Simple Guide to Intercropping | How to Grow More Food in your Vegetable Garden

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you so much for watching! Wednesday's video is 7 reasons why you need more nettles in your garden😉 If you have any video requests please let me know!

[@Lollipoplegs78]

Successional planting please Huw also thank you for the slug tips video

[@janohdegroot989]

Can't wait for that one, 7 reasons.. wow.. thanks for this one, quite informative for me.. 🙏

[@thepioneerhomestead]

Do you cover your potatoes with a covering like straw? Thank you!😊

[@Mrpurple75]

1 reason, turn it into rennet for cheese making!

[@charliegirlize]

How to make your own polly tunnel? The price for ready made is ridiculous.

[@lynnjones5850]

I live in and around a rainforest area on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. I don't just have small slugs, or just medium slugs, I also have large banana slugs. Any of these slugs can wipe out beds of vulnerable crops like brassicas. I noticed that the slugs haven't touched anything I am growing in the onion/garlic family so I am experimenting this year by interplanting all my brassicas with onions. I may even plant a hedge of salad onions around the edge to act as a barrier. Also deer seem to avoid onions though I will still have to net my brassicas from them. I've been gardening for years but I find your videos packed full of interesting information that keeps me thinking. Thanks.

[@simonesmit6708]

I'm in Mission BC and I know those banana slugs. Ugh. However I use used coffee grounds and crushed egg shells to repel slugs. It works pretty good but I will now plant salad onions with many plants.

[@edlewiese5349]

I have heard of putting beer in a pie pan. Never tried it myself but many have claimed good results.

[@lynnjones5850]

@@edlewiese5349 This works really well with smaller slugs but these banana slugs are so large that I'd need to use so much beer for one trap that beer lovers would be upset! A few years ago before copper became so expensive, I bought a lot of thin copper cut into 2 inch wide strips. I cut the long strips into large collars and use them for my brassicas clipped shut with a clothes peg. This works extremely well for when I transplant out to protect the seedlings though some banana slugs are so long they can power over the shock as they climb over. I would love to get more since I've expanded my garden but the cost now!

[@santanodias5180]

huw and charles dowding r best gardeners in uk,....

[@shawtop]

Definitely, i hope to be like them in the future. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYrKoqyrrd9kfpI

[@kerstovickawicke9625]

True

[@gardenboots7464]

Don't forget Liz Zorab :)

[@jf9335]

YES!

[@jeanettegoodier3495]

Huw, Liz and Charles 🙌 🙌 🙌

[@macjarvis2882]

Hey Huw great video! I’m a new gardener and I’m really grateful for all your support! Keep it up!

[@suburbanhomestead]

Volunteer plants are always the best ones

[@HuwRichards]

They are Siloe! :) always a great surprise and virtually no effort needed

[@chomama1628]

Those would be the plants that I would save seed from providing they are heirlooms.

[@c3mac55]

I combined leeks with lettuce, kale and chard this year and it's working out well. Took some left over leeks and mixed them in with carrots for an effective slug repellant!

[@gardenboots7464]

One really attractive and fun thing to do it to make an arched garden trellis from a metal cattle panel secured by a T-post and wire on each side. Planted with 3 contrasting varieties of climbing beans: green, purple and rattle snake (striated). Beautiful, delicious harvest.

[@LifeIsMessyImLearningAsIGrow]

Thank you for sharing. I’m a KZbin gardener too trying to learn as much as I can about companion planting and gardening. It’s my 3rd year and I know I still have so much to learn. That’s how I found your channel . Im so happy I did because you have so much to offer. I hope we can learn from each other. Happy Planting!

[@passionatedreamer7311]

Can't wait for the succession crops video.

[@ChooksART4kids]

The lattice frames with the plants climbing look so good! Definitely something for us to aspire to

[@barbarap8602]

Thanks Huw, I’ve never tried inter-cropping before but I’m definitely going to give it a go now, and I also wanted to say, I was watching one of your videos recently and you mentioned Charles Dowding, WOW another AMAZING gardener with BRILLIANT ideas, I’ve now also gone NO DIG. Thanks again. Barbara.

[@alexandraathay]

Fantastic videos Huw! Very informative and therapeutic. So much work involved too. I can't believe it's only at 585k subs...come on people Huw deserves getting over the 1million mark 🤗

[@benwoodhouse4329]

Must say I have been gardening for the last 4 years and I still have lernt alot from your content and tips thanks

[@gardenboots7464]

Would love to see a video on companion plants and crop rotation ideas.

