Polyculture Clusters 

I've been waiting for this year's polyculture review! It's been looking so good!

Mixed growing is absolutely fascinating. It happened in my small garden by accident as some things failed, and gaps opened up from harvesting. However, I found that much more satisfying, and a far better use of space. I just need constant spares to pop in... something to happily get used to. Your garden looks fabulous, thank you for the video, and especially the comparisons.

I started a veggie garden this year (2021) in Cape Town, South Africa. The veggie part of my garden is tiny, first I dug out the grass as this grass is tough. Then I enclosed the edges with some slabs and bricks I had on hand, then I covered the soil with cardboard. I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (cut from soda bottles) and planted my seeds or sprouts inside the grow tubes in a rather mixed up haphazard way. Cape Town almost ran out of water 2 years ago so I only water inside the grow tubes using a large soda bottle with holes drilled in the top. I planted 6 trees taken from cuttings except for the Avo tree that comes from a pip, all in grow tubes, 1 tree died and all are small at the moment. I also intend to dig 2 swales for water catchment.

Thanks for putting such quality content out so often!

I started out with square foot gardening. It helped me to get a handle on how to space out my plants. Like you my brain prefers things organized together by type. But I’ve learned that my garden does much better if I plant things polyculture style and I’ve even come to find it more beautiful once it’s all grown in when everything is all mixed together. I’m also learning how to time certain plantings so I get more food out of the given space. For example I’m planting radishes and loose leaf lettuce right next to my cauliflowers and cabbage because I will be harvesting them long before they’re shaded out. Another excellent video. You’re a great teacher.

I have tried something similar before to a certain degree of success. However i find whilst this method can produce a good quantity of veg, the human aspect of it is often overlooked. A well organised garden is at some times more of a benefit for the grower than the plants. Being able to asses your plants at a glance is a major bonus for growing in organised rows. I have found that when i have excessively mixed crops, i often can suffer from blindspots within the bed, and plants go too long unharvested, or pests and diseases creep in more easily. Having to thoroughly search through your plants in order to find each harvestable crops is a big increase in both physical and mental demand. Ive instead gone for the middle ground of sectioning off my rows at a standard interval of 3m, with each section having one main crop, with sometimes a crossover catch crop. This maintains a polyculture and its benefits whilst also giving me ease of mind when doing the regular check-over Whilst you might fit more in a toolshed by playing tetris with your spades, its going to make quickly grabbing the right one that much more difficult.

I knew a woman who spent 2-3 hours total on her irrigated half acre garden a month. And she had the best gardens....full of all the major varieties. They weren't all tighty in rows. But she was definitely growing 10xs more food I was breaking my back for interning on a row crop farm in Northern California. She did alot of permiculture rules. She was a genius. I'm so glad I don't have to farm the row crop way or square-foot way.

I plant my large plants like broccoli, squash or running plants on the outside edge of the outside rows of my square foot garden starting at the very corner. I then plant the next plant at the farthest border corner of grid 2 once again right next to the border and so on down the line of squares. This allows me to take advantage of the walkway space. Basically I plant in the corner of the bed and then along the edge skipping every other square. I also plant beets, spinach or lettuce around them to be harvested as young leaves until the broccoli crowds them out.

awesome! this garden has always interested me the most, cant wait to see how far you can push this one!

Excellent video , as always !

I'd be interested to see a type of planting map for what you chose to put next to each other!

You may want to look at Edens poly culture growing. Its much more simple regular and organized than what you are doing. For example in a 2 meter bed you would plant 6 or 7 rows of plants with 3 or 4 different plants, say row of carrots, row of kale, row of cabbage, row of beans, row of leeks, etc but I'm sure you get the point

Super interesting. I’ve a large available area so had discounted the square foot method. Your upscaling of the squares s a great idea. The comment about including plant to encourage pollinators is a great inclusion. Good luck and thanks for yet another interesting video. As a patron I’m always please with your work. Thanks.

I have autism, so I find the entire premise of a polyculture garden very unsettling, chaotic (anarchy), and impossible to monitor empirically. It was difficult to watch, but your alterations were comforting.

Thank you for your video, you explained it very well.

I really admire your perseverance. I know that this garden hasn't been your favourite but you're still trying new things to make it work.

This is going to be soooo interesting !

Thanks for all your very edcuational videos. In the learning process orcess here before we finally move at a 26acre farm.

lots to think about - thanks.

