[LivvyW]

I have never been able to fathom combining a rotation plan along with keeping the beds productive, and getting the timings right.  This years plan seems to be the best i've managed.

Could you take a look at this plan and give me your comments. Hope it makes sense.


 ........  last summer ....   over winter .... spring/summer  ....  over winter

bed 1.   parsnips  ....   parsnips con't .... early potatoes  ....   brassicas

bed 2.    peas/beans  ....  fallow ....    brassicas ....   onions

bed 3.    toms/courgette ....  fallow  ....  parsnips ....     parsnips con't

bed 4.   early potatoes .... onions  ....  squash /corn  .... squash con't

bed 5.    second earlies ....   leeks ....   peas/beans   ....      ?


What do you think of a) timing and b) rotation?  

Isn't that itching to start feeling soooooooo nice. I can't wait...but will.

Thanks in advance.

[nobby]

better planing than mine I see a gap I stick something in  :?

[jannie]

dont get to bogged down about rotation,you can get to stress about it ,and you also dont know what was planted before you took on your plot,i just dont plant the same thing in the same place two years on the trot,if you then start reading some of the organic books they also tell you not to plant this next to that ,and there's a lot of people who keep ther beans in the same place year after year so it can all get very confussing just prepare well and plant and enjoy jan

[DD.]

Spot on jannie - less planning - more planting!

[Trillium]

This might help solve some of the confusion.

http://www.gardenersworld.com/how-to/projects/crop-rotation/

but mostly it's a matter of don't plant the same crop in the same spot two  to three years running.

[woodburner]

A whole bed of parsnips?  :shock:  

Apart from that and, "Don't you want so many tatties this year?", what jannie said.

[LivvyW]

My Goodness your all such laid back gardeners. Thanks for your comments. I'm happy enough with my plan anyway, just wanted to see if you could impart any of your lenghty experience.  Good advice, just keep planting.

The main thing is to have enough room for everything i want to grow. I like having a plan so that i can get the soil prepared in advance.

We are about a month behind starting off and last year i realised that to overwinter successfully i need to start a month early at the end of the spring/summer season. So i do really need to know what is going to go where.

Ah Woodburner,  welll observed! it may well not be a WHOLE bed of parsnips, but almost.  My Christmas dinner parsnips were such a huge success, i plan to include them in my Christmas hamper prezzies next year. (Good planning eh?)

Not enough tatties!!! Your kidding - your talking to an Irishwoman here who would happily live off them.  OH has added a new supersize bed for my maincrops this year. Plan to store and make the homegrown last longer this year.

Thanks all again.  And remember 'fail to plan and you plan to fail'.

[p00rstudent]

when i got my plot back in april, i had meticulusly worked out what went where in each bed for each month, including catch crops etc, if i had stuck with it probably would have worked, instead i got distracted/impatient and started planting evrything i liked the look of where ever i could find space, though this method seemed to work well too lol.

[Trillium]

The best piece of advice I can offer is to NOT plant things you don't like, won't eat,  simply take up too much space per yield or because others are planting it. Far too many people make these mistakes and waste valuable time and garden space. Other than that, enjoy the garden and learn from mistakes as we all have. Gardening, like life, is a journey, not a destination.

[RichardA]

I agree with the others but would add one tip -- keep a diary and keep your seed order list and then review it round about December before you reorder. Involve the cook of the family in my case the wife and let them have input but make your own notes. That way if there is too much of something or something no one eats then it is not all your fault and if there is too little then the cook should have asked more clearly for it.
My method -- plan on a series of old envelopes, usually lose them, use the broad outline plan in my head and use any spare land for reliables such as salad leaves, swiss chard, spinach etc that do not have too much impact on rotation. But my seed box is my memory of what was intended.
Green manuring is important too.
Above all leave space for the grandkids to dig in and plant in -- my various gardens have grown a marvellous set of kids and now grandkids over the years. Anything else is a bonus.

[Helen_uk]

Thank you for this thread!

I've done my 'design' but am just now thinking about what to plant where.

We are starting completely from scratch and are also complete novices, so threads like this give me alot of guidance.

Were going down this weekend to get one big bed turned over and weeded, so we can get something planted asap (Potatoes!). We'll then concentrate on the rest of the plot, what is going to go where etc.

All very exciting - just wish shed's weren't so blooming expensive  :cry:

[noshed]

Bit early for spuds - I'd leave it until late March/early April, depending how cold it is. (A soil thermometer is a good way of boring your friends with useful data if you're looking for something to do now.)
Last year I put some spuds in about Feb under 2 layers of fleece. They did OK but the ones I sowed later caught upm with them anyway.
Just keep on digging for now and get your compost bins built.

[LivvyW]

Poorstudent... I have done the same as you 'stuck things in where ever i could find a space, and inevitably you end up with a whole tray of something that is ready to plant out, something that you really want, and you've nowhere sensible to put them.  Then they go out too late etc.etc.

I know every year is different, and of course that's half the fun. The other fun part, i find, is the learning from your mistakes and making the adjustment for the following season and getting it right.

Trillium,  I totally agree about growing what you like.  I grow radishes every year, just because they work quickly. But i've grown to like them to eat now too.

Last year my row of mange tout, was perfect. just the right amount for a couple of portions every couple of days. Ideal.   My peas though, were fabulous, but not nearly enough plants, and not enough to freeze.  

My goals this year are to:

Further improve on my quantitys so that we have enough to eat fresh as well as store /freeze.
 
Increase my stocks of expensive and useful fruit. (Raspberries/blueberries/gooseberries/currents/strawberries)

Have a few tricks to get a little taster earlier in the season. Early potatoes in pots in the greenhouse, and a handfull of strawberries in the g/h border soil.

Get better at keeping the beds working over winter.