Permaculture Guilds in a container

Even if you live in an apartment you can be growing food.  A guild is a combination of plants that provide pollination, nitrogen fixing, ground cover, and sharing of nutrients and shelter to each other.  The combinations in guilds provide the things needed for each plant and will enhance the growth of each.  Here is a cool link talking about plant relationships.  There is no reason anyone cannot plant a guild today.

Container Planting in Guilds

Here are some example guilds you can try:

 

Orchard guild:

Here is an example of an orchard guild, with the apple tree as the centerpiece of a complex series of interrelationships with the other plants.

1. Apple tree: shades the spinach; becomes trellis for runner beans; provides fruit.

2. Runner beans: fix nitrogen in the soil; shade the spinach; provide protein.

3. Strawberries: act as ground cover; provide fruit.

4. Spinach: retains moisture in the soil; provides leafy vegetable.

Three Sisters guild:

Here is a traditional guild called the Three Sisters.  Plant the traditional American Indian trio of corn, beans and squash, and added sunflowers, which attract pollinators and add beauty to the rooftop, balcony, or patio.

1. Sunflowers: attract pollinators; act as windbreak; become trellis for bush beans; create biomass for compost pile.

2. Blue corn: provides trellis for bush beans; provides vegetable.

3. Bush beans: fix nitrogen in the soil; provide protein.

4. Squash: leaves act as ground cover and suppress weeds; provides vegetable.