[gidster]

hi folks, just been checking out the rotation page. what it is is i have made four 8m by 8m plots, which i was going to use this way

plot 1  -    potatoes

plot 2 -     onions,leeks,shallots

plot 3 -  brassicas

plot 4 - peas

but then i got thinking what about beetroot and spinage and come tro think of it carrots and parsnips, where are they going to go? have i got to make more plots?

[Stoatus]

Hi Gidster

Spinach can go anywhere there is space for it. I always find it bolts straight away anyway - so that's one less to worry about! Chard is a much easier alternative, Likewise I don't think beetroot is too fussy, but you might be better off creating a separate bed for roots. Parsnips take most of the year to mature so will monopolise the space, and they and carrots should not go in anywhere that has been recently manured, so not in with the potatoes or brassicas.

If you have space in the onion bed this could be a good place for carrots and parsnips, as onions are reputed to ward off carrot fly.

[MOLUSC]

my rotation plan is exactly the same  as yours i have split my onion/garlic/shallot/leek  bed in half and will plant beetroot/carrot and parsnip on the other half.

[Stripey_cat]

Beetroot and chard are the same species, and spinach is a more distant relative, so they probably want to go together.  Carrots, parsnips and celery/celeriac share pests, so are probably best off in the same group too.  You may want to stick beetroot in with them so all your non-brassica roots are in the same area for soil preparation.  Depending on the quantities of each you plant, you could squeeze them in with alliums or the potatoes so long as you've not manured the whole plot yet, or make a fifth bed for your rotation (obviously not if you've already prepared your beds).

[gidster]

think im going to split my onion bed as suggested above. does the onion bed rotate as well?

[Stripey_cat]

In theory it should, and is probably best.  In practice, some pathogens can survive dormant in the soil for twenty years, so rotation will, at best, reduce the severity of attacks.  Some people keep the onions in one place until there's a problem, then move to a completely different bit - the theory is that if it takes 4 or 5 years for a problem to develop, and you have 4 or 5 sites to use, the first one will be clean by the time you've used the last.

[gidster]

i see , yep think ive got it.

p.s what is a cold frame used for? im in the process of making one.the missis aked what im going to do with it ,but i changed the subbject quickly

[Jay Dubya]

Hi, some large onion growers ( shows ) keep the same onion bed for years building up the fertility, but for kitchen use it's best to rotate. As for beetroot it's in the name, it goes in with the roots.

Keep on a troshing J W

[sunshineband]

hi folks, just been checking out the rotation page. what it is is i have made four 8m by 8m plots, which i was going to use this way

plot 1  -    potatoes

plot 2 -     onions,leeks,shallots

plot 3 -  brassicas

plot 4 - peas

I put onions and brassicas together, and then use another bed for root veg (turnips with the brassicas though)

Rainbow chard gets put in anywhere I can fit it in, don't grow spinach as we like this better.

Good luck 

but then i got thinking what about beetroot and spinage and come tro think of it carrots and parsnips, where are they going to go? have i got to make more plots?

[Stripey_cat]

p.s what is a cold frame used for?

Hardening off things you've started in the greenhouse or inside.  Starting things off that don't need high temperatures but would be better out of the wind/light frosts.  If it's not got an opaque base, you can use it like an extra cloche (plant something like a ridge cucumber or the tougher types of melon in it).  Overwintering things like alpines and some bulbs that don't like getting rained on all the time.

[sunshineband]

Woops, I seem to have posted a quote with no message -- soryy guys, thinking aloud obviously!!

[cathangirl]

Stoatus and gidster,
If you buy perpetual spinach it lasts throughout the year and hopefully longer.  I just pick some outer leaves from each plant to requirement.
cathangirl

[Jay Dubya]

Hi, perpetual spinach very underrated none of the problems ( bolting ) of the ordinary kind.

Keep on a troshing J W