Companion planting

Friendly neighbors and a few combinations to give extra space. Pairs with What can I grow? when you are sketching beds. For fallow gaps and soil recovery, see cover crops.

Type

All Good neighbors Give space

Crop focus

Any Tomato Pepper / eggplant Brassicas Squash / cucumber Beans / peas Carrot / root crops Corn Lettuce / greens Radish Onion / garlic Herbs

Benefit

Any Pest confusion / trap Pollinators Shade or shelter Soil / roots Kitchen / flavor

Peppers & spinach (shoulder season)Pair
Peppers · Spinach
Spinach enjoys afternoon shade from pepper bushes in hot summers; pull spinach before it bolts into pepper fruiting season crowding.
Avoid: vegetables under black walnutAvoid
Nightshades / cucurbits (many) · Black walnut canopy / roots
Juglone from walnut roots and litter harms many vegetables. Map walnut driplines and keep food beds outside that zone or use raised beds with barriers—research your species.