[@zuditaka]

If you save and replant the seeds of "dwarf" nasturtiums for a couple of years, they end up returning to being the climbing type again. Nasturtium flowers are lovely in salads.

[@carlacowling1789]

Right on time! I'm very interested in intercropping and was having a hard time figuring out how to do it. Thanks so much!

[@trockodile]

I'm back re-watching this video for inspiration and quick reminder 2 years on from watching it as we try and sneak just a little more production out of some new beds. Thank you so much for these excellent resource videos which support and supplement your books so very very well! All the best for the Highlands of Scotland. 👍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🐂 😁 🌱

[@anniecochrane3359]

Thanks! Some new ideas for me to try - always exciting - for my spring planting in a few months time in New Zealand. Really appreciate the way you communicate with us - your style, along with all the information.

[@georgepursley2832]

Hugh, I just watched this video again as we start planting here in USDA 4B. You are a wonderful teacher. Thanks.

[@LadyLovelyLox777]

Thank you for this! I just began intercropping yesterday. Perhaps an informative video on which crops compliments each other and lend to soil enrichment to feed each other Vs. plants that absolutely should NOT be planted together. I recently read about tomatoes and which things should/should not be planted next to them because the vegetable would leach too much of the nutrients tomatoes need from the soil. However, the right plant done with tomatoes would benefit the soil and both could grow happily together. Thank you for your information. You are awesome!

[@Ed19601]

You may want to google "combination planting" that will give you info on plants you could plant together or should not plant together

[@poppyinajar]

All your recent videos are very informative and high quality! And you are putting up so many of them! Well done and thank you for your hard work!

[@RickMitchellProvenanceAndRoots]

This is wonderful timing! I'm getting ready to plant my garden tomorrow and I can use these tips & ideas! Thanks!

[@lynnkerr9204]

I just planted some bush beans yesterday and the package said 2 inches apart, which seemed too close together but after your comment about them supporting each other it makes much more sense. Thank you for all your tips. 😁🤗

[@kickinghorse2405]

Your intro "Hello, and welcome back to the garden . . . " is great! Really! I'm all "Aw, thanks Huw. Glad to be here."

[@HuwRichards]

Haha! Glad to have you :) Thanks for watching

[@MuddyBootz]

Hello Huw, some good hints and tips there....... I will be intercropping more than ever this year, Besides the bonus of extra crops to harvest.......the more soil you fill with your chosen plants........the less room there is for weeds to grow......every ones a winner!!! ............Nice one! 😀👍 🌻 Nigel .......MuddyBootz Allotment 🌻

[@kirstenwhitworth8079]

I am in the PNW of the USA. I just received your book (Grow Food for Free). I'm only a few pages into it, and am delightfully surprised that it isn't at all what I expected. My thanks!

[@cassieoz1702]

Haha, your dibber looks just like mine😄. I'm limited to planting around the drip emitters in my three runs of dripper hose (ie cant plant between rows unless I add more expensive watering hose) so i plant four different seedlings/seeds around each emitter. I have three types of self sown lettuce (cos, little gem, claytonia) that pop up across the beds and in the woodchip paths (and occasionally in the lawn) so I just move/transplant any that grow where i don't want them. There's self sown borage, cosmos, violas and oriental poppies that pop up among the veg when the season is right

[@petrastuder7981]

Once again...thank you for a very informative, yet to the point, video!!

[@santalisaq]

Can't wait to see the flowers... Thank you Huw.

[@janehurd7441]

Great ideas. I grow my lettuce intercropped with tall brassicas, kale, etc. Various colours looks attractive and lettuce is long gone before brassica is too big and needs the space.

[@jenniferbailey44]

Very useful, thanks for sharing. Your garden is looking lovely. Your enthusiasm is infectious. 👍🐝

[@saskiaguy1940]

Huw, I LOVE your videos! Been binge-watching for weeks now and getting so inspired. Greetings from Cape Town, South Africa 😊

[@Braisin-Raisin]

Thank you for all your informative videos! I always intercrop - I find it works very well and I always fill any "holes" with a plant. I like to have calendula in between the veggies.

