In my 4 x 4 raised bed, I put 2 tomatoes and 2 bush beans. It
worked out really good. I figured the bush beans would give
nitrogen to the soil. Will do it again next summer.

Very different nutrient needs but no real problems. Just avoid adding much nitrogen to the bean soil. Excess nitrogen for beans can mean big plants with very little production of beans.

Dave

Can I suggest a bush bean? I really love Contender bush beans and so do the people I give them to. I have not tried to interplant because I concentrate more on mulching the tomatoes and that might be hard with the beans in the way.

Thanks everyone. I think the idea I had to put them as neighbors was because Beans put nitrogen back into the ground while Tomatoes take a lot of food out of the ground.
I was planning to divide my garden bed into 4 quarters....one for the light feeders (beans and savory), one for a heavy feeders (row of cabbage), and then one for the middle feeders (spinach,etc.). The Tomatoes for the 4th quarter (next to beans and savory) because they can be planted in the same place every year. The other quarters would be rotated every year to keep the ground healthy. I guess this is the classical 4 quarter set up.
I've just heard different things about companion planting Tomatoes and Beans. Some say good, others, not soo good. Anyways I can either separate them with the Savory or plant a row of Marigolds in between.

I think the idea I had to put them as neighbors was because Beans put nitrogen back into the ground while Tomatoes take a lot of food out of the ground.

You might want to research this old saw a bit more.

First tomatoes aren't huge feeders. Unlike leafy greens, nominal levels of readily available soil nutrients are just fine for tomato plants. And while beans may (depends on levels of soil bacteria) affix nitrogen nodules to their roots they don't "put it back into the soil" except very slowly as they decompose and only if left in the soil to decompose. Pull up the bean plants at season's end and the nitrogen nodules go with them.

Companion planting and crop rotation are just gardening "schools of thought". Used by some and ignored by many. They may have their place in some gardens but they certainly aren't mandatory in any way. Experiment and feel free to find out what works best for you in your particular garden. ;)

Dave

Thanks for that bit of advice Dave. I'm a newby at all this and basically just going off of a well known thick gardening book (in german)I've been reading on biogardening just to get some basics for my first (serious) garden next Spring. I think the authors name is Marie Luise Kreuter if it's also in English.

I had a small garden last year (3 1/2' x 12') and tried a little bit of things I like, to see what would do well in our area. I had two tomatoes with peas, bush beans, cabbage, cucumbers, snapdragons, stock, evening stock and marigolds. Everything did really well, except some things (like the cucumber) were planted too late and didn't have a chance to ripen. This year, I plan to start earlier! I like companion gardening and everything seemed to do well together :)

Legumes do fix nitrogen, but they don't release it until the plant is dead and decomposes. After all, they aren't doing it just to be nice, they're fixing nitrogen for their own use. However, this is good for the crop you grow in that spot next year, as long as you till in the finished bean plants instead of pulling them up.

IMO, this is one of the instances where crop rotation/companion planting has some good solid science backing it up, it's just that people don't understand that the effects aren't immediate. If nothing else, legumes don't deplete the nutrients in the soil as much as other plants do.

My one worry about interplanting bush beans with tomatoes is that the tomatoes might shade out the beans. Maybe your tomato patch is neater, but I know mine always ends up a jungle by summer.

Well there you go neohippie. I've tried to interplant tomatoes with other things in the past, but honestly, its very hard for me to estimate the size of the tomato plant. I mean if you plant something 1.5 feet away from the tomato, the tomato will eventually crowd it out. I hear a lot here about tomatoes being light feeders but those babies will consume whatever is in the soil and grow like weeds in the process. I already forgot what people say about too much nitrogen, ect. Don't be afraid of feeding those plants. A big plant is a big fruit factory, a small plant will just not produce as much. I raise lots of tomatoes in a very small patch, and I encourage my plants to grow big and produce abundantly. Any thing else is just a waste of precious space.

Based on this thread, Royal Burgandy bush beans are moving into the 'hood next to Mr Stripey heirloom tomatoes...with a boarder of French Favorite Blend marigolds. Oh la la!!!