RE: The Unplanned, Satisfying Growth of Our Food Forest
Wow.. your garden is really inspiring. I really want to experiment with hugelkultur when I have more time. I run a small vegetable farm and I just moved to a new location, so I don't have time to do all the digging and burying. I also greatly appreciate marigolds and am growing a bunch of calendula. I was just reading that marigolds are actually effective at deterring flea beetles which are really messing me up right now. I have about 100 started and ready to transplant that I am going to try and plant around my brassicas and we'll see what happens. Also a huge fan of sunflowers. We planted sunflowers beside our snowpeas in hopes the sunflowers will shade the peas and facilitate summer production and also act as trellising. Also, noticed you are from Oklahoma. I lived there for about 5 years. Moved to Taos, NM now. Thanks for the informative read! Followed!
Thank you @nickhans! I think the reason our raised beds do so well is because of all the rotted wood we buried at the beginning. I love marigolds and have them all around the garden, but I do have to tell you, I still have flea beetles every year. I was told by an old farmer this year to grow "rue" to deter flea beetles. I have not tried it myself, but have read some info online. It looks promising. Just don't plant rue next to cucumbers or cabbage (but my cucumbers are the plants being attacked by flea beetles?!). They don't get along for some reason. Planting sunflowers next to snow peas is a great idea! I would love to know how it works out. I use a lot of shade tarp in the Summer and have been trying to figure out a way to naturally shade some of the crops without having to use a shade tarp. Growing sunflowers would be a great idea to provide shade. Thanks for the inspiration!