Garden Planning with Companion Planting

The more I research about gardening, the more I'm finding out that I don't know a thing about gardening! As I researched when to plant potatoes, and onions, and tomatoes, etc.,  I learned that there is something called "Companion Planting". Growing up watching my grandparents garden I just always assumed you just planted your seeds, vegetables grew, you picked them, and then you ate them. Apparently there is way more to it than that. On the right under Good Reads you will see a new article about companion planting. This article goes over what plants are good to plant next to each other and what plants will compete with each other and shouldn't be planted together. So with this new knowledge about Companion Planting I found a handy dandy app on my iPhone called "Garden Minder" from Gardener's Supply Company. This app gives you a grid and helps you plan out how you are going to plant your garden! For instance here is my grid with my garden for this year:
 

 

And like so many infomercials will say "AND THAT'S NOT ALL!",  it helps with how deep to sow seeds, the spacing, when you can replant, days until you can harvest, and all sorts of interesting things about each plant! And probably the most exciting thing that this app has, at least to me anyway, you can make journal entries!!!!  Here is an example of what it talks about:

 



  Beans, bush

	Sow seeds 1" deep directly in garden after all danger of frost. Spacing: four plants per sq. ft. for bush beans, six to eight plants per sq. ft. for pole beans Plant second crop of bush beans (if needed) two weeks after first planting Days to harvest: 50-80 days from seed, depending on variety. Not frost-hardy. Hint: Add a legume inoculant when planting to increase vigor and yield.
Carrots, summer
	Sow seeds in garden 1/4" deep three weeks before last spring frost. Spacing: Plant 30 seeds per sq. ft.; thin to 16 plants per sq. ft. Replant six to eight weeks before fall frost for late crop. Days to harvest: 55 to 70 days from seed. Frost-hardy. Hint: Before planting, loosen soil to 12"; remove stones and add compost.

I know this is probably going to disappoint everyone, but Nicolle and I will be heading out tomorrow morning for a long weekend vacation to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado for my birthday (which is Sunday)! So this will be my last blog post until Tuesday of next week. Hopefully on Tuesday, I will be able to report about onion and potato plants sprouting!