What is a/are good plant(s) To grow between Broad been rows?

[Leeds_lad]

Need to fill in the gaps

Edit: Ok I found a list. apparently it's
Corn (see Three Sisters), Spinach, lettuce, rosemary, summer savory, dill, carrots, brassicas, beets, radish, strawberry and cucumbers

[Alison]

I don't have the space to plant anything between my broad beans, plant them nice and close and they support each other and they don't take up too much space so I would answer "more broad beans". Note that 3 sisters is really for drying beans not ones which you eat fresh.

[Leeds_lad]

ooh really? I've always gone with leaving about 6-8inch between each row, then staggering each one to each side of their support, one rows plant left side, one rows plant right side, then other way around etc.

[Maccabee]

If there's enough space between your broad beans to plant strawberries and brassicas i'd be inclined to plant closer too

[Poolcue]

Nasturtiums to deter blackfly.

[MrsDaffy]

Nasturtiums to deter blackfly.

I'm with you on that one. I planted nasturtiums next to my broad beans last year and they were covered in blackfly... and the broadies were absolutely fine. They're a good sacrificial plant.

[Leeds_lad]

I always do my nasturtiums in pots. The first time i did them they went crazy and took over 1/2 the bed, never again

[Two_Sheds]

I put a few lettuces in the middle of my broad bean rows (nasturtiums aren't ready for me, because I sow BBs in November and they're out of the ground by end of May)

[lottie dolly]

i tend to leave aprox 1ft between plants,so am thinking if they grow just as well closer,i can get more beans in ,so do they actually grow and produce the same,or a bit smaller,if they fine,it should also be better come the dry season,apart from the odd brambles,

[BarleySugar]

I'm planning on planting brassicas between the beans, as they will be cut off before the brassicas need the space, and the roots should provide extra nitrogen. Well that's the theory (Gertrud Franck, but going to let the beans fruit, rather than cutting off early). It might not work, I don't know I've left enough space, I'd already got beans in before reading the book.

[Leeds_lad]

Ended up sticking Spinach in there. Love the stuff and read they will take there just nicely =)

[veggiechicken]

I had the opposite problem to yours - I've planted my broad beans randomly in amongst the wallflowers on a bank!

Gertrud Franck, to whom BarleySugar refers, is a firm believer in filling spaces with spinach but rather than eating it, she cuts it down and uses it as sheet mulch. If you find you've grown too much, rather than uprooting it, cut it down and let it lie on the surface.

[Leeds_lad]

I had the opposite problem to yours - I've planted my broad beans randomly in amongst the wallflowers on a bank!

Gertrud Franck, to whom BarleySugar refers, is a firm believer in filling spaces with spinach but rather than eating it, she cuts it down and uses it as sheet mulch. If you find you've grown too much, rather than uprooting it, cut it down and let it lie on the surface.

Ah you can never have too much Spinach =D. I eat the stuff steamed, by the plate full!

[veggiechicken]

Ah you can never have too much Spinach =D. I eat the stuff steamed, by the plate full!

Popeye the Sailor Man springs to mind!!

[kathyd]

I'm probably being a bit thick here, but if you mix brassicas with beans doesn't that mess up your rotation system? Or have the Powers That Be now decided we don't need to rotate things, and it's more natural to mix them all up?