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Would you rather always plant in straight lines or never plant in straight lines?

 
Matt McSpadden
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Would you rather only be able to plant things in straight lines or never be able to plant things in straight lines?

If you like the "Would You Rather" game, check out this index of other questions. https://permies.com/t/238000/Permaculture-Edition

"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis
Visit https://themaineingredient.com for organic, premium dried culinary herbs that are grown, processed, and packaged in the USA.

 
Matt McSpadden
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I know this probably goes against the permaculture fiber... but I like straight lines :)

And I would want to be able to plant in straight line sometimes... so I'll take the straight lines all the time.

"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis
Visit https://themaineingredient.com for organic, premium dried culinary herbs that are grown, processed, and packaged in the USA.

 
Burra Maluca
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In Watership Down there's a quote I love - "I don't like straight lines: men make them."

So that's a never from me...

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M Ljin
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I never plant in straight lines anyway (unless it's on a swale in which case I could break up the swale a bit) so the latter seems good!

Oh--even the swales aren't all that straight. So that's fine.

One can never be too kind to oneself or others.

 
John F Dean
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I have to give the standard permaculture answer: it depends.    I use raised beds, so even if I use a straight line, it is a short one.

I want to be 15 again …so I can ruin my life differently.

 
Christopher Weeks
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I vote never a straight line -- I'll take more edge!
 
Pearl Sutton
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I like the look of curved lines better.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Anne Miller
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when planting with seeds, I always draw a line in the sand like Travis did at the Alamo.

With other plants or transplants, well it depends ...

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
Eino Kenttä
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Well, my first impulse was to say never... but then I realised this violates basic geometry. What if you only plant two plants in one go? The shortest path between any two points in a three-dimensional space is always a straight line. Conversely, any non-straight line planting could be broken up into a (possibly large) number of straight lines. So yeah, in order to avoid breaking the universe while retaining my ability to plant things at all, I'm forced to say always. Maybe I'm overthinking this though. Just a bit...
 
Jay Angler
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Eino Kenttä wrote:... So yeah, in order to avoid breaking the universe while retaining my ability to plant things at all, I'm forced to say always. Maybe I'm overthinking this though. Just a bit... ;-)


Except you missed the bit about light being both a wave *and* a particle, so is a straight line *really* straight?

I have tried to plant in "lines" once in an effort to get an interesting polyculture to fit into a 4 ft wide bed. Alas, even using a straight board to help, no mathematician would have called the results "straight". Also, the germination rate was crappy, so I've sworn off that approach and let the plants go where they tell me they want to go. That uses more seed, since I don't speak plant baby talk all that well, but I save my own so rarely is there any sense of shortage.

So if I had to choose, I'd say never because I'm incapable of the other option!

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Carla Burke
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OK, so with Eino's and Jay's input, unless I'm only planting 2 plants, I'll go with never. Straight lines are just not my thang.

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"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin. "We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato

 
Nina Surya
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The longer I garden, the wilder it gets. No straight lines here for ages...

* Follow your curiosity , Do what you Love *
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Kim Wills
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Jay Angler wrote:

Eino Kenttä wrote:... So yeah, in order to avoid breaking the universe while retaining my ability to plant things at all, I'm forced to say always. Maybe I'm overthinking this though. Just a bit...


Except you missed the bit about light being both a wave *and* a particle, so is a straight line *really* straight?



Well, a straight line of crops is made up of many seeds, so it is both particles and wave/line. Ha!

Unless... unless you planted vines, which may grow together and become one tangled chaotic long row. The particles turned into waves which from afar look like one long straight line. Oh no.


As for the real question, I would prefer to never plant in straight lines. If I had the space I would plant in arcs (like a letter C) so that I could reach many plants from one spot I kneel in. Maybe they could be back to back with other arcs, making a sort of sunshine design from above. An arc of peppers, an arc of tomatoes, etc. Or rows of arcs back to back, offset a little to fit together better. I've never tried it, just thinking out loud.

My current interest is to observe & get to know my new land, and plan on how it can support me for the rest of my life!

 
Dennis Barrow
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I guess that definition of a straight line comes into play.  lol   My definition and the results of a string line are not the same.
It really depends on the plant for me.
Some of the raised beds are planted in lines to maximize the area, some not.
Corn I like in lines because it is easier for me to harvest.
That being said, this year I am planting some corn, beans and squash in circles using some old tires, (my mother used to do this).  I have several tires placed, (not in a line) in an area of one of my garden spaces. Close enough together the corn pollination should work ok.  We will see.
I have a piece of 4 foot fencing that I staked down in an arc and grew peas on it with a couple of tomato plants inside the arc.  Worked really well.
Planted some beets in an area about 3 foot by 5 foot, just scattered the seeds, worked ok.
Potatoes I put in lines as it is easier to harvest a large area of them that way.
Etc.....

Real funny, Scotty, now beam down my clothes!

 
Cristobal Cristo
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I have to irrigate all the plants so I plant everything in lines. It also helps when I have to till winter grasses/weeds between the rows of vegetable greens.
When plants drop the seeds and plant themselves without any assistance then they can grow the way they want.
Yesterday I just planted seeds of native nectar producing plants and because they have to grow on their own I did not care about any planting pattern.
 
Dennis Barrow
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Cristobal Cristo, I can see that advantage  for watering.
Myself, I am retired and enjoy watering by hand with the hose.  Gives me a bit of structure in my day.

Real funny, Scotty, now beam down my clothes!

 
Matt McSpadden
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It seems as though I am vastly out numbered in my love of straight lines :)

But for those of you who do appreciate straight lines... here is a cool idea that I have not thought of before. I wonder if it would work for onions or garlic as well.
Screenshot_23.png
egg carton straight rows
egg carton straight rows

"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis
Visit https://themaineingredient.com for organic, premium dried culinary herbs that are grown, processed, and packaged in the USA.

 
Inge Leonora-den Ouden
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Matt McSpadden wrote:Would you rather only be able to plant things in straight lines or never be able to plant things in straight lines?

If you like the "Would You Rather" game, check out this index of other questions. https://permies.com/t/238000/Permaculture-Edition


I do both. Some kinds of plants (vegetables) I like in straight lines, others I like more in wavy lines and others without any lines. But in every case I plant different kinds of plants in one bed (polyculture).

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

 
Patrik Schumann
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If I could never plant in straight lines I wouldn't be able to optimise: in 4-D on straight-line parcels, zone differences between sides of wall or fence, my boundary plantings like Subsistence Hedges & raised cable-trellis espalier, access into thickets needing pruning & offering harvests.  Overlaying straight lines conveniently offers the small spaces, large tree, small tree, shrub hexagon layout.

best time to plant a tree was yesterday, next best is every day

 
Douglas Alpenstock
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Well at the risk of being rude, this question seems a bit nonsensical.

Perhaps this reflects where I grow, and how intense and short our season is, and how "on task" we have to be to get results.

Example: I don't grow carrots in a row to "watch all the little soldiers marching in formation." I grow them in a row with lots of space between so I can hill them high and catch the heavy frosts that make them sweet and spicy without freezing the roots. The results speak for themselves.

 
Nathanael Szobody
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A line is never straight

-Nathanael

 
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