The more I think about how plants grow, the more it dawns on me that they don't normally grow in straight rows, and most plants grow in close proximity with a variety of other plants. In addition, different parts of my vege garden have different microclimates – amounts of shade and sun and exposure to cold air running downslope. So different plants grow differently well in different areas of the garden in different years.

Thinking about growing plants together is the basis for permaculture concepts (the word, coined by Bill Mollison, is a portmanteau of permanent agriculture and permanent culture) – the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. There's a balance to be struck in a vegetable garden, however – it has to be practical and is avowedly a production system where the main beneficiaries are human. I'm not trying to 'rewild' my vege patch. So how far away from rows can I get?

First off, two permaculture principles I have applied in the last two years are minimising digging and using thick layers of mulch. Obviously you have to dig up crops you are harvesting, but the old school method of turning soil over in rows to dig in compost/fertiliser, or even double-digging (turning soil over twice, as my father did) is something I have happily left behind. Using thick layers of mulch is my replacement – I'm sending nutrients into the soil from the top down, allowing insects, worms and microbes to incorporate the organic matter with the inorganic.

Back to the row issue, this year I'm trying planting in small blocks. I just planted all my garlic in little squares. I plan to keep planting this way in my experiment – put all the plants in small blocks continuous with each other, rather than long rows. This isn't as efficient as planting in rows – I have to mark the blocks out with bamboo stakes so I don't go stepping on the garlic before it comes above the surface. This is my biggest concern – manoeuvring between the vegetables if they aren't in rows. Where will I put my feet? I'm hoping I'll figure this out as I have for my strawberry patch, where I end up with specific locations I put my feet and strawberries don't grow, but those foot places are not in continuous straight lines and occupy much less space than gaps between rows. If I lose the odd plant to a squashing, so be it.

Another concern is whether I will find the vegetables I have planted. Will I be able to hold in my head all the different places I have put the same vegetables so I don't ignore some of our crop? The answer could be that if I don't find the  vegetables we aren't needing them. I'm also wondering how I'm going to make room for larger plants, like courgettes and pumpkins, which want a lot of space and enjoy running over smaller plants in the process. That remains a work in progress – I'm going to need to deliberately leave courgette and pumpkin-sized gaps.

I'll keep you posted on the success, or otherwise, or my experiments when next growing season arrives.