Seven year rotation

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Kirpi

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Seven year rotation
« on: June 14, 2012, 12:32 »
My planting beds divide neatly into seven.

As my allotment gardening experience and my tastes have changed over the years I find now I don't have enough room for my Brassicas, including Swede and Turnip. Once I get my Swedes and Turnips in, there is little room for Cabbages, Romanesque and Kale - all big plants when they get to full size.

I have come up with the following rotation which I hope will keep most soil problems away and let me produce what I need:

1. Potatoes, followed by Green Manure Mustard against eel worm;
2. Onions;
3. Swedes and Turnips (Brassica 1)
4. Peas and Beans;
5. Three Sisters (Sweetcorn, Cherokee Trail of Tears and Squashes/Pumpkins);
6. Cabbages, Romanesque, Kale, Sprouts and Cauliflower
7. Miscellaneous (Beetroot, Carrots, Bulb Fennel, Corgettes, Parsnips, Lettuce etc.)

Any comments/advice?

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mumofstig

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #1 on: June 14, 2012, 14:17 »
Mines a 3 year rotation, so the gap's about the same  :)

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devonbarmygardener

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2012, 14:52 »
Does green manure mustard help prevent eel worm? ???

I have 6 square beds, 3 long beds and a large spare odd shaped bed at the top of my plot, so nothing returns to the same place withing at least 5 years.
And I generally follow the general rotation rules ie. beans following brassicas etc.

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Yorkie

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2012, 19:59 »
Mustard is a brassica, so you only have 2 years between the cabbages and the mustard and 2 further years between the mustard and brassica 1.

Also, even if mustard prevents eelworm, doesn't eelworm do the most damage to spuds - and therefore might be useful before the spuds rather than afterwards?

Three sisters bed - it rarely works succesfully in this country.  We don't have the climate of the area of America which developed it.  Any two of the three will be OK but I'd try to avoid the beans up the sweetcorn.  I grow sweetcorn in the middle and the squash / courgette round the outside. 
I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days all attack me at once...

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Kirpi

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #4 on: June 15, 2012, 08:36 »
Thanks Yorkie.

Mustard: The idea about growing Mustard after Potatoes, not before, is because the gasses given off by brassica actually harden the eel worm cysts (eggs) and prevents them from hatching so it should be after the potato crop, not before.

Having said that, I've never suffered potato eel worm so why worry and as you say - it is a third brassica into the rotation so best avoided. There's seven years between potato crops so any eel worms that do hatch will be long gone by the time the next potato crop comes by.

Three sisters: I find this works well but I use extra canes in among the sweetcorn to give the beans something more to climb up against instead of the sweetcorn and - like you - I place the squashes to the outside and train them through the bed. Works for me and its a good look when it matures.

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devonbarmygardener

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2012, 16:01 »
In theory the 3 sisters bed should work pretty well down mine and Kirpi's end of the country as we're supposed to be the 'English Riviera' with a warmer climate than our more northerly gardeners!  :)

However, I tried it in 2007 (looking at my allotment diary to remember - didn't think it was that long ago!) and the beans grew well, but the corn cobs were too small to be normal corn and too large for baby corn and the squashes were rubbish that year!!

I have grown potatoes thi year in big bags rather than in the ground, aiming to reduce my usual eelworm damage (my spuds suffer badly every year) so I would be curious to try growing mustard in one bed this year and putting a few experimental spuds in after.

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angelavdavis

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Re: Seven year rotation
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2012, 21:30 »
I must admit I only grow squashes and sweetcorn from the 3 sisters - and plant other beans in the legumes bed with the peas.  Otherwise it all looks good to me!  :)
Read about my allotment exploits at Ecodolly at plots 37 & 39.  Questions, queries and comments are appreciated at Comment on Ecodolly's exploits on plots 37 & 39


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