ideas about growing a self seeding polycultural matrix to plant your garden into

Nature almost always plants in polycultures or matrices. The plants in these groupings tend to support one another in multiple ways. Some plants readily access certain nutrients better, and share with their neighbours through leaf fall and dieback. Their roots are constantly growing and then dying slightly as the weather changes. The dead bits release nutrients, and sometimes medicinals for the other plants to access. Some plants are better at attracting pollinators, or predators for plant eating bugs. Others are strong smelling and confuse the pests. This makes it difficult for them to find their food. We know that certain plants grow better next to certain others. We can plan this if we want to, but I find that in a self seeding polyculture nature seems to take care of it. That and the fact that we should edit those plants who are unhappy. Certain plants seem to be adaptogens for others. In other words they make them stronger. A mixture also means that plants have different profiles. Some have deeper roots, some creep on the ground, and others are tall and thin. Nature also leaves no bare soil. Bare soil equals weeds. We may as well choose what kind of weeds will grow there. I have noticed in the garden, that bare soil often dries out faster due to exposure to wind and sun. Those areas planted more thickly often actually had more soil moisture. Thick planting can be a form of mulch. Polycultures have so much to teach us, and are less work to maintain than monocultures. They also have less disease and pest problems.

Self seeding annuals and biennials that can form part of a polycultural base to plant into can include the following in the Pacific northwest. Parsley overwinters well and is biennial so let a few set seed each year for a continual crop. Cilantro is a short lived self seeding annual. Harvest the seeds as coriander. Calendula is both edible and medicinal. The flowers look great in salads and teas. Dill is great in all kinds of foods and makes a gentle stomach soother. Johnny-jump-up flowers and leaves can be eaten. Seed poppies AKA opium poppies produce an edible seed, and an opiate from the plant. Kale is a winter hardy biennial that gets better in the cold. Mustard gives wonderful spicy spring greens. Lettuce should be a 4 seasons type, able to withstand heat and cold. Parsnips are a self seeding biennial that store in the ground overwinter. Eat the roots before they start to head into setting seed the second year. Leave the largest to reseed. Hollyhocks are another edible biennial with very edible cooked leaves and flowers for salads. Baby plants make great spring greens. Cosmos is the only one on the list not edible, but the beneficials love it as they do almost all listed plants when in flower. Sunflowers have edible seeds of course, but the flower petals, very young seedlings, and flower buds are all also edible. Potatoes will come every year if a few are left in the ground each fall, and so will garlic. Garlic will do better as a separate crop, but it aids the other plants in the polyculture. I have had tomatoes self seed into my polyculture when I gardened in Winnipeg. Principe Borghese was a small plum cherry tomato used for sun drying in Italy that regularly produced a plant full of ripe tomatoes from a self seeded plant before frost came. Arugula is a spicy nutty flavoured green which comes in 3 kinds. One of them is perennial. Nasturtiums have spicily edible leaves and flowers, and the green seeds have been used as a caper substitute. Chickweed is both edible and medicinal. Radishes can be pulled for roots and cookable leaves, or left to set seedpods which can be eaten green. One plant produces bowls full of seedpods which taste like juicy little radishes if picked before they get woody. Lambs quarters is another weedy edible self seeder. The leaves are packed with nutrients. Magenta spreen is a prettier version of lambs quarters with a shimmery magenta undercoating to the young leaves. Sweet dames rocket is a self seeding biennial with edible young leaves and flowers. Orach comes with red or green leaves for salad or cooking. Fennel is a self seeding perennial or biennial with edible leaves for salads, fish, and veggies, and the seeds are familiar from spice racks. Skirret and Salsify will also self seed into a polyculture happily. It seems that the "weedier" and closer to their wild relatives these plants are the better they grow in matrixes.

For greater biodiversity and range of nutrients, perennials should also be part of the mix. Egyptian walking onions multiply well and can produce at least 2 crops a year. The first is the extra green onions in early spring, and the others come from the top sets. Dandelions are great for the soil nutrients as well as being edible and medicinal. Because they bloom early the beneficial insects love them. Welsh onions are another perennial onion ready to thin out in early spring. It also has ornamental and edible flower heads. Onion seed can also be used as a spice. The extra seedlings make great baby green onions for salads. Chives will give a lot of cut and come again greens and flower heads. Garlic chives are similar but garlic flavoured and bloom much later. Daylily is a wonderful edible surprise for most people. Flowers, flower buds, dried old flowers, root bulbs and spring greens are all edible in the tawny daylily. The flowers of other daylilies are edible, with the orange and yellow ones supposedly tasting the best. Hyssop is a wonderful medicinal for the respiratory tract, and the leaves are used for a bitter minty flavour with beef or in salads. Lemon balm can be eaten in salad, drank in a tea, or used as a soothing medicine. Elecampane roots are medicinal in their second year. The flowers have also been used medicinally. It self seeds freely and the first year roots are bitter but were eaten as a vegetable in the middle ages. Angelica has edible and medicinal leaves. I include a few in salads and teas. It is Macrocarpic, meaning it dies after setting seed. It is worth letting it go to seed just to attract the huge crowd of pollinators it gets. Sweet cicely has edible leaves and seeds. The leaves are added to rhubarb to sweeten with less sugar. Lovage has edible potently celery flavoured stalks and leaves. It self seeds freely, but the small seedlings are easy to pull and great in spring salads and cooked green dishes. Plantain is a weed with edible and medicinal leaves. It is also a great nutrient accumulator. It seems that salad greens, cooking greens, and roots tend to grow best in polycultures.

Thinning, harvesting and choosing where to plant into the matrix are the biggest jobs of a polyculture gardener. Editing is the hardest part. I find I need to thin more than I think I do each year. It is difficult to pull healthy growing baby plants, but I get better crops if I thin fairly heavily. Remember that certain kinds of seed comes up later than others, so keep thinning as you harvest to leave room for newcomers. Taller perennials and biennials should be left to grow near the north side of the garden. Their seedlings can be pulled and eaten in other areas. Seedlings that are too copious to be eaten make great high nutrient animal food or compost.

Many modern vegetables don't do as well in a crowded polyculture. Even those that do ok will do better if given a little space. Broad beans seem to like growing in polycultures especially when fall seeded, and they provide nitrogen to the soil. Beets seem to do ok if given enough moisture and rich soil. Most of the cabbage family does well if cleared around. The same for tomatoes. Corn does well from transplants with judicious thinning of the matrix. Most of these things will do better if transplanted in. Young shrubs and trees can also be planted into the matrix with the end goal of having a food forest. As the woodies grow they'll slowly outcompete the forbs below them, but this will take years. In the meantime you will have edible plants around it that are better for the tree or shrub than the normal grass. Biodynamic gardeners have studied companion planting for years, and have recognised that fruit trees do worse when surrounded by grass.


It should be no surprise to us that many plants prefer a monoculture. We have been selectively breeding them as solo crops for thousands of years. If we grow something as a monoculture and select the strongest plants, we are selecting for those who like the monoculture. Most beans, peas, peppers, cucumbers, melons, carrots, strawberries, annual onions, and the main crop of garlic will all produce better in separate beds. This just means that the beds they go into get more heavily harvested before planting to this years crop. Squash will smother the polyculture in it's bed once it gets going, and needs to be free from competition when younger. The Mediterranean herbs like thyme, sage, rosemary, lavender and winter savoury will grow better in a dryer bed with less competition. Give everything a small trial to see what works for you. Polycultures imitate nature, with plants growing more naturally to support one another. Nature has been working at the concept for millennia. We might as well follow her lead, and learn something while growing highly nutritious foods.