The Seasonal Handoff: Underplanting Your Trellised Vegetables

How I'm using vertical space to move from summer crops into fall

Our topic today is one of form and function.

Growing up

I have a few foundational practices in my approach to beneficial vegetable gardening, three of which are intensive planting (spacing), interplanting (diversity), and seasonality. Vertical growing supports each of these, letting us maximize our growing space within the season and as we transition to the next, all while focusing on biodiversity.

Take tomatoes. A tomato can take up 2 to 4 feet per plant if supported individually, or as little as 1 foot when grown on a trellis. I choose 12 to 18 inches, with a commitment to quality soil and pruning. Not only does this mean I can fit 14 tomato plants into an 8x3 bed, it also opens up the soil level for underplanting.

UNDERSTORY

Generally speaking, our vining vegetables need quite a bit of time to produce. The shorter, quicker underlings at their feet will be ready to clear earlier, making this a great place to start planting for the season ahead.

A few of my cucumber plants are starting to show signs of decline, so I'm underplanting them now with snap peas. Once the cucumbers are cleared out, the peas will take over the obelisk and keep that vertical space productive.

Because we're getting so much rain this year, I think I'll go ahead and replant the lettuces under the tomatoes. I'll also plant snow peas along the base of the trellis.

My coriander seed pods are now brown and dried, so that space will open up for spinach and another round of cilantro. The soil is still quite warm, but this is in the northernmost area of my garden, tucked behind an arch trellis of Sungolds.

STILL FIGURING IT OUT

Melons and squash are the vines I haven't cracked. I've mostly given up on growing them at home, since I don't have the right space to let them sprawl, and I never quite found a trellising method that worked for either one.

But I'm very excited to put my name down for a plot in the Rhinebeck Community Garden, which should give me room to grow both, along with a few other things that are hard to prioritize in a home kitchen garden. Depending on where the plot lands, I'm hoping to finally test another trellis or two. There are rules, after all, about casting shadows.

From my garden to yours,

Kiera