[@emrsngs]

In the area I'm growing in we have worms that can damage lettuces and brassicas. So last year I planted onion throughout and no more worms. I also tried garlic around my rose bushes and they did great where as in other years garlic failed and roses had disease. :)

[@lukejones1244]

you can also intercrop a, well you may call it a green manure, to cut down and provide the plant next to it with glucose and nitrogen, instead of adding a fertilizer. For example, grow broad beans next to a cereal grain like oats, and then cut off the broad bean plants at ground level about 1 month before you want the oats to have extra nitrogen.

[@kenyonbissett3512]

Lots of great information, thank you. It brings to mind the three sisters, corn, climbing beans and squash. Its intercropping, food forest and symbiotic all in one.

[@laurielyon1892]

This year I’m trying something I’ve never done before. In my raised bed where I’ve planted my tomatoes, I planted green beans around the edge of the garden next to them and I’ve planted basil between each tomato plant. Anxious to see how it all works.

[@spoolsandbobbins]

Another well planned video Huw!! From Nova Scotia

[@squange20]

Excellent tips as usual Huw. I love the idea of pots placed on the bamboo stakes to hold the shade netting in place. I was at a loss wondering what to place on top of the stakes to avoid the netting getting ripped. I looked up small silicone and rubber caps, but they were not cost effective. I’ve got lots of spare pots to use. Thank you.

[@paulwright7564]

Going to try this this week....fingers crossed. I've run out of bed space and have plants to go out and I know I have some crops on their way out. So it's lettuce between leeks and beetroot amongst leeks (leeks are quite well advanced).

[@janicejurgensen2122]

Thank you! I love your gardening style! Very to the point and full of usefulness! I always enjoy your tutorials!!

[@HuwRichards]

That's great to hear! Thank You :)

[@anilkapur1584]

Very informative and innovative, thank you very much!

[@loopy7057]

Thyme and landcress are awesome companion plants for brassicas.

[@silentthunder2108]

Really appreciated this vid. Glad I found this page

[@handlethehandle7]

Yup. Great to encourage experimenting. It turns out my leek and chard experiment was educational ...

[@macjarvis2882]

Huw, could you make a video on how to take cuttings of plants and grow them

[@shawtop]

I'd like to see that to 👍🏻 kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYrKoqyrrd9kfpI

[@jenniferbailey44]

Yes I’d find that useful as well

[@cassieoz1702]

I think one of his early videos (when he was a young lad) covers cuttings

[@jstrutz1011]

Cut of a top, put it in glas of water in a sunny window, let roots establish (change water when dirty). After roots have established, put it in soil, voila.

[@debbiestip]

I started out with a polyculure of some garlic and strawberry plants, which I have now also intercropped with some lettuce and tomato. In spring I did some intercropping of radish between my rows of carrot and onion. Also now, when the season is progressing, I see lots of nasturtium seedlings which I will let scramble through and over the sides of my beds. I also popped in some mini-pumpkin plants where I had some space and will see how they and the other crops will cope with sharing space. Beetroot between brussel-sprouts and planted my edamame beans between the spinach that was going over. All mainly because of too many crop-wishes and too little space hahaha. But looking good so far, will see how things fare during the rest of the season ;-)

[@UKscrapper]

Great tips on intocroping another informative video thank you

[@unserekleinefarminschweden8899]

Thank you for this helpful and inspiring video.I will try this tomorrow in my garden,I still have space between my onions and carrots.I love your videos ,You would make a awesome teacher 😊👍greetings from 🇸🇪

[@ofeliabalmori9133]

Awesome!!! exactly what I was looking for, thank you so much!!!!

[@sunshinewildfire7087]

Thank you for making this video and keep making them!

[@krystynam4076]

Just a video I was looking for... Thank You

[@deanablythe9394]

Thank you Huw, that was very interesting.

[@carolineholland4178]

My red and white current bushes have recently been harvested, mostly by the birds. We shared them and did get a pretty good crop considering I have moved to a new allotment site. The bushes were dug up and replanted last november into a bed nourished with manure from the organic farm that owns the site. I had some spare cucumber plants and some parsley so I planted them beneath the bushes. They are scrambling up the bushes like it is a climbing frame and producing cucumbers. Im not sure how the fruit bushes will do next year but I ran out of climbing supports and thought, "why not give it a try?" I am liking this idea of intuitive gardening and experimenting, it is almost like a fluid less contrived form of art. Throwing paint on to the paper and work with how it evolves into something beautifull.

