I am growing sprouting broccoli this year (if the slugs leave me any that is?), and had added wild rocket around the corners. The two weren't in the same square for long. The broccoli took forever to be ready to transplant, and then the rocket bolted (bad weather), but the idea seemed to work.

I am also going to add spring cabbage into the squares that have legumes in at the moment (beans and peas), as the timings worked, as did the crop rotation :-)

This is the first time I'd ever tried interplanting and so far I'm mostly happy with the results.
Basically I did radishes (I love radishes) around about everything. I put 'em around the base of the broccoli, beside the peas, around the squashes and pumpkins and tomatoes. It's been fantastic. I've had all kinds of radishes and now that the other plants are bigger and would have shaded my radishes out I've pulled and eaten 'em.
I planted pole beans and spinich in the same squares too and thats also worked just perfectly. Next year I plan to do even more of both the beans and spinich!

I put radishes in wherever I can as well.

Beans and spinach, that's a good idea! I'll have to try it next year!

I try to keep in mind what gets big and what needs shade. Like the others here I plant stuff next to beans that will be gone before the beans are done. I've done the same with squash, etc... anything that has a 70+ day delivery will take a while I think (for the most part).

I've also (tried) to use some plants as shade for others. I want to try lettuce inter planted with my zucchini also.

We try to do companion planting also - but this year we have not done as much as normal with it.

I could not have done pole beans in the same as spinach... I must have the wrong sort of pole beans as mine are a great bushy mess with some climbers coming out of it. Maybe I overplanted in each pole bean square?

Happy Gardening!

I seed a mesculin mix (variety of baby lettuces and greens) around and under other veggies, since I pull these when 6 inches or less, they "tuck in" small spaces easily.

Could someone explain this to me? It sounds like - using one example - that if one plants pole beans which is 1-to-a-square, one can also plant radisheswhich are 9-to-a-square in the same square?

Pole Beans are 1 to a square???? That could be my problem - I think I did a few more than that! I will have to go back and check.

Anyway interplanting just means growing two plants in the same area at the same time (basically instead of doing several rows of one thing, then several of another). SFG is pretty much interplanting by definition (if you spread things out), but it can have more specific meanings to this sort of gardening:

On the one hand it could mean what you are saying, plant some radishes in with something else. A better example, would be zucchini which takes a whole lot of room, and planting some crops that don't do much, but benefit from it - like lettuce that needs some shade.

On the other hand it could be planting something in the same square that will be gone before the other plants over-shadow it completely. For example, some radishes in with cucumbers... they should be done and gone before the cucumbers completely overwhelm them.

One can also worry about stuff like companion planting, and mixing light feeders with heavy feeders, etc, etc...

You can google for more information on interplanting, but thats the quick of it.

I thought pole beans were 8 to a square, 2 rows of 4 on either side of the trellis?

they are. 1 pole bean per square would be craziness ;-)

I think the only things that are 1 per square are items that need over 12" between plants right? Like Zukes, Brocolli, etc.

handy diagram:

OOOOOOO
O-----O
O--X--O
O-----O
OOOOOOO

Now then let's say X is a tomato plant (1 per square), and that it's mid Feb and I'm setting out transplants. Since the tomatoe plant is still small I'll use the outside 2 inches of the square to grow baby lettuces, which will be pulled and enjoyed before the tomato shades it too much. So to expand my squares will look like this:

OO00000OO00000
0-----00-----0
0--X--00--X--0
0-----00-----0
00000000000000
00000000000000
0-----00-----0
0--X--00--X--0
0-----00-----0
00000000000000

Very interesting... I forgot that you can interplant faster growing things while you're waiting for things to get bigger.

I'll have to try that while I'm waiting for my tomatoes and other things to fill in. Wonder if I could try lettuces this time of year... hmm.... :-)

I have baby brussle sprouts surrounded by lettuce, green O's, and spinach. There are radish and cilantro seeds scattered around them as well. All will be long since harvested before the sprouts cover the area. I do the same around tomatos and peppers. For summer harvest, I plant lettuces in the shade of vertical beans and cukes. I keep a small tray on my back porch that I keep seeded with lettuce so that I can put a plant in every time I pull one out.
Kay.

This year, I'm planting 5 lettuces to a square, one in the middle and then the other four in the corners. I figure I'll harvest the corner ones as baby heads before the center gets big enough to need the space. I've been trying to think of similar solutions so this thread is great--lots of great ideas.

Because of this thread I've planted dozens of radishes in 4x4 squares around all my broccoli. It looks great! Thanks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure!