Companion Planting for the Kitchen Gardener: Tips, Advice, and Garden Plans for a Healthy Organic Garden

by Allison Greer

Companion planting techniques have been used for centuries to facilitate better, more nutritious, and more abundant crops. Did you know that carrots will grow better if surrounded by lettuce, onions and beets, but beans should not be planted near onions?  Your tomatoes will be happier if they're far away from potatoes, but peppers and marigolds make a terrific garden pair. Aromatic herbs help protect some vegetables from pests, and many flowers - including calendula, zinnias and yarrow - will attract beneficial insects to your garden beds.  It's a lot to think about, but there's no reason to feel overwhelmed. With Companion Planting for the Kitchen Gardener, you'll have all the information you need in clear, concise terms and with charts and garden plans you can copy or modify to suit your family's needs.

Starting with the basics of organic gardening, such as how to prepare quality soil and the importance of cover crops and organic fertilizer, author Allison Greer explain the principles of companion planting, how plants interact, and how you can use that information to your garden's benefit. There is an entire chapter devoted to many of the most popular vegetables, with charts, diagrams, and descriptions of each--a treasure for gardeners with busy lives who want an easy reference guide for planning their ideal kitchen garden. Full of gorgeous, full-color photographs and easy-to-follow diagrams, this is a beautiful, useful guide for the home organic gardener.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 3, 2014

Reviews

[PoligirlReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Beyond all the other reasons provided for companion planting, it must be understood that a companion planted garden is quite beautiful. Single file plants are neat and organized, but they're a bit boring. The haphazard nature of a companion planted kitchen garden is much more romantic in its design."

As soon as I read that, I knew I'd like this book! Who wants some old boringly organized garden? Not me! Greer offers a nice blend of science and good ol' know-how to address which plants are "friends" and how they can work together to fight "foes" (pests). I learned a lot of really good things, such as the importance of brushing seedlings to promote root growth (who knew?!). I can definitely see using this book when planning my garden next year.

The pics are beautiful, but could use better captioning. One called the flowers Columbine, but they were pretty clearly Cosmos. In an odd misstep, she refers to Syria as being in Eastern Europe! Not sure what was going on with that, but for everything else, I thought the advice was good.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a solid reference on companion planting. I didn't really need the "convincing" aspects at the beginning of the books. I mostly focused on the categories. There is a section on beneficial flowers, herbs, and then sections on each type of crop. The crops section is great because it tells all about the "friends" and foes and common issues. I also liked her mock-ups of different bed combinations. However, because she based it just on small beds, there are no examples of how you might do a bigger garden like I have. Technically you can divide your big garden up and follow her examples. For me this was a four-star just because I thinks she almost gave too much information. It was hard to distill down into exactly how you're going to implement it all.

[LaceyD · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been browsing several books for companion gardening, and this one is my favorite. It offers great information, but not too much. Greer does well to pull out the essentials, get right to the point, and not bog the reader down with too many details. This book is well organized and easy to use as a reference. Bonus: beautiful, full-page, full-color phots of flowers and insects!

[Haley Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

BUY THIS ASAP

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alright but I didn't experience yet the great companion planting benefits

[Dan Stumpf · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite gardening book

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be full of great advice and ideas for an organic garden. I knew I wanted to use companion planting when starting my garden, and Allison Greer has such great advice on which plants go together and why. I am a very visual learner, so I like all the diagrams, photos and plot plans she has included. On a side note, I love bugs and I like how she includes bug baths in her garden along with toad homes. Awesome. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to grow a chemical free garden by creating a healthy ecosystem in your garden.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent mix of practical and inspirational. My favorite of the gardening books I've read this spring.