I remember somewhere in the square foot gardening book talking about adapting the method to square metre instead. Probably to smallest size grids I could handle, i get a bit overwhelmed with to many grids to keep track of. I'm really interested in your adapted approach and look forward to your results. Thank you so much

Wow! Your land n knowledge had really grown. Ha pun. Thank you for sharing yr wisdom. 🌈🙏👍👍👍☮️

I always cluster plant..it works for me.🙂

This garden would drive me nuts I think! It seems like such a lot of work... I get the theory of it but, wow, it's tricky! Very interesting video..

In my opinioni one of most interesting videos! Thank you

How we can know that plants actually want to grow in a varied ecosystem with different types of plants around it is by comparing how monoculture cover crops do vs a cover crop mix. Compare the monoculture to a mix of 5 crops, 7 crops, 11 crops, 15 crops. Compare the biomass, pest problems, disease problems, overall size of plants, growth rate, resistance to climate events (flooding, extreme temperatures, strong winds, drought, etc) and you will be convinced. However, it can take more or perhaps DIFFERENT knowledge, skill, care, and intention to grow, care for, and harvest vegetables grown in a polyculture vs monocultures.

thanks, always insightful, greetings from Cill Dara

I think for a market garden context, you could simplify it even further and still get some of the same benefits (closer spacing, companion planting). Essentially make rows in a bed, similar to what you did but combining the lengthwise segments. That way you don't really increase the plants of the same variety close to each other (on average), but you get a lot simpler planting plans, which is necessary for production scale. You'd still have (up to) 3 different plants growing next to each other in any section of the bed (looking at the short side). Think that's a good geometric compromise of "count of sections" (simplicity, efficiency) and "species borders" (where polyculture benefits happen). Obviously you have more of the latter, but at a disproportionally greater increase in the former. Tradeoffs, contexts, interesting stuff.

If you compiled your companion list I would absolutely pay for that

Red have you considered growing carrots with radish for example in spirals instead of lines, I find I double the crop in less area

super interesting, I would love to see resent results of your no dig garden. thanks

Gosto muito dos seus vídeos. Sou do Brasil , coloque legenda em espanhol ou se puder português

Would you consider Ruth Stout method for the empty plot? It is a really laid back method of growing and will provide extra yield of potato or sweet potato.

I admire your enthusiasm to experiment, but I'd rather get kicked in the nuts than deal with a polyculture garden 😉

Another great video and approach, Bruce. It's why I love this channel - its the hollistic approach to gardening. I do have a question: Are you still running into the issue of hydrophobe soil? Currently, I have this issue in a couple of spots and I do not know where they came from or how to deal with it.

Hey, I am enjoying your videos. Here is a question: is it possible to grow something that gives a decent yield when starting out with no amendments for the soil? Perhaps only a few wheelbarrow loads of half-rotted homemade compost, and that's all. What do you think?

How do you keep track of your grid? Even with beds and paths I struggle with a tendency for the growing spaces to drift. (But if I don't provide some definition, everything gets trampled on, especially when it is small, and doubly with kids involved.)

I’m confused looking at the companion species chart. I heard that strawberries and garlic go well together?

I seem to always get problems with aphid in autumn, what do you use to deter them ?

I thought square foot gardening was designed for people with small spaces, eg a flat with a balcony. A 3ft square divided into 9 square feet sections, is supposed to give a good amount of food for 1 or 2 people. The crops are quick maturing and potentially cut and come again. So, different lettuce at different stages of growth, spinach, radish, baby carrots, turnip, celery etc. Aiming for 1 or 2 portions of salad per day. I don't think it was ever intended for cabbage, climbing beans or sweetcorn, if you don't like salad, think again! I think it is totally impractical for a market garden. It is hard to get crop protection in wider than 2.4ms, ideal for rows but beds containing carrots and tall brassicas, you would need to get the sowing machine out. I have 4 raised beds 6ftx3ft. I use scaffold netting or enviromesh on 2 and leave the other 2 open for pollinators. Crops from flowers, go in those, brassicas in the others with carrots, chard, beets, leeks etc. Then overwinter, start planting spring cabbage where flowering plants have been, and broad beans etc between the brussel sprouts etc. Theoretically a 2 year rotation but my block of sweetcorn are not in the same place every 2 years. Practical for a market garden, probably not, but it suits me and my local weather. The Red Gardens are on a much larger scale and managed by only 1 or 2 people. Efficiency must be a priority. Harvesting for a single portion for each meal is a different aim, to harvesting, what is ready and distributing it between many households. Yes not very cold, not very hot, not very dry, west Wales. I can harvest something all year round, so long as I can protect it from pests. Midnight mollusc hunts are possible, only taking 15 minutes, no chance in the Red Gardens! Ah you have provoked my thoughts again! Thanks

What do you do to repel rodents??

Density: A full row of...