Brassica Guild

The cool-season bed, USDA zones 5 to 8: a spring and autumn planting in a cold climate, the winter garden in a warm one. Kale and broccoli are the centrepiece, sown so they mature in cool weather. Lettuce, chard and beets fill the spaces while the brassicas are small, then give way as the big leaves close over. Chives and elephant garlic run through the bed to confuse cabbage moths and hold back fungus. Cilantro and carrot are the umbels, left to flower so they feed the parasitic wasps that hunt caterpillars. Daikon is the tillage crop, driving a taproot through heavy soil and rotting in place to leave a channel. Crimson clover and fava beans are the fertility, fixing nitrogen through the cool months and chopped down as the green mulch for the warm-season bed that follows.