Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Vegetable Garden Gone Wild

I've neglected the vegetable garden this year, and it's gone wild. I've decided I like it because of the interesting and helpful butterflies, bees, and other insects it has brought. My garden insect pest level is way down, probably because of the flowering carrots and onions, and mix of wild flowers. They seem to be attracting "good" insects which is providing a nice balance. I've got some random broccoli(or maybe collard greens) that came back from last year, which brings in the cabbage butterflies which in turn attracts the parasitic wasps who feed on the larvae. I figure this is an excellent sacrificial lamb for the rest of the plants, so I let the pests ravage the broccoli. The radishes are faring better.

I think this(below) is cucumber. My daughter pulled a Curious George and mixed all the seeds together in the starter pots and planting beds. I have no idea what's growing anywhere! Our mint has spread everywhere and smells lovely when I step through it to weed. It's all mixed up, but very pretty to look at.


Here's a nice chart for companion planting(and antagonists) for your garden. My meandering  mint seems to be a good deterrent for many pests. But, it looks like my cucumber should not be near my potatoes. They are both doing well, so maybe there is enough distance. Maybe I'll separate the two with a row of marigolds, a companion plant for both.

3 comments:

Myrnie said...

This is fantastic!

Eddie said...

Our garden looks similar. The funny thing is that in previous years we've worked like dogs to grow things. This year, the only thing we planted was a single pumpkin plant, but we have a glorious strawberry crop, asparagus, onions, potatoes, and garlic and rhubarb that came back better than ever! I think we'll ignore it next year too.

Otter Mom said...

We gave up on our container gardening this year. We were growing jalepenos from seed and they started out ok, but then they just quit growing. Guess it's not meant to be this year.