Companion Plants for Summer Squash & Zucchini

It can be difficult to find companion plants for the zucchini and squash, as these two plants take up a lot of room and are big eaters. There are three plants that can be beneficial to the squash and zucchini when planted together in your garden:

Nasturtiums: these little edible flowers are a trap crop for certain insects such as flea beetles and aphids. If these types of pests are giving you problems in your garden then you may want to consider planting nasturtiums around your squash and zucchini as a border plant.

Beans: beans release quite a bit of nitrogen into the soil, which can make them beneficial to the heavy eaters squash and zucchini. However since they tend to be a running crop also, you will want to train them to grow up trellises or poles in order to plant them with the squash and zucchini.

Corn: this plant grows well with squash and zucchini as it grows up while they grow out. Also the squash and zucchini will benefit the corn by shading the ground and preventing weeds that tend to choke out corn from growing.

Another note: Nasturtiums are a great addition to salads, they have a sharp peppery taste. When you harvest your nasturtiums you will want to pick or cut the flowers and leaves as needed. Floral shears make easy work of harvesting nasturtiums.

Carrott Companion Planting

Carrots have a few plants that will help to benefit them during their growth. Beans provide nitrogen that carrots tend to need more than other vegetables do. Sage, Rosemary, and Radishes are under controversy as some recommend them as companions for carrots (they help repel the carrot fly) but other sources list them as incompatible.Alliums also help to confuse the carrot fly. If you are using carrots to attract beneficial insects to your garden then you will need to allow them to flower or plant Queen Anne's Lace (a wild carrot) in your garden. Flax is believed to help carrots since it produces an oil that is thought to protect root vegetables like carrots from some pests.

Debating planting with Beans as a companion? Visit: Bean Companion Planting and Companion Planting with Beans.

How you preserve your carrots is up to you, but many are pickling more different types of vegetables. And the carrot has not been left out. So get out your mason jars and check out this recipe for pickled carrots.

Companion Planting with Beans 2

After our original post on Companion Planting with Beans we learned a little bit more about plants that should not be planted with beans, etc. So here is our new Companion Planting with Beans image:

When harvesting your beans you may want to have a harvesting basket on hand. Hope this helps you with your summer gardening!