Great garden companions : a companion planting system for a beautiful, chemical-free vegetable garden

This book has been so helpful. When I began gardening, I had heard of companion planting and was interested it taking this approach, but had no idea how to go about it. Which plants work well together? What insects are beneficial to a garden? This book provides a wider view of what a garden should be. It is not just a plot of land where you dictate what you are growing. That is certainly a part of it, but the garden is also part of a larger ecosystem. Plants attract bugs, small animals eat those bugs, larger animals eat those smaller animals, etc. So, why not plant with that in mind?

Did you know that 99% of insects are “harmless to human life and endeavors?” Some are even beneficial to a garden, though you wouldn’t know it with all of the push for insecticides. Well, this book talks about some of those beneficial insects. It also has a little section dedicated to these little guys. There are sketches as well as a little informational blurb about these “beneficials.” Also, there is quite a large section in the book that outlines which plants attract beneficial insects and little tips for how to grow them.

There is also a nice little section which I enjoyed on how to plant a hedgerow in order to attract birds and wildlife. It is nice to think about gardening not only as a useful endeavor, but also as a way to provide shelter for wildlife. Really this book is so helpful that I do not want to return it. I will definitely be putting it back on hold so that I can read it again and glean more information from it.