Companion planting

The term “Companion Planting”  may conjure up fanciful images of an emotional or spiritual relationship between plants that like to grow next to one another but in reality, companion planting is a thoroughly practical practice.  Companion planting is a technique involving the planting of multiple plant varieties in strategic groupings.  In nature, plants don’t tend to grow in tidy straight rows of singular varieties, they work together in biodiverse systems, supporting one another.  Deliberate companion planting more closely replicates natural systems. Companion planting has many benefits including:  maximizing the space use and efficiency of your garden, recognizing and making the most of the different nutrients plants both draw from and add to soil, having backups if a particular plant doesn’t thrive in a growing season,  and reducing the impact of pests in your garden. It is one of the easiest ways that gardeners can begin implementing Permaculture principles in their home gardens.   Here are a few details about how to use companion planting for more successful food growing.

Efficient use of space is one of the most obvious reasons to consider companion planting.  When used effectively, one can grow and produce up to four different crops in the same amount of space that would usually support one crop. One of the best examples of an effective companion plant combo is the much celebrated Three Sisters planting method developed and used by many North American first peoples for millennia.  The three sister plants referred to here are Corn, Squash and Pole Beans.  With this combo the three crops are all grown within the same space and support one another structurally and nutrionally.  Corn grows high on a strong stalk, providing a trellis of sorts for both the beans and squash to climb.  The beans act as nitrogen fixers for healthy soil while the squash’s broad leaf and dense growth help retain moisture in the soil, almost acting as a mulch to cool and minimize moisture loss.  Traditionally, it is also possible to add a fourth “sister” to the combo in the form of either Sunflowers or Bee Balm.  Either of these two plants provide more stalk support while also attracting pollinators to the squash and beans.  Another great fourth companion plant option for this combo is the radish.  If permitted to bolt, radish flowers are excellent pollinator attractants while also repelling squash beetles at the same time.  As an added bonus, each radish plant produced hundreds of tasty radish seed pods that can be eaten fresh or pickled.  With monoculture planting practices, one would normally only get a single crop from one garden bed, with Three Sisters companion planting you can harvest corn, squash, beans and radish pods from the same amount of space.

Another reason to consider companion planting is crop inconsistency.  When you start gardening, it doesn’t take long to realize that results are not going to be the same for every variety of food that is grown year after year.  It’s to be expected that some crops will thrive and be bountiful one year, while that same crop may fail or be less productive the next year.  When you have several crops growing in the same space, companion plants can make up for the lack of harvest for a particular crop that fails to thrive in a particular year.  With the example of the three sisters companion combo discussed earlier, you may find one year that the corn fails to make it to maturity but the garden space dedicated to corn isn’t wasted as there is still an opportunity for the squash, beans and radishes grown in the same space to provide a decent harvest.

A final significant factor to consider as a companion planting asset is pest control.  It has already been mentioned that one of the reasons that radishes work well as a companion plant to squash is the fact that radish flowers deter squash beetles.  There are several other commonly known examples of flowers and herbs that are effective companion plant with their abilities to either deter pest bugs or even by acting as a trap to encourage garden pests to feast on their tasty blooms instead of  the food crops being grown.  Marigolds are one of the most popular companion plants for many different crops as they tend to repel many common garden pests while also attracting pollinators and wasps that prey on pests.  Other great companion plants for pest control include Borage, Nasturtiums and Dill.  

We hope you might consider giving companion planting a try in your home garden this year.  As with all permaculture practices, it more closely replicates the biodiverse relationships in the natural world.  Companion planting considers the complex relationships between plant structure, nutrient needs and natural pest controls while also allowing gardeners to plant more densely.  These factors really work together to increase the resiliency of your garden and this is particularly beneficial when gardening in an area of extreme conditions like Cochrane.  We will continue to share some of our favourite companion plant combos on our website or check out some of these biodiverse plantings in action in the Solar Roller while it’s at public events.  Cultivate Cochrane is here to help and we hope we can all learn to grow more together!

What is Permaculture?

The term “Permaculture” has become a major buzzword in recent years within the gardening community yet many would be hard pressed to actually define what it is.  The concept of permaculture really is far more simple to understand than many realize.  Basically, permaculture agricultural practices seek to support and replicate the complex relationships and systems that have evolved and thrived in nature for millennia.  Permaculture design focuses on the ecosystems as whole,  rather than one single element or product.  By working with nature as opposed to against it, these practices maintain the health of human communities by supporting the health of the planet itself and all its rich biodiversity.   As we start to see the long term negative consequences of the industrial monoculture food production systems, many gardeners and farmers are turning to permaculture practices as a more sustainable solution.

These are red wiggler worms.

