Companion Planting

Photo courtesy of Stephanie Stein.
The green onions are about twice as
tall as the photo shows and very thick.

A while ago, I wrote a post about our patio garden. In that post, I shared one of my biggest learnings: a successful small container garden is like an ecosystem. Many edible plants do best when they have flowers and other plants supporting them, acting as repellants for undesirable bugs and as attractions for good critters.

While pest control is certainly one important aspect of the ecosystem, I have since learned that plants can be compatible for a host of reasons. A friend tipped me off that she planted her green onion and chili pepper plants together in the same pot, because she had read they support one another. The peppers had a good yield, and the onions got huge!

I started reading more about it and learned that this is called “companion planting.” Companion plants may help each other by producing higher yields, better flavor, disease resistance, and/or pest control.

Conversely, some plants may actually stunt growth when planted together. For example, while garlic and onions may work great with pepper plants, they are known to stunt the growth of beans and peas. Tomatoes and potatoes are also not a good match, as they can be negatively affected by the same blight and may spread this to each other. Corn, mature dill, and kohirabi are also poor companions for tomatoes.

Seasoned gardeners have compiled extensive lists of plants that make great companions and sorry enemies. To read more about the relationships between specific plants that interest you (and to find companion planting charts), see here and here.

As we start our next garden, I hope to put this companion planting knowledge to work, as well as learn new skills and information, in order to grow a successful, healthy, and delicious crop!

Marketing Veggies to Kids: X-Ray Vision Carrots and Dinosaur Tree Broccoli

It's been a while since I have written something new for the blog. Alas, I have been extremely busy. I do have some ideas bubbling in my brain that I plan to get on the page sooner or later. But today I read two short articles that deserve a quick mention, so I felt I had to write!

Researchers wondered whether the same marketing strategies that make kids enthusiastic about junk foods could also work for health foods. Based on a small scale study, it looks like the answer is a resounding yes!

In five local elementary schools, researchers David Just and Brian Wansink added carrots to the school menu for three consecutive days. On the first and third days, the carrots went unnamed on the lunch line. On the second day, however, researchers named the carrots "X-Ray vision carrots" at some locations and "food of the day" at others. The names did not change how many carrots were purchased, but they did have a tremendous impact on how many of those carrots actually got eaten.

When carrots were unnamed, 35% were eaten. When named "Food of the Day," 32% were eaten. When named "X-Ray vision carrots," 66% were eaten. The carrots with the fun name had nearly double the consumption rate of the unnamed carrots!

Another experiment compared two nearby New York City schools. For one month, both schools had vegetables with no names. In the second month, one school gave fun titles to carrots, green beans, and broccoli, while the other continued without naming the foods. In the school with the titles, vegetable sales nearly doubled (+99%), and in the school without the names, veggie sales actually decreased 16%.

As I have said before, correlation doesn't mean causation, and these were pretty small studies. At the same time, my intuition has me convinced already. It's pretty amazing that a no-cost method of advertising may have such a profound influence on kids. This also has potential implications for how parents may "market" nutritious foods in the home. The CNN article, for example, mentions a child whose parents encouraged him to pretend he was a dinosaur eating trees, and that helped him to eat more broccoli!

It remains to be seen whether this tactic would work longer term (once the initial excitement of a new vegetable name wears off). And of course, X-ray vision may not offer the same appeal to older children. But marketing tactics are used every day in other ads targeting a wide range of age groups, and brands are constantly reshaping their images for new and exciting advertising. I don't see why these methods could not be cleverly applied to vegetables, as well. Advertising professionals and shrewd parents - I see a new place you can make an impact for the good!


Article Sources:

• http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/outreach/whatname.html
• http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/28/want-kids-to-eat-veggies-try-a-good-marketing-plan/?hpt=he_c2

Further Reading:

• http://foodpsychology.cornell.edu/pdf/pre-prints/Restaurants-2005.pdf

Photo credit:

• http://roastedcarrots.net/