This year, I focused on planting a tomato guild at Chicken Wing Garden. Guilds are grouping plants that have specific 'jobs', that work
together to benefit each other. There is usually a
central element (in this case tomatoes), and it is surrounded with
complimentary plants. In this case, the guild I have created for tomatoes is as follows: - Planting densly helps to reduce competition for nutrients
- Borage brings nutrients from deep in the soil and stores them in its leaves. Because it grows quickly, you can simply cut off the borage stems and leaves and use them as a mulch around plants. Mulch helps protect soil as well as add nutrients as it decomposes. This is known as 'chop and drop.' Comfry is another excellent chop and drop plant
- Borage also attracts beneficial insects, known as insectary plants. Bees love the borage flowers and help polinate surrounding flowers and fruit trees.
- I planted giant sunflower along the north edge of the tomato bed, which will catch the sun and provide more heat for the tomatoes, which need as much help gathering heat and sunlight in the short-lived pacific northwest summers.
- The sunflowers also provide the tomatoes with natural stakes to climb up.
- I also planted pole beans, which are nitrogen fixers. Tomatoes are heavy nitrogen feeders and need all the nitrogen they can get to grow big!
- The beans also climb up the sunflowers, which provide the perfect growing medium for the beans.
- And lastly, I planted basil all around the tomatoes as a ground cover. Basil helps get rid of bad insects as well as helps tomatoes taste better!
You can create your own guilds by thinking about what your central plant needs and then finding other plants that compliment it perfectly. Companion planting to the extreme!!
