• Nightshades (especially tomatoes and potatoes, but also peppers and aubergines)

Tomatoes and potatoes are notorious for spreading soil-borne diseases like blight. If they’re grown in the same spot too often, those pathogens can linger in the soil, ready to strike again the following year. Giving them a break for at least a couple of seasons helps to prevent this happening.

• Alliums (onions, garlic and leeks)

Alliums are vulnerable to fungal diseases such as rust and white rot, both of which can linger in the soil for years once established. Moving them to a new spot each season is one of the simplest ways to prevent those diseases from spreading and to keep bulbs growing strong and clean.

Moving these problem crops around each year gives the soil time to recover and keeps common soil-borne problems from building up.

I also like to add cover crops and legumes into the rotation - these feed the soil in anticipation of the next crop and can be dug in just before flowering to increase soil texture and friability, or for edibles like beans you can leave them to come to fruition, harvesting the pods while you leave their nitrogen-fixing roots in the ground to work their magic.

When you’re sketching your garden plan, think not only about what plants grow well together, but also about how you can use these rotations to help your garden flow from one season to the next. A little forward thinking now will mean your garden is in the best position to confuse pests and have disease resistance, and this will save you a lot of trouble and angst later on down the track.

The beauty of recording my crop rotations on paper means that I have a record each season of what went where, which makes my yearly rotations so much easier to manage. This is why it is always good to date your plan, and stash it away once you are finished with it so you can refer to it in the future.

Planning for companions

Once I’ve mapped out where each of these plant families will go, and added in my other large crops, I start layering in companion plants like herbs and flowers, as well as smaller or shorter season crops such as carrots, onions, and leafy greens. These smaller crops support the main ones while adding to the garden diversity, and if you get a good mix of plants with different growing habits and needs, you can put them all quite close to each other, which will mean less mulching, less competition from weeds, and far more food, herbs and flowers in a much smaller space.

Plants - like people – grow well in diverse communities, and companion planting allows us to pair the plants that get on best, together. Companion plants support each other, deter pests, bring over beneficial insects, and support overall plant immunity. Although there are many good companion plant combinations, there are a few that I come back to time and time again - after all, if something works, why bother changing it?

Here are the four combinations I swear by that get repeated throughout my garden (and garden plan) each year

1. Tomatoes with basil, marigolds and strawberries

Once I know where my tomatoes will go, the next thing I do is fill in the gaps around them with basil and marigolds. Then, strawberries go along the front edge where they can make the most of the sun and act as a mulch for everything. This combo keeps pests down, draws in bees, and makes the most of all available space.

2. Corn with beans, pumpkins and cosmos

I love putting sweetcorn, beans, pumpkins, and cosmos together when planning my beds. This is known as the Three Sisters Method; the corn stalks give the beans support to climb up, the beans roots feed nitrogen back into the soil for the heavy feeding corn and pumpkins, and the pumpkins sprawl around the corn as a living mulch, keeping the roots moist and cool. The cosmos draws in bees and lightens the whole patch with its soft, airy flowers.

3. Carrots with spring onions and chives

Every time I draw a row of carrots onto my garden plan, I draw in a clump of chives next to it, usually on one, or each, end. Then I usually allow some room for spring onions at the back as well. The chives deter carrot fly, and the carrot roots aren't affected by the top heavy spring onions, and the carrot tops offer a bit of shade and moisture for the spring onions throughout the hot summer months.

4. Potatoes with calendula and nasturtium

Because calendula flower in spring, I always end up planting these at the fronts of my potato rows. Not only are they a fantastic beneficial flower that attracts lots of good bugs while repelling the baddies, they also help to disguise the potato patch a bit, making it look just a bit more attractive and pleasing to the eye. Along with this, I like to let one or two nasturtium seedlings grow in between the rows of spuds, where they can act as trap crops, trapping pests in their flowers and taking them away from the potatoes we are trying to grow. The climbing vines also do a good job of forming a living mulch around the potato plants, which helps to block light as the tubers are forming, preventing them from going green.

If you have existing gardens you are trying to plan out so they can sustain you and your family with nourishing food throughout each season, but you are overwhelmed or confused with where to begin, feel free to book a free garden chat with me below.

We'll discuss what's working, what's not, and where you would like to get to. Then, if it feels right, I'll share some ways I might be able to help you :)

Book a chat here: https://calendly.com/absandbrettles/mrcall