Today I interplanted my onion sets into my new strawberry bed. I found in several 'companion planting' sites that the onions are supposed to help protect the strawberries from pests and the strawberries supposedly will give the onions a sweeter flavor. I still have two of the three types of onions left, so I think I will try planting them elsewhere for comparison's sake. So fun to experiment!
I love the idea of companion planting...and so many other gardening ideas to explore...so much to learn. Crop rotation along with companion planting makes things a little more challenging and fun. For example; my June bearing strawberries will remain in the same bed for three to five years (or more). If the strawberry-onion pairing turns out to be valid for me, then how would I rotate my onions? I guess I would need a new strawberry bed every year. If I grow day-neutral or everbearing strawberries, then I could keep the onions with the new strawberries if I treat them as an annual. But do I need to treat the day-neutral or everbearing strawberries as annuals here in Illinois? Being frugal, I would have to say that I would not turn them in after one year. I would have to over winter them and see what happens.
I only have so many places that I can move a strawberry bed, especially if I am supposed to avoid any area that has had other Verticillium Wilt susceptable crops in the last four or five years.
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