[Russell Atterbury]

I would be interested to know how others overcome the dilemma of wanting to grow a couple of veggies year on year, but without the luxury of enough space for a proper crop rotation. Is it just a case of hope for the best?

[mumofstig]

AS long as you don't follow a crop with the same family the next year, it is usually ok.

[Russell Atterbury]

I should explain a bit more mumofstig. The only patch of ground that is good for parsnip is about 6 by 3 metres, and i really want to grow them yearly. Last year i put them in in one line down the long way, so i could shift the line over by a metre or so. I suppose i already know that this is not the done thing, but is it possible, using some method or treatment?

[mumofstig]

As long as you move the line across you'll be fine. Many people grow like this in small plots.
A veg row - - - - - - - - -
B veg row - - - - - - - - -
C veg row - - - - - - - - - 
Just moving A crop to B position, then B to C etc. The order of rows doesn't really matter, just as I said, as long as you don't plant something of the same family after the parsnip, eg carrots.
If a certain crop needs 2 rows, then move everything along by 2 rows.
Just making sure that you don't follow one veg family, with something of the same family.

My own garden bed has, a row of runner beans, row of swede, row of early potatoes (followed by leeks in the same year) and a row of winter cabbage - the crop row just moves across the bed through the years. Rotation on a small scale 

[Kleftiwallah]

The short answer is yes for a single type of veg' (without referring to the 3 crop cycle), you just replace all the soil annually!

Cheers,  Tony.

[Russell Atterbury]

Thanks for the replies folks. At least i can have a go with a bit of hope then, i don't want to go without my parsnip soup. In a couple of years i hope that the smaller plot behind the house will have a better soil makeup for root veg, but who knows. At the moment it gets invaded by a mass of tree roots from the nearby maple. Last autumn i dug in a 15 inch barrier around the worst affected sides, but i don't have much confidence in the idea.