How to Grow More Vegetables : And Fruits, Nuts ... - Shroomery

the upper layers of the soil. It has been estimated that one rye
plant grown in good soil produces an average of 3 miles of roots
per day; that is 387 miles of roots and 6,603 miles of root hairs
during a season. Plants are continuously providing their own
composting program underground. In one year, plants put 800
to 1,500 pounds of roots per acre into the soil in a small garden,
and red clover puts 1,200 to 3,850 pounds of roots into the soil
in the same period of time. 2
Nutrition
Over Time—Companion planting “over time” has been known
for years as “crop rotation.” After properly preparing the soil,
heavy feeders are planted. These are followed by heavy givers
and then by light feeders. This is a kind of agricultural recycling
in which man and plants participate to return as much to the
soil as has been taken out.
Heavy feeders—most of the vegetables we like and eat
(including corn, tomatoes, squash, lettuce, and cabbage)—take
large amounts of nutrients, especially nitrogen, from the soil.
In the GROW BIOINTENSIVE method, after harvesting heavy
feeders, you can return phosphorus and potassium to the soil in
the form of compost. To return nitrogen to the soil, grow heavy
givers. Heavy givers are nitrogen-fixing plants or legumes, such
as peas, beans, alfalfa, clover, and vetch. Fava beans are also
good for this purpose. Not only do they bring large amounts of
nitrogen into the soil, they also excrete substances that help
eradicate tomato wilt–causing organisms. (Caution: Some
people of Mediterranean descent are fatally allergic to fava
beans, even though the beans are very popular and widely
eaten in that area. People on certain medications experience
the same reaction. Check with your physician first.) After heavy
givers, plant light feeders (all root crops) to give the soil a rest
before the next heavy feeder onslaught. Three vegetables are
low nitrogen lovers: turnips (a light feeder), sweet potatoes
(a light feeder), and green peppers (a heavy feeder of nutrients
other than nitrogen). The two light feeders would normally be
planted after heavy givers, which put a lot of nitrogen into the
soil. You may find it useful to have them follow a heavy feeder
instead. It would also be good to have green peppers follow a
heavy feeder. (They normally come after a heavy giver and
a light feeder.) 3 You should experiment with these out-ofsequence
plantings.
2. Helen Philbrick and Richard B. Gregg, Companion Plants and How to Use Them
(Old Greenwich, CT: Devin-Adair Company, 1966), pp. 75–76.
3. This way of looking at crops was developed many years ago. It is based on how much
nitrogen crops generally consume or produce. Actually, it is not always accurate. For example,
potatoes, a root crop and, therefore, a light feeder, consume one of the largest amounts of
nitrogen. As a result, they are functionally a heavy feeder. Nonetheless, this system can be a
good way to organize crop rotation.
Plant root systems improve the topsoil
by bringing up nutrients from the
subsoil.
LF HF
HG
Agricultural recycling:
To preserve the soil’s nutrients,
plant heavy feeders, then heavy
givers, then light feeders.
COMPANION PLANTING 145