[@car9140]

I love your videos, but I need to start taking notes if I’m interested in something because you’re in such a different zone. I end up having to wait 9 or 10 months to try something you’re doing!

[@tuppybrill4915]

Migardener found that radish grew quite happily in with pac choi

[@etiennelouw9244]

I just put in my first square foot gardening inter crop, kale with 4 onions around it. This is an experiment from me, all from seed.

[@TheDenisedrake]

Fantastic! Yesterday I found a volunteer pumpkin and thought it would provide great shade for lettuce... I just need to build a skyway for it.

[@emmacavillsketches]

Thanks for sharing Huw! I’ve been in the veg patch this morning filling in gaps and edges of bed with some calendula and also trying out putting some extra tomato plants in amongst some sunflowers, so I am interested to see how that goes!

[@HuwRichards]

That sounds amazing Emma! I hope they work out ☺️

[@icewolf250]

Thanks for this. lots of good tips.

[@sweetpeasbackyardgarden1236]

That's a great idea! I have some old bricks I can repurpose. Thank you for the tip.

[@blueba3286]

this is very helpful as im thinking of doing intercropping this year! ... thanks Huw for the tips😉👌

[@j.reneewhite915]

I filled a bed with onions and harvested 1/2 of them a little early for use and then planted all my sweet potato slips in the gap. The sweet potatoes started filling in and covering the onion bulb area until it was time to harvest the onions and give the bed over to the sweet potato vines. It worked wonderfully!

[@slappy01uk]

Lots of good ideas in this video as I am running out of space in my plot. I already have spring onions groing in between my lines of carrots but ithink i will use the space in the middle of my bean wig wams to grow on some moolie seedlings I have. Thanks Huw

[@ChrisJohnson-pd4hh]

Be careful planting in the wigwam space. If the beans get going there won't be much light in that area. - Chris Johnson, The Lincolnshire Bucketeer.

[@colinmacdonald8738]

Thanks Hwu. I’m a first time gardener at 79 and I have about 800 seedlings started at various times since covid19. Hardened off some tomatoes and other seedlings today. Intercropping is vital when planting my 33 gardens here in rural Dundas Ontario. CMACSHACKGREENGARDENS

[@eemoogee160]

First time gardening with 33 gardens? Amazing!

[@happydays1336]

I've had great success growing radishes and cilantro around my squash and brassicas. They repel squash bugs and aphids. Let them grow until they set seed, but don't pull them out until a hard frost has killed the veggies or the aphids will come back practically overnight (I had this happen last year).

[@cowboygeologist7772]

Very nice video. Thanks for posting.

[@NaptimeNigella]

Great ideas I tend to plant like with like, I should definitely experiment more ♥️

[@Eon0007]

Huw da man! 🙂 Another great informative Vid 👍

[@kitdubhran2968]

Something good to grow under the shade is lettuces in the middle of summer. They don’t like getting too hot so the shade helps. I generally don’t have a bunch of the same plants in one bed. I have a couple tomatoes and some squash and zucchini growing in one “bed”. I’m mostly taking out chunks of my grass and putting down plants that will last for a while. Like a couple of artichokes. And a patch of strawberries.

[@becky0710]

Great informative video. Even more fun if you drink a shot every time he says intercropping.

[@debz_vegplot]

Great video Huw :). I'm doing exactly the same thing with the climbing beans, although i've got Polestar and Blauhilde :)

[@gwenscoble6229]

Thanks for the video Huw. I'm trying potatoes at about 4 ft between the 3 rows with squash plants between them. I've read that lifting the potatoes can disturb the squash so I put main crop in the middle row so they can be left in the ground and lifted when the squash die down. The squash have a lot of space between them so I'm hoping for some tasty squash. Last year they got blown about by the wind. I'm also sowing 3ft peas to the west of courgettes to retard the prevailing wind. My main premise with muddling plants when I only have 4 small raised beds, don't put flowering plants in your brassica cages if you want bees to pollinate! Best wishes from Anglesey.

[@izzzzzz6]

My chard is growing back from last year. But so was my coriander till i chopped it down by mistake whilst removing weeds today. Well, it tasted great with my potatoes today.

