Interplanting wonderings...........

Yesterday I harvested Pinto beans from all the plants that were completely dried out.  About 10 plants gave me about a 1/2 cup of beans.  Since this year I was experimenting to discover plant yields, this wasn't a crisis.  Although I do wish the yield had been higher.   There are still more Pinto bean plants in the garden so the overall yield will be higher.  And it was good to discover that Pinto beans go from seed to yield in 60 days or less.  That's different from the rest of my beans.

In brainstorming for next year, it means I need to plant more.  Pinto beans are not our main use bean but they are used in my house.  And at rates that mean that a 1/2 cup yield would barely touch our use of them.  So I now know that next year I will need to plant at least one whole bed in Pinto beans.  And that I will need to use some type of trellis for support.  I also know that I need to plant them earlier.  This year they didn't get planted until late, late April (almost May).

The problem is the limited gardening beds that I have.  While I want more, unless I get lucky in finding wood I won't get more.  So right now I'm trying to figure out what else I can plant in the bed with the Pinto beans.  Right now the options are tomatoes, cucumbers, onions or garlic.  I don't think the garlic will work because the garlic I have planted right now isn't much taller than the bean plants are.  The onions might work because they are taller so I may try a small mixed patch.  The cucumbers would work because they can be trained to be completely vertical, but the beans would only work on the outside of the bed.  If the beans were further in they'd be buried under the cucumber vines.  And tomatoes would work with the same limitations.

There are other planting combinations I'm thinking of trying as well.  The sweet potatoes could go under the cucumbers.  Greens could go in with the onions and garlic.  Melons could go with the onions or tomatoes or cucumbers.

Right now I'm brainstorming based on plant size and growth rates.  I'm basically trying to create different versions of the "three sisters".  Versions that are based on crops that I grow and use.

At the same time I am working on the start of a Forest Garden.  This is something that I've wanted to do for several years now.  Recently I found a full online course on permaculture.  So I'm taking the course and working on the garden.  The Forest Garden will probably take me years to get fully established but I'm looking forward to it.  Any garden that will provide me with more edibles over time, with less input of hard work and energy from me, is something to look forward to.  And systems that allow nature to work as it should without me having to continually fight it will help us to keep expenses down.

Now realize, I love nature.  But I don't value nature over humans.  What I do value is working with a system that requires less energy input to keep us feed, sheltered and healthy.  There isn't a scenario that I can envision that won't be made easier if the input energy requirements - whatever the source - are lowered.

So I'm working on multiple things and learning as I go.  I'm not really using companion planting guides unless I find them from someone whose actually done it.  If you research how companion plants were originally determined you'll understand why.  It's a quack.  I do have one guide from someone who actually does it but she focuses on flowering and decorative plants, not edibles. 

I wish I could have a week or two to pick the brains of the people who are fully dependent on their gardens - not optionally dependent but truly full dependent.  They would know all the little tricks and planting combinations that work.  It wouldn't be theory or guesswork with them because their lives depend on getting it right.  I've always thought that those should be the people to learn survival gardening from.

Please, share your ideas or experiences.  I love to learn more.