I've already determined everything I'm going to grow and sell, down to the letter. I had a very expansive list as a starting point, and eventually whittled down the candidates to four tiers (each, on two separate lists: small & annuals, and trees): Tier 1 has the bread and butter, that I know will sell well because they have a strong market here and are always in demand. Tier 2 has crops with a strong enough local market, but not as strong as tier 1, so I'll be planting less of them. Tier 3 has crops with a weak local market: strong enough to confidently grow them in the knowledge they will be bought, but not so in demand to warrant anything over a small planting. Tier 3 with the trees means most exotics: trees that I'll grow singly (or in very small groups) for my own personal consumption, and to test the waters in the local market (there are exotic trees in the upper tiers, but they're mainly well-known species that I'm reasonably confident will sell well, from what I've seen). Tier 4 with the trees are extra species and poorly-known exotics, that will only get a spot in my land if I can afford to give them space (they're all optional). Tier 4 with the small crops are also exotic and poorly-known crops, that I'll be growing in small quantities for myself (and to test the waters at market) in my own personal plot.
I found the plans I was working on prior to the hurricane, hashing out companion planting guilds and crop rotation schemes for the small and annual crops. I was already far along back then, having collected and processed most of the information. I've been working on it again for the past few days, and have finally decided on the Plant Guilds I will be trialling on the farm (now all I need is the farm...
). I've also been drawing up some of the planting schemes themselves, but I won't be posting those pictures, my drawings are terrible.
The next step (after I finish drawing the schemes) would be to figure out the proper spacing for all the plants involved, but I'm not sure how to hash that out when each species has a different distance. After that comes the final step: figuring out the monthly and yearly planting calendar... It's all well and good to have a pretty picture in your head of all the mature plants growing together, but the practical reality will probably be a bit different, especially when taking the seasons into account.
This is all highly experimental, based on information I've found online and other people's experiences. I've evaluated all of it to the best of my abilities, and have given special attention to well-sourced information, but there's no guarantee it'll work. This is merely what I intend to trial when I start planting on the farm. Naturally, whatever works shall remain in use and be improved upon over time with further trials; whatever fails shall be dropped from my methods. Trial and error is pretty much the only way to go with these topics.
As previously stated, I divided everything up into tiers when doing my research. So here are the small crop tiers of economic importance in my neck of the woods:
Tier 1:
Plantain
Yams (Dioscorea)
Pigeon Peas
Calabaza (the local Squash, C. moschata)
Sweet Peppers (local Ají types and others, like Banana and Bell Peppers)
Tomatoes
Lettuce (the local favorite is Black-seeded Simpson)
Cilantro
Culantro (Eryngium foetidum)
Tier 2:
Sweet Potatoes
Cocoyams [Yautía (Xanthosoma spp.) and Malanga (Taro, Colocasia esculenta)]
Chayote (Sechium edule)
Sweet Corn
Alliums (Onion, Garlic, etc.)
Broccoli
Cabbage
Potato (admittedly this one's experimental... It depends if my tropical breeding program works out)
Tier 3:
Papaya
Apio Criollo (Arracacha)
Asparagus
Carrots
Eggplant
Okra
Beans (White Beans and Bush Green Beans, mostly)
Peas
Garbanzos
Peanuts
Other Legumes (other Phaseolus, Vigna, Vicia)
Other Brassicas (mostly Cauliflower, Brussels Sprouts and Kale)
Spinach
Other Cucurbits (Cucumber, Melon, Watermelon, other Squash types)
Parsley
Beets
Radishes
Also herbs and flowers, mostly grown in belts near the main crop lines.
I'll also be trialling some other species in my personal patch, like the Hodgsonia, Telfairia, Groundnuts (Apios Americana), Tuberous Vetch, Potato Mint, etc.
That being my selection, I sought out as much information on companion planting as I could. I made extensive use of Wikipedia's table, but focused more on the combinations that had reference links to them, which I could review for credibility; I ran separate searches for them as well, and also for the source-less combinations. I took special note of what NOT to plant together, and underlined those combinations that were especially promising. When my own table was finished... I paused the project until last week. Now I reviewed the information again and started building the guilds, mostly focusing on the underlined combos, but also reviewing the rest for good measure. I built the guilds around the most important crops, but the less important ones also had a part to play, often being good companions. When the guilds had few components, I tried to think up a good pattern for the planting scheme, mostly giving them equal space. If a guild had more components, I first arranged the core components as previously described, and then left the remainder to the periphery of the growing bed (if I thought it appropriate for a given species).
These are the guilds I intend to trial, which I've tiered according to their dominant crops, which aren't always the most important ones in the guild; they'll be rotated according to standard crop rotation practices. The further down you go, the more likely you'll see an uncommon crop being used in the guild:
Tier 1:
1 - Plantain + Cocoyams + Sweet Potatoes + Periphery: Okra
2 - Yams + Papaya + Bush Beans
3 - Lettuce + Cilantro + Broccoli + Periphery: Culantro + Onions + Beets + Radishes
4 - Tomato + Peppers + Garlic + Carrots + Basil
4.5 - Other companions to trial in guild 4: Marigold, Borage and Nettles
5 - Squash + Corn + Beans + Periphery: Turnips + Nasturtium
Tier 2:
6 - Chayote + Arracacha + Peppers + Peanuts
7 - Potato + Brassicas + Peas + Alliums + Periphery: Chamomile + Marigolds
Tier 3:
8 - Asparagus + Tomato + Parsley + Basil
9 - Eggplant + Garbanzo + Radishes + Tarragon + Marigold + Lemongrass (repels cutworms)
10 - Spinach + Cauliflower + Peas
11 - Cucumber + Garlic + Kohlrabi + Celery + Bush Beans + Radishes + Amaranth
The guild at the periphery of the major plots (as opposed to the periphery of each growing bed) is the following: Pigeon Peas + Cassava in the inner circle, Lemongrass in the middle circle, and Peppermint (a low-level rodent deterrent) in the outer circle.
Some plants to use everywhere due to different traits that make them excellent companions for a broad range of crops: Lovage, Borage, Tarragon, Oregano, Yarrow, Marigold
The companion belts are the following:
Herb Belt (good for tomatoes and other crops; a broad choice of herbs that all play well together and which you can choose from according to the needs of the area)): Oregano, Marjoram, Thyme, Rosemary, Sage, Lavander, Chamomile, Yarrow, Nettle
Flower Belt: Sunflower, Marigold, California Poppy, Lupines, Dianthus, Alyssum, Lacy Phacelia
Good companions to fruiting trees: Southernwood, Borage, Comfrey, Nasturtium
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That's as far as I got with the annual crops so far. Still a lot to do, to trial, to consider and evaluate. My only problem is, I don't have the land to shift this into a practical evaluation immediately. It's gonna stay theoretical until I can get some space.