What is Interplanting - Intercropping

Planting Onions 2005
Planting Onions 2005
by BridgemanStudio

Interplanting is a practice used in gardening where two plants or more are planted in the same space to make the most use of the allotted space. Sometimes also referred to as intercropping it is a practiced used by Native American . For example planting corn, squash and pole beans together is called the Three Sisters of the Cornfield. This is a practice that saves space and is beneficial to each of the crops by the release of nitrogen into the soil for the squash and corn. Space is utilized by one crop growing upward, while the other spreads low to the ground.

Another way to do interplanting is to plant crops that mature at different rates. For example plant Brussels sprouts among spinach. By the time the slow growing Brussels sprout mature, the spinach has already been harvested. 

Parsnips can be interplanted with radishes that grow fast. 

Another benefit of interplanting is that the soil around the veggies gets tilled every time you pull another plant that has reached it's production limit  out of the ground.

Sweet Pea 1907 Ceramic Ornament
Sweet Pea 1907 Ceramic Ornament
by yesterdaysmemories

Vertical Crops Are:

Peas, Pole Beans, cucumbers, some melons and some tomatoes.

Vintage Seed Packet Label Art, Pole Lima Beans Poster
Vintage Seed Packet Label Art, Pole Lima Beans Poster
by YesterdayCafe

Ernst Benary’s Radish Varieties
Ernst Benary’s Radish Varieties
by ThinxShop

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