companion planting

This photo is a bit outdated at this point (taken July 9), as my garden is now reaching twice the size as shown, but I wanted to talk a bit about the marigolds that you can see planted among the tomatoes and other greens.



I had read somewhere, (and honestly I don't know where) but I realize that it is probably common knowledge that marigolds provide terrific pest control around tomatoes. The first spring we lived in this apartment I tried to do some container gardening, and the herbs were overtaken by little gnat-like creatures that bored their way into the leaves of the herbs and stayed there. They were impossible to wash out, and the natural garlic spray I mixed was useless, so my thyme and oregano lived for decoration alone. A neighbor told me that she has had a terrible time keeping anything because of these bugs, so she just gave up planting.

Although my science is not yet on solid ground, my plants have been mostly pest free thus far. I did buy some garlic and peppermint spray from the Brooklyn Botanic garden shop, but have only had to spray a few times at the beginning of the summer. Could it be the marigolds? Could it be the mixed beds? Could it be fate? To really find out I would need to create a control... but I can't bear sacrificing seedlings in the name of progress. Maybe next year.