[BacktoBasics]

Hi all,

I'm currently going through the tough task of arranging four beds for growingand I have spent some time reading into crop rotation. The problem is that pretty much every one I have seen suggests one plot for spuds and one plot for lugumes. Fact is I don't want to grow either in my four plots. I plan to do legumes in troughs with some trellising and we go through so many potatoes it's hardly worthwhile growing them considering the amount of space they take up. I buy them in 25KG bags at a good price anyway and if I did want to grow the odd one I would grow in a compost bag. The second thing I notice about crop rotations is that they never mention fruits, tomatoes or any of the peppers/chillies. Is there a reason for this? I plan to grow some fruits in large containers ( Apples, blueberries, red/black/white currants etc etc ) but for the more annual ones I don't really know where they fit into the rotation.

To summarise I am basically asking how to best use my four plots, taking rotation into consideration, without putting spuds or legumes into them?

Thanks in advance

B2B

[mumofstig]

Tomatoes, peppers and chillis are often grown in a frame/greenhouse/polytunnel rather than in
the beds, but there is no reason (apart from the need for warm weather ) that they shouldn't be used in the potato part of the rotation. You also need space for sweetcorn/squashes if you wish to grow them.

A simple rotation just says.....when you take one crop out, never put the same thing back in again. It's really that simple!

As for fruit..what are you thinking of as annual crops?

[New shoot]

Hi B2B

The basic rotation is based on digging in a lot of manure in each bed every three years and using the soil thereafter for crops which suit the conditions :

Bed 1 heavily manured and not limed then used for heavy feeding acid loving crops like spuds, but tomatoes are the same family and other crops that could go here are courgettes and squashes.

Bed 2 (would have been bed 1 the year before so had manure then) - now fertilise when you plant but add no more manure and this is your legume bed, or beans, leafy (not brassica) greens like chard or spinich, lettuce and sweetcorn.  You could also grow beetroot, carrots and the like in this bed.

Bed 3 (would have been bed 1 2 years ago) is limed, fertilised and used for brassicas as they prefer a more solid soil that has not been so deeply dug, but if cabbage is not your thing could also be asian greens like pak choi, plus turnips and radish.

Bed 4 is usually permanent crops like asparagus, globe artichokes or crops which don't fit the other beds like onions and all their relations.  If you grow the onion family rather than the permanent crops, you would rotate this bed as well to prevent disease.

Hope that helps  

[BacktoBasics]

Thankyou both for your replies.

mumofstig - In answer to your question, fruit wise I was looking at melon ( although guessing this might be a greenhouse job ) strawberries, possibly the currants, gooseberries and cranberries. I realise that many of these are probably ones that could go in containers but just getting opinions where I can.

New Shoot - thanks for the great explanation. Bed 4 would not be static for me but I may grow the odd jerusalem artichoke from time to time. I now understand better the rotation of soil treatments and putting the apropriate crops on for that treatment, however, how do you do this for the first year? Could you expend on other veg that could go in your plot 1?
If I was rotating four beds then what comes in the fourth year? - manure, fertilise, lime, ?
Is there anywhere I can get a very comprehensive list of all the veg that fit into each category?

Sorry about all the questions.

[mumofstig]

plant families explained here
http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/crop-rotation/crop-family-group.php

[BacktoBasics]

Thanks mumofstig that's perfect, I'm starting to feel much more confident about this now. Did you have any thoughts on the other questions?

Thanks

[New shoot]

Hi B2B

If you have 4 beds and want to rotate them all, the simplest way to get going is to remember that root crops will fork or form multiple roots if planted into heavily manured soil.  They hit lumps and then instead of 1 nice root you get a spilt root which is difficult to clean up and peel, plus by the time you have there is not much left to eat.  Brassicas as I said like lime (manure is acidic) and also like firm soil, but you can add garden lime to manured soil and tread it down before planting.

Most other crops will like the richer manured soil, so set aside a bed for the roots and plan your other 3 based on what follows in succession easily  e.g. you could plant shallots and onions in 1 then once these are harvested in summer, you could follow with catch crops of lettuce and other salad crops, chard for autumn cutting or transplant your winter brassicas in there.

I don't follow crop rotation religiously, I just move things round every year like MoS says and avoid digging in bulky organic matter into areas I've decided will be roots crops