🌱 Do monocultures work?

I have been thinking about what to plant in my garden beds in spring — maybe some tomatoes, rocket, cucumbers, maybe some dill? Get a good salad going.

I have two planters to take advantage of and the question of "do I only plant two things?" came to mind. Do I make each of my planters monocultural and see what happens.

Observing my current beds, I have one with peas and spring onions — and some rogue pumpkins and tomatoes that came up from the compost. The pumpkins never stood a chance, it's way too cold. But they are low enough to the soil and there are so many of them that they have been good slug food. Leaving the peas and spring onions to thrive. The peas, all clustered together are fighting for something to climb on, and in some cases are climbing on each other.

The other planter has issues of its own, I think I may have placed it too far in the shade, so only a few of the kale, lettuce and silverbeet have popped their heads up. A lesson learned, we'll see if we can move it for spring time ☺️.

But even so — in reading about what makes for a successful planter ecosystem, the general advice is diversity is great for long term success. Diversity means the soil has a chance to recover certain nutrients and minerals. Diversity means protection against a specific bug or disease wiping out your whole planter. Diversity means . Diversity can mean synergy™ — like, the smell of onions deterring pests from your other leafier plants. Or a pretty nasturtium to act as an aphid magnet, giving your tomatoes a fighting chance.

In case you're wondering, and made it this far, this isn't really about plants.

Tags: garden