I always leave my crop rotation plan to the last minute. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I'm one of life's 'last minuters' and get on with doing my rotation plan at the eleventh hour yet again.
I always leave my crop rotation plan to the last minute. I guess I'll just have to accept the fact that I'm one of life's 'last minuters' and get on with doing my rotation plan at the eleventh hour yet again.
However late, I do always make sure I draw up a crop rotation plan. I actually drew a rough outline of where I was going to grow this year's crops in the autumn, before putting in the onions and garlic. Typically, I never got around to finishing it off.
My crop rotation plan comprises a sketch of the plot, including all the beds and other growing spaces. I photocopy this plan every year and write in which vegetable crops I'll be growing in each bed. I take care to check the plan I drew for the previous three years to make sure I'm not growing two crops of the same family in the same spot more than once every three years.
Of course, like every other plan, my crop rotation sketch is subject to change, according to what's ready for planting and which beds I've prepared. I'm also often given plants by my neighbours, which are planted wherever there's a spare bit of earth.
But I do try to stick to the general plan, to ensure the nutrient levels of the soil are maintained evenly across the plot, and pests and diseases do not build up in any one area. I group my crops into legumes (peas and beans), alliums (onions and garlic) roots (carrots, parsnips and beetroot) and brassicas and leafy crops (cabbages, broccoli and rocket).
As well as reducing the likelihood of pests and diseases building up, careful planning means that one crop will benefit another if planted before it. For example, potatoes are brilliant for breaking up the soil for deep-rooting peas and beans. They, in turn, fix nitrogen into the soil, which benefits nutrient-hungry brassicas.
Other growers separate umbellifers (carrots, parsley and parsnips) and cucurbits (courgettes, cucumbers and squash plants) but I don't go that far - especially as I know there would be absolutely no hope of me ever sticking to the plan.
Gardeners' World Web User
13/03/2008 at 17:09
I'm still getting my head around this crop rotation thing, but this year I'm stealing the method outlined in my dad's royal horticultural society book. You just separate your crops into "roots", "brassicas" and "other"! Seems simple enough, right?
Unfortunately cabbage is about the only brassica I can stand, so my plot is going to be lop-sided :D
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