[@tinnerste2507]

Nice video! I was going to make a new garden bed for bush beans but i think il try planting them between my shallots instead. Cheers

[@fionaanderson5796]

I currently have wombuk (Chinese cabbage), carrots, beetroot, and leeks interplanted. They were all doing well until the cold weather hit a couple of weeks ago. (I'm in SE Australia so heading into winter.) Now, like everything else in the garden they are likely to sit around doing nothing until spring. In hindsight i should have spaced the wombuks further apart as their leaves are crowding the others a bit but you live and learn. Nasturtiums between tomatoes seem to do well but the spinach in a different tomato patch was less successful as by the time i was trying to harvest the spinach i was having trouble getting to it through the tomatoes. Those tomatoes otoh, went crazy with fruit and I'm still harvesting some despite the recent morning frosts. They are a variety called Yellow Pear. They're tiny like cherry tomatoes and very sweet.

[@katherinewright7963]

Very informative, thanks 😊

[@beverleyprice9566]

Thank you so much for this video, it's been very informative. I planted my onion sets late autumn which are growing nicely, I'll be sowing some radish as described in your video. One question, could I companion plant purple sprouting broccoli with leeks and garlic, I'm trying this to confuse the dreaded white butterfly x

[@salwa4ever818]

Beautiful video and really useful information. I would really appreciate it if you could guide me as to how to protect my Swiss chard from slugs 🐌 I planted green onion all around it hoping the slugs would get turned off. Please guide me. Your garden looks amazing 😉

[@elizabethsansom6447]

You ROCK. 😊 Thank you

[@southsidecarly7427]

Thanks for the video!

[@franklittle]

I have some voluntary salad leaves growing between my spring onions too. Both doing well, and when any salad leaves look to be encroaching too much on the onions I just eat them 😊

[@johnfitbyfaithnet]

Excellent

[@crazyflautist]

Hello, do you change the spacings when intercropping or does it depend on what combinations you use? How do you work this out?

[@ellenrusten6192]

I noticed in one of your watering videos that your squash were planted with weed fabric instead of a wood or straw mulch. What's your reason for that? You are so insightful with your gardening, so I know you have a reason!

[@LINDADUNGLISON]

Great videos, thank you

[@healthygreenbrave]

Cilantro (I think you call it coriander?) And peas work very well together. So do green onion and chard. Huw, in your new book you explain how to propagate berry bushes, but I don't understand the cut you make at the top of the cutting. Could you please demonstrate this in a video?? Thank you!

[@lindapenney5207]

Awesome update

[@purplerain4062]

What's the ideal thing to plant with carrots? Leek or spring onions maybe?

[@amaburke4]

Hi Huw. New to gardening and taking lots of tips from ur video. Is there any crops that don't grow together? Keep up the gd work.

[@produde8668]

I’m growing the good stuff

[@kingjames4886]

in my experience bees love borage most. my climate is cold and season short and it still self-seeds and comes up every year. my garden is always full of bees, almost to an uncomfortable level.

[@BassSeduction]

The bees where I am only pass the borage for mustard it's pretty astounding when the blooming gets going

[@synthiarhinaga2450]

I just subcribed today.. M so ..Excited..really like ur videos😊

[@craftypam9992]

I grew oca around the bottom of my runner beans last year, and got a bumper yield of each.

[@Mimonhomestead]

Thank you bro for tips

[@rosesallotmentadventures9365]

Thanks for all these tips. I was waiting for the 3 sisters method to come up. Is that something you have experience with?

[@jwstanley2645]

Just as a play with words, what you nicely call 'surprise' others call 'vulinteer.' With intercropping, consider companion planting. Interplanting can also be companion planting. Companion planting can involve different layers of light. Intercropping can help with naturally detering certain pests (plant pests, bugs, slugs, molds, blights etc. In companion planting, gardeners seek how to encourage other plants

[@cherylhowker1792]

My main worry would be with trying to make sure that the 2 crops didn't need different NPK amounts.... As I understand it if something needs more potassium feed and you plant something that doesn't need or like it,you could be down on your crop. Obviously if you just water or water with a feed for all the same then you won't have this issue. For me personally,as a first year really trying new things,and growing in containers as can't bend due to disabilities,I can make it that each grow bag has what that one plant needs. Or as I say I you can interplant with stuff that needs the same level of feed.

[@the_green_anna]

Parsley in between 'Blauhilde' was a bit optimistic, wasn't it? 😁 Thanks for inspiring!

[@annestudley8235]

What would you say about planting winter squash along the side (inside) a raised bed filled with root crops (carrots, beets, parsnips)?

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

Very helpful!