The current term “permaculture” was first coined in the 1970s by two Australian educators, Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. They were inspired by the long-held traditional agricultural and harvesting systems of indigenous peoples that took advantage of all the living systems and interactions in a region as an integrated whole. The growing issues of soil depletion and dying farmlands in regions that had focused on more modern farming practices were becoming apparent. Mollison and Holmgen recognized that nature itself held the key to resilience, natural productivity and sustainability.  They sought to bring together principles and practices that embraced all living elements and relationships within natural ecosystems; not just the plants and animals but the fungi, bacteria and other microbes populating living soil. They began teaching many traditional older techniques as permaculture design principles, united under the three key tenants of Earth care, people care and fair share.  They also identified 12 principles to consider in permaculture design with their “growing movement” gained popularity quickly and in more recent decades many gardeners and food producers all over the planet are choosing to use these more sustainable older techniques again.

An example of companion gardening.

It isn’t necessary to take an expensive permaculture course to begin implementing sustainable practices in your garden and in your community.  If you rotate your crops to maintain healthy soil, you are using a permaculture technique.  If you catch and store energy with thermal mass in a passive solar design, you are using a permaculture technique.  If you reduce your household waste by processing organics into soil enriching compost, you are using a permaculture technique.  When you share your garden harvest surplus with the Food Bank, you are practicing a permaculture principle. There are so many ways to start implementing more sustainable food production practices in your daily life.  It’s simply a matter of learning more about, respecting and supporting natural systems rather than over exploiting one particular resource or product.  Ethical harvesting seeks to be sustainable by minimizing disruption of the harmonious relationships in an ecosystem while also sharing the bounty of our harvests within our community.

It is just as important to grow roots in the community as it is to grow food. Sharing knowledge and resources allows us to rely on each other when we have shortfalls or extreme climatic conditions that we often face in our region.  Cultivate Cochrane hopes to assist those who seek to use permaculture principles to grow more of their own food.  Keep an eye out on our website for information and upcoming articles about various sustainable gardening practices such as composting, companion planting and crop rotation. Please visit with our knowledgeable staff and volunteers when you see us out and about with the Solar Roller or feel free to send us your gardening questions by email at Info@cultivatecochrane.com . We love empowering folks to be more involved in their own food production and hope we can all continue to grow together!

Compost pile percolating away.







Growing Food Under Cover

Cochrane is known for its extreme weather fluctuations, short growing season, bountiful wildlife and drought conditions. All of these factors can be frustrating for local gardeners. The use of covers to protect your plants can reduce these limiting factors a great deal. Covers can range from simple frost cloth, framed fabric low tunnels, cold frames on raised beds, high tunnels or greenhouses. It all depends on the level of protection you are willing to invest in. When used properly, all types will help you grow more food by providing protection from the elements and pests. Let's explore some of the reasons why below.

Season extension is one of the most important reasons to consider growing under cover in Cochrane. Covering over vegetable plants can allow you to extend growing season significantly. Depending on the level of protection you choose to take with your covering, plants can be started weeks to months earlier. A few degrees difference in warmer temps can dramatically speed up the growth of young plants at the beginning of the season. Simple floating row covers or low tunnel fabric frames can provide from 2-6 degrees Celsius in frost protection depending on the weight of the fabric. Cold frames, high tunnels and greenhouses provide even more.

The same degree of season extension can occur in the fall as well. If we look at the historic weather data for Cochrane, there tends to be at least one or two short hard frosts and/or snowfalls during September that kill our vegetable gardens. For the rest of the month, typically day temperatures range in the high teens to low twenties Celsius. These temperatures are fine to support healthy garden growth. If your plants are protected from the erratic extreme temperatures for a few days by coverings, you can continue to extend your season. The season extension can range from a week or two with simple covers and low tunnels to over a month in high tunnel or greenhouse scenarios.

Protection from insect and animal pests is another good reason to consider garden covers. When managed correctly, particularly at the start of the season when plants are tender and more vulnerable, garden covers can be very effective in reducing the impact of all sorts of pest insects on vegetables. Aphid, cutworm, flea beetle and cabbage moth infestations can all be reduced with coverings. They also assist in protecting from the larger critters like deer and rabbits that enjoy munching on our gardens. With that in mind, it’s also important to remove covers periodically to allow access to beneficial pollinators for those plants that require their help in producing food.

Low tunnel with indeterminate tomatoes trained along twine and dried potatoe leaves which are surving as mulch.

Garden coverings are also a great way to combat Cochrane’s precipitation patterns. June tends to be the only month with enough rain to support a garden at an average of up to 12 cm. The remainder of the season’s rainfall is not enough to support a garden without additional watering. Garden covers can assist with this issue by aiding in the retention of moisture. Even a simple floating row cover can increase garden bed moisture dramatically by reducing the drying factors of our prairie winds. When paired with a timed drip irrigation system, covers can greatly reduce both water usage and the work required to maintain a vegetable garden. On top of that, covers also protect gardens from devastating hail. Fabric covers provide moderate protection from hail damage while sturdy polycarbonate cold frames and greenhouses eliminate it completely.

