Are you short on space for your vegetable garden? You may want to consider a planting technique called intercropping. It has been proven scientifically that, in most cases, the traditional method of planting crops close together in widely spaced rows is inefficient. Within the rows, each plant competes for the same resources (light, nutrients, and moisture), while weeds thrive between the rows.

The amount of space a plant requires can vary significantly. For example, cauliflower requires a larger "circle" (with the cauliflower being at the center) than lettuce. You can take advantage of this fact by spacing plants in staggered rows with equidistant spacing in both directions. In other words, the amount of space between the plants in each row is equal to the amount of space between the rows themselves. Thus, the "circle" of each plant barely overlaps the circle of another plant.

Intercropping is designed to maximize the space available. Since some plants grow more slowly, they won't occupy their "circle" for a couple of months. During this time, you can plant faster-growing plants next to or around the slower-growing ones. The former plants will be harvested before the latter plants mature. For example, plant garden cress around young cabbage. The cress, which is fast growing, can be cut a couple of times before you must remove it to allow more space for the cabbage.

Undercropping is a variation of intercropping. Upright or tall crops (such as sweet corn) are combined with ground-hugging or low growing plants (e.g., lettuce or cucumber). Another example involves combining climbing plants such as runner beans with fast-growing lettuce. The beans are grown on canes that are placed in a pyramid shape.

Although intercropping is an economic way to use the soil, be careful not to go overboard. Each crop must have adequate resources to grow properly. Since all plants are spaced relatively close together, thereby placing a high demand on the soil, be sure to provide sufficient nutrients, water, and mulch. There are many crops that you can combine, just be sure your plants are compatible.

Source: The Salad Garden -Joy Larckom.  Available for checkout at the Copper Queen Library in Bisbee.  The book is not in print.  Another, more current choice for a somewhat different approach is All New Square Foot Gardening, Mel Bartholomew.  2013.  Available at the Benson Public Library and at the Master Gardener office on the UofA Sierra Vista Campus.