Preparedness
Master Your Garden with Sun Mapping and Plant Companions
Starting a journey towards self-sufficiency often begins with cultivating your own food. For those just embarking on the homesteading path, the concept of sun mapping and the use of companion plants can be invaluable tools in planning a successful garden.
Growing your own food doesn’t require an inherent green thumb, but it does demand careful planning. Luckily, with the advent of technology, planning a garden has become more accessible than ever, thanks to sun mapping and companion planting techniques, even for those who feel they have a “black thumb.”
Sun mapping involves observing and charting the sun’s presence across your property. This process requires examining your yard at different times of the day and throughout the seasons to determine areas with full sun, partial sun, or full shade. The importance of sun mapping lies in its ability to help you place plants in locations that meet their specific light requirements.
Different plants need varying amounts of sunlight. For example, full sun plants require at least six hours of direct sunlight daily, while full shade plants need less than four hours. Incorrect placement can lead to plants burning, becoming stunted, or experiencing distorted growth. Therefore, sun mapping ensures that plants are situated in optimal growing conditions.
To effectively sun map your property, it’s best to conduct the observations on sunny days and avoid doing it during winter or early spring when trees are bare. As Garden Fundamentals notes, “As you move away from the equator, the point at which the sun rises is different throughout the year. The location at midday also changes.”
Mapping should be done multiple times a day, such as at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m., to capture how shadows shift. This process is straightforward and can even be a fun educational activity with children. Create a simple bird’s eye view drawing of your property, including structures and natural features, and mark shadow lines at different times.
Once you have several maps, compare them to identify consistent patterns of sun and shade. Use different colors to highlight areas of full sun, part sun, and full shade. This visual tool will guide you in planning your garden layout and selecting the right plants for each area.
However, sun mapping is only part of the equation. The Old Farmers’ Almanac emphasizes, “It’s not just what you grow. It’s where you grow it—and the company it keeps.” Companion planting is the practice of growing plants together that benefit each other, enhancing growth and reducing pests.
A classic example of companion planting is the Three Sisters trio—maize, climbing beans, and winter squash. This combination, used by Native American communities, demonstrates how plants can support one another: corn provides a structure for beans to climb, squash shades the ground to retain moisture, and beans improve soil nitrogen levels.
Companion planting offers several benefits, such as crop protection, positive hosting of beneficial insects, and trap cropping to deter pests. For instance, tomatoes grow well with basil, which repels insects harmful to tomatoes. Conversely, tomatoes should be kept away from potatoes to prevent disease and pest transmission.
To explore more about companion planting, the Old Farmers’ Almanac provides a Companion Planting Chart that includes 20 common vegetables, offering guidance on effective plant pairings. Embracing both sun mapping and companion planting will set the stage for a thriving and resilient garden.
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