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Gardening, Au Naturale (Or Companion Gardening)
by Wil Wood

Hello there, Trendy Environmental Warrior! Congratulations on stepping outside and attempting to wrangle the going green king, your green thumb. These tips are all about the buddy system for your garden a.k.a. companion planting.

The low down: when you put certain plants together, they work to repel insects, increase flavor, grow in size, and make your garden overall amazing. (All without the poisons and miracle spending we are accustomed to.)

Asparagus and Tomatoes: BFFs. This is the ultimate example of how companion gardening works. Having tomatoes around will keep away some nasty beetles, while asparagus leaves get rid of nematodes (Scary looking microworms.)
Garlic, Bunnicula's enemy. Ok, so many people might not know James Howe's novels about the vampire rabbit—but there is something to say about garlic. It repels more than your date; ants, maggots, aphids-and cute little bunnies—all hate the stuff.
Tomatoes and Carrots cause headaches. A lot of plants can love each other and a lot of plants can hurt each other. For example, Tomatoes are delicious around Carrots, but Carrots are puny around tomatoes.
Marigold, the more the merrier! French Marigold repels so many insects it's kind of scary. (And Mexican Marigolds repel so much that even your smaller herbs start to run.) Just keep in mind; if slugs aren’t your thing, marigolds can be a problem!
Keep your garden minty fresh. Speaking of slugs...Mint will get rid of them, as well as rodents, ants, and fleas. It also attracts some big guns like wasps, which love the taste of other insects. Mint also brings you hoverflies (harmless bee clones) that love pollen like their yellow-stripped friends.
Geraniums: sacrificing themselves for the better good. You can't get rid of all pests, and geraniums know this. They work as a "trap crop" a.k.a. all your beetles and leafhoppers will eat the geraniums up and leave your roses, peppers, and grapes alone. For this, I salute them.
A Sage among beans. Beans and Cabbages work well around sage. The sage will bring honeybees and butterflies while removing carrot flies and cabbage maggots.
Sunflowers! A Corny Tip. (Ha! Sorry, I couldn't resist) Sunflowers help with the growth of your corn, while also working to gather up all the aphids in your garden. This in turn attracts beautiful birds (like hummingbirds) to eat up all the bugs on this plant.
You’ve got Starflower! Starflower, better known as Borage, brings the good bugs (bees and such), repels the bad (cabbage worms), and is packed with Vitamin C for all your baby plants. It's a must have for strawberries, and a great add-on for any garden.

Just a reminder: there are thousands of combinations for getting rid of insects, helping plants grow, making their crop delicious, and getting the most out of your garden. If you only walk away with one tip about companion gardening, let it be this one: There is always a healthier, greener alternative to pesticides and chemicals.

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