We are beginning to plant out the first 330 Sq feet of spring annuals. After prepping annual beds, we began to get our first plants into the soil. When you look at the picture below and travel from left to right you will get a sense of our planting arrangement. There are about 66 Sq ft of pole peas, 33 Sq Ft of Turnips, 15 Sq Feet of Beets, 66 Sq Ft of Cabbage, 56 Sq Ft of Russian Red Kale, 60 Sq Ft of Swiss Chard, 10 Sq Feet of Spinach. These plants are all companions- and in the case of turnips and peas- there is evidence of a beneficial interaction. The beets and turnips were sown in one pass with the three-way Earthway seeder set to 4.5 inches width.

Our planting method incorporates aspects of Grow Biointensive ™ plant spacing and the idea that a polyculture system allows flexibility and provides a setting that may allow a crop to avoid disease. Moreover, it allows us to plant crops in easy to access places in the bed. Although omitted this time, I think it will be excellent to add other companion plants like marigolds, nasturtium, calendula, and chives into our next beds. These plants have been reported to improve flavor and lure beneficial pest predators. There is clearly a value added component to a farm or garden anywhere that pests can be minimized without sacrificing the health of the body and environment to the use of pesticides.

I would like to include plant spacing numbers to give you an idea of how intensely the bed is being planted:

• 66 Sq ft of Peas: (2 rows of peas 66 feet long at 3 inch spacing)
• 33 Sq Ft of Turnips: (2 rows of turnips 66 feet long with 5 inch spacing)
• 15 Sq Feet of Beets: (1 row of beets 66 feet long at 5 inch spacing)
• 66 Sq Ft of Cabbage: (1 row of cabbage at 66 long at 15 inch spacing)
• 56 Sq Ft of Russian Red Kale: (2 rows of Kale 28 feet long at 15 inch spacing)
• 60 Sq Ft of Swiss Chard: (3 rows of Chard 30 feet long at 8 inch spacing)
• 10 Sq Feet of Spinach: (3 rows of Spinach 5 feet long at 4 inch spacing)

This bed is 5 Ft wide and 66 Ft long

From Left to Right (Peas, Turnips, Beets, Cabbage Spinach/Chard/ Kale)