Ask the Farmer A monthly column by Medway Community Farm
1. Are there certain flowers or herbs that can be planted with vegetables that help or keep away pests?
Using companion planting is a wonderful way to control pests in an organic way. Not only do these plants deter pests, but they also encourage birds and beneficial insects into the garden. Marigolds are a good example of flowers to grow alongside vegetables. They repel whiteflies but they also can reduce the damage from slugs. Slugs like marigolds more than they like most vegetables! Another good example is chives planted along with carrots. Chives can deter carrot flies, whiteflies, and aphids. An additional advantage of chives is that deer and rabbits don’t care for them, or any other plant in the allium family. Do keep the chives away from peas and beans though. They could reduce your crop yield of those veggies.
2. How often do you need to swap crops, is 2 years in one spot too much or should they be rotated every year?
The basic idea of crop rotation is to rotate the crops on an annual basis. The benefit to doing this is to break the cycle of insects, diseases and weeds that attack the vegetable crop. Rotating the crops prevents a particular plant from stripping a specific nutrient from the soil and it reduces the demand on soil fertility. Usually, a rotation cycle would consist of 3-4 crops over 3-4 years. There is a science behind which plant should follow or precede another but luckily, there’s a lot of information available on the internet.
3.If planting seeds when is too late to plant pumpkins?
If you’re hoping for a pumpkin patch this year, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Depending on the variety, pumpkins can take 3-4 months to produce the fruit you want. Yes, it really is a fruit! If you want pumpkins this year, check out our fall festival in September at the farm!
Using companion planting is a wonderful way to control pests in an organic way. Not only do these plants deter pests, but they also encourage birds and beneficial insects into the garden. Marigolds are a good example of flowers to grow alongside vegetables. They repel whiteflies but they also can reduce the damage from slugs. Slugs like marigolds more than they like most vegetables! Another good example is chives planted along with carrots. Chives can deter carrot flies, whiteflies, and aphids. An additional advantage of chives is that deer and rabbits don’t care for them, or any other plant in the allium family. Do keep the chives away from peas and beans though. They could reduce your crop yield of those veggies.
2. How often do you need to swap crops, is 2 years in one spot too much or should they be rotated every year?
The basic idea of crop rotation is to rotate the crops on an annual basis. The benefit to doing this is to break the cycle of insects, diseases and weeds that attack the vegetable crop. Rotating the crops prevents a particular plant from stripping a specific nutrient from the soil and it reduces the demand on soil fertility. Usually, a rotation cycle would consist of 3-4 crops over 3-4 years. There is a science behind which plant should follow or precede another but luckily, there’s a lot of information available on the internet.
3.If planting seeds when is too late to plant pumpkins?
If you’re hoping for a pumpkin patch this year, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Depending on the variety, pumpkins can take 3-4 months to produce the fruit you want. Yes, it really is a fruit! If you want pumpkins this year, check out our fall festival in September at the farm!
