Tender And Very Juicy Chicken With Vegetables Cooked In A Glass Jar
Huge Baked Stuffed Cabbage with Potatoes and Freshly Baked Homemade Bread
_________________ What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night, the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset. With deepest respect ~ Aloha & Mahalo, Carol
Tomatoes hate potatoes and cabbage, but they love basil and carrots.
That’s because potatoes and tomatoes are both nightshades and both susceptible to blight, which can build up in the soil and get worse each year. Cabbage and its relatives (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collards, cauliflower, kale) can stunt tomatoes’ growth, as they compete for the same nutrients.
Carrots help loosen the soil for tomato roots (although the carrots may not grow as big). Basil and tomato are not only companions in the kitchen, but best friends in the garden too, as basil repels tomato’s mortal enemy – hornworms.
It may sound silly to think of veggies as having “friends” and “foes,” but the idea is backed by centuries of folklore and decades of scientific research.
The basic concept of “companion planting” is that planting two or more plants close to each other can benefit one or more of those plants.
As long as we’re on the topic of tomatoes (my personal favorite) borage is another great barrier against tomato hornworms, fixes nitrogen, attracts pollinatores, and is said to improve tomato growth and flavor as well. Garlic helps prevent blight and spider mites. The flowers of carrots (and its relatives parsnips, parsley, cilantro and dill) attract praying mantises, ladybugs, and spiders, who feast on bugs that eat tomatoes.
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Asparagus
Plant Near: Calendula, Petunias, Tomatoes Comments: Calendula, tomatoes, and petunias are thought to deter asparagus beetles.
Basil
Plant near: most garden crops, especially peppers, purslane and tomatoes Keep away from: rue Comments: Purslane shades the soil around basil. Basil improves the growth and flavor of tomatoes, peppers and lettuce, while repelling mosquitoes.
Beans
Plant near: corn, cabbage, carrots, catnip, cauliflower, cucumbers, marigolds, potatoes, radishes, squash, strawberries, sunflowers Keep away from: beets, fennel, garlic, leeks, onions, shallots Comments: Potatoes and marigolds repel Mexican bean beetles, catnip repels flea beetles, and nasturtiums repel aphids. Sunflowers and corn provide structural support for beans to climb.
Check out these delicious “provider beans” at Mama Bean Seeds. Or if you want something really unique, try some jade beans or amethyst beans. These giant “Mammoth sunflowers” would be a great support for them to grow on!
Beets
Plant near: broccoli, brussels sprouts, bush beans, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, garlic, onions Keep away from: field mustard, pole beans Comments: Onions protect against borers and cutworms. Beets adds minerals to the soil, as their leaves are composed of 25% magnesium.
Try these heirloom “Detroit dark red beets.”
Borage
Plant near: squash, strawberries, tomatoes Comments: Repels tomato worms. Improves flavor and growth of companions. Fixes nitrogen. Attracts pollinators.
Plant near: Cabbage, chives, early potatoes, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, rosemary, sage Keep away from: While tomatoes benefit from nearby carrots, carrots can suffer from nearby tomatoes… so plant some near and some far. Comments: Onions, leeks, rosemary and sage repel carrot flies. Chives improve the growth and flavor of carrots and deter aphids, mites, and flies.
Corn
Plant near: Beans, cucumbers, early potatoes, melons, peas, pumpkins, spinach, squash, sunflowers Comments: Beans provide more nitrogen corn as they climb the corn. Even faster growing, taller sunflowers can provide structure and windbreak for the corn. Spinach and squash grow well in the shade of corn, while keeping corn roots cool.
Help preserve Native American heritage by planting this rainbow Glass Gem corn!
Cucumbers
Plant near: Beans, borage, cabbage, corn, early potatoes, nasturtiums, radishes, sunflowers. Keep away from: late potatoes, which are more susceptible to blight when planted near cucumbers Comments: Cucumbers like to climb up corn and sunflowers Radishes deter cucumber beetles, while borage and nasturtiums deter other bests.
Plant near: beets, cabbage family, carrots, chamomile, lettuce, marigolds, parsnips Keep away from: beans, peas Comments: Onions deter most pests, especially maggots. Marigolds protect against onion maggots.
Peas
Plant near: Beans, carrots, corn, cucumbers, early potatoes, radishes, turnips Keep away from: Garlic, leeks, onions, shallots, which stunt pea growth Comments: Mint improves peas’ health and flavor. Alyssum brings in pollinators and encourages green lacewings, which eat aphids.