Cultivate Cochrane has had a great deal of experience and success in working with various garden covers. We are here to help you succeed too. Keep an eye out for future articles detailing different types and ways of using garden covers. You can also send questions to info@cultivatecochrane.com. Check out our schedule so you can visit us at one of our public appearances and purchase a handy fabric low tunnel kit. Our helpful staff or volunteers love talking about gardening with our visitors.

We really look forward to growing together with you!

Why Grow Your Own Food?

The role of Cultivate Cochrane is to inspire, educate and encourage folks to grow their own food locally.  In modern times, we have access to more types of fruits and vegetables in all seasons than almost any other time in history. So why would we bother growing our own? There are many reasons. Today we focus on health: that of individuals and of the planet itself. 

Let’s start with nutrition and fertilizers.  Most folks agree that a healthy diet should include lots of fruits and veggies, but not all fruits and veggies are the same. One reason is the common approach to fertilizing. Typical large agricultural operations often rely on mineral fertilizers. Mineral fertilizers focus on NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium).

However, other minerals such as calcium, magnesium, and sulfur are all needed, too. After a while, the soil can become depleted of all but NPK. Also, excess chlorides (from the potassium compounds) build up in the soil and prevent proper calcium uptake by plants. As a result, food from the store may be less nutritious than what we grow at home or forage from uncontaminated wilderness areas.

Nutrition is also affected by soil health, which in turn is affected by monoculture. Monoculture is a commonly used agricultural method in which plants are grown as a large single variety crop, often repeatedly in one area. When the same crop is grown in the same area year after year, specific insects and diseases are attracted and begin to thrive. Plants other than the crop are deemed nuisances.

Typically, our solution has been pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. These kill not just the pest but also other plants, animals, insects and soil microorganisms that are all dependent on each other.

Biodiversity is necessary for a healthy planet. Without it, we end up with relatively empty produce and polluted, dead soil that can blow or wash away easily. The natural balance gets disrupted and that impacts other areas of the food web (interconnected and overlapping food chains in an ecosystem).

In contrast, soil that has been fed organically and not treated with poisons is full of billions of fungi, bacteria and invertebrates. These work together with plants to help them grow and absorb a wide range of nutrients. Our produce is more nutritious when the soil is healthy.

More people are becoming conscious of soil health.  Canadian pesticide use in 1994 was 31% of households with a lawn or garden, but dropped to about 19% from 2013 to 2021 (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2021).

Nutrition is also affected by the timing of harvest. Most produce in grocery stores is harvested at least a week before purchase. It might not even be ripe yet. Nutrient levels begin to go down as soon as produce is picked.  Costly refrigeration is often necessary. Produce is usually treated with sprays, waxes, etc.

All these steps add to the cost and environmental impacts. Flavor also suffers. When food tastes bad, it gets wasted. Nearly 60% of all produce in Canada is tossed every year, and of that, 32% was edible (Second Harvest, Ontario, 2023). All this drives up prices and prevents people getting enough produce in their diet. Almost 11% of Canadians are occasionally or often unable to afford enough healthy food.

In contrast, if we grow and harvest our produce ourselves, we are more likely to eat it right away. We get better nutrition, better taste, and the satisfaction of growing what we eat. We are also much more likely to appreciate produce and make it a bigger part of our diet. 

Our health and that of our planet are also affected by where the food is grown. About ⅔ of all produce eaten in Canada is imported (US International Trade Administration, Canada Agricultural Sector, 2021).  It is not just exotic things like oranges, but also things like tomatoes that we could grow easily here. Importing is a bad habit that relies on cheap labor abroad and cheap oil for transportation. It also requires lots of packaging and refrigeration. 

The world is changing. Importing the bulk of our produce is no longer sustainable. Locally grown food is a better answer. It uses less packaging and transportation.  Excess can be shared, traded, frozen, canned, or dehydrated. On top of that, home gardeners are more likely to compost. We feed the soil with produce that is past its peak and plant parts that can’t be eaten. The balanced nutrients feed the plants that feed us. 

While starting a garden may seem challenging, particularly in our unique growing conditions, it is well worth the effort. Cultivate Cochrane is here to help.  We have learned a whole lot about successful strategies for growing food in this region and we would love to share them with you.  Please stop by the Passive Solar Roller when it’s out and about. Speak with our knowledgeable staff and volunteers.  We offer gardening workshops and publish articles and videos. 

We really look forward to growing together with you!