Marie's Milpa: a planting plan
Mixed cultivation is the cultivation of different plant species that have a positive influence on each other. This is the opposite of monoculture and brings more variety to your vegetable patch. What can be a real mess for many people when planning their beds is nothing more than a child's play exercise with the tools in the Fryd app. As part of our themed weeks on mixed cultivation, we are presenting five example beds that you can use as inspiration for your own mixed cultivation. Today we're talking about one of the oldest mixed cultures of all: milpa.
A very well-known and popular mixed crop with a long tradition is the milpa mixed crop. This historic mixed crop originates from South America and includes corn, beans and pumpkin. The three components, also known as the "three sisters", complement each other in the vegetable patch in an unusual way. The maize plants are planted before the runner beans, giving them a head start in growth and serving as a climbing aid later on. At the same time, the beans improve the soil thanks to their nitrogen-enriching properties, which benefits the two heavy feeders, maize and pumpkin. In contrast to beans, maize has relatively shallow roots so that the two planting partners do not get in each other's way underground.
A circle of beans is placed around each corn plant (e.g.'True Gold'); suitable varieties here include 'Blauhilde' or 'Neckargold'. The colorful pods of the purple and yellow beans (wax beans) are a real eye-catcher and bring more color variety to the vegetable patch. If you don't fancy the classic yellow sweetcorn, you can also choose colorful varieties. A pumpkin is planted in the traditional milpa, offset from the maize plants. This creeps over the bed and shades the ground between the maize and bean plants. As an alternative to pumpkins, you can also plant other pumpkin plants such as zucchinis. Marie has planted a Hokkaido pumpkin 'Red Kuri' and a spaghetti pumpkin 'Vegetable Spaghetti', as well as a zucchini'Gold Rush' in her milpa bed. You can fill the gaps with herbs and flowers. Savory (here: summer savory) goes well next to beans because it keeps the bean aphid away. You can also plant other herbs such as parsley and oregano. So that you can harvest the herbs easily, it is better to plant them at the edge. The remaining gaps can be filled with marigolds and borage.
Fancy a mixed milpa crop? We have already added all the varieties of Marie's Milpabeet to your shopping cart - all 100% organic, of course. You can also edit the selection according to your wishes: Click here to go to the shopping cart!
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Annabell
Annabell is studying agricultural biology at the University of Hohenheim. She also enjoys gardening in her private life, spends a lot of time in nature and loves to be creative.
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What a joy—for two days now, the starling has been back on our cherry tree, impressing the females with its melodies and our starling box 😀 What a spring awakening it was today for all the little creatures. The gardening had to wait for now, because finally having so many photo opportunities again was an Eldorado for me 😅. Honeybees have already been busy collecting nectar from snowdrops and crocuses, sometimes each on a separate flower, sometimes all on one. I also spotted the first seven-spot ladybug; first it took a long sunbath, then it tried to bring out its wings. There are also many flies around, here is a dung bee on a snowdrop. Many brimstone butterflies and a peacock butterfly fluttered through the garden. Unfortunately, they didn't want to sit still... so I haven't been able to take a photo yet.
Naive question: Does "partial shade" mean that a flower bed is only in the sun for about half the day (but then in full sun), or that it is only illuminated by the branches of a larger tree (but then all day long)?
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1. The peppers are getting some wind so that they develop strong stems. 2. The pepinos have just been pricked out. And they are growing nicely. 3. The physalis will also get some wind soon. 4. The giant onion at the front and the leek at the back left had to be thinned out because I was a little too enthusiastic with the sowing. They spend the day outside. 5. Hyssop perennials in pre-cultivation, as well as a few lettuces for spring. In mid-March, I prepare a large tray and distribute them wherever there is space in the garden. Every month until fall, new supplies are provided. We love iceberg lettuce and lollo rosso. 6. The cabbage is doing great (kohlrabi Superschmelz, red kohlrabi, early cauliflower, and white cabbage Brunswijk). But the white cabbage is bolting a little. I'll sow it again at the beginning of March. I don't like that.
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