i guess this may have been asked many times before, but i can't find the thread.
how important is it to be exacting with crop rotations? really?
i have 5 proper rotating beds, rather than the trad 4, AND i didn't start out with a firm plan since i only got the lottie this march...
it's all a little messy. will it be a disaster to stray from the book?
MuddyWitch wrote:Mine is a four year rotation, with six beds in each block. I keep a note of what goes in which bed so even try not to put the same thing in a bed where it has been for eight years.
It goes like this:
Year ONE: Manure then potatoes, (which includes toms, in a moveable greenhouse that sits over two beds) then green manure
Year TWO: Dig in green manure, then lime, then peas/beans then brassicas (cabbage, cauli, brussels, broccoli, swede, turnips),
Year THREE: Miscellaneous (this includes courgettes, salad leaves, annual herbs, chard, celery, spinach & owt else I fancy 'having a go at')
Year Four: Roots (beetroot, carrots, onions, garlic, leeks)
Now this only works because I have the luxury of a nursery bed to start my brassicas off. But it does mean the brassicas have the advantage of the nitrogen fixed by the legumes & the spuds get the 'muck' which would make the roots (who are furthest from it) fork.
MW
Ann Pan
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
if you get intoa good plan then you can just stick to it and dont have to think very hard aftger that!
but really so long as you mix it up, dont put spuds or their relatives in the same place twice, dont put cabbages and relatives in same place twice, and you should be ok.
best thing is to draw a map of what you did this year, so you can look next year and change it about.
in reality always ending up messing with the plan as we have some spare plants that want a home etc
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
MuddyWitch wrote:Mine is a four year rotation, with six beds in each block. I keep a note of what goes in which bed so even try not to put the same thing in a bed where it has been for eight years.
It goes like this:
Year ONE: Manure then potatoes, (which includes toms, in a moveable greenhouse that sits over two beds) then green manure
Year TWO: Dig in green manure, then lime, then peas/beans then brassicas (cabbage, cauli, brussels, broccoli, swede, turnips),
Year THREE: Miscellaneous (this includes courgettes, salad leaves, annual herbs, chard, celery, spinach & owt else I fancy 'having a go at')
Year Four: Roots (beetroot, carrots, onions, garlic, leeks)
Now this only works because I have the luxury of a nursery bed to start my brassicas off. But it does mean the brassicas have the advantage of the nitrogen fixed by the legumes & the spuds get the 'muck' which would make the roots (who are furthest from it) fork.
MW
wow! that's my kind of system.
fantastic. i'm very glad to hear as well that other people also mix and match a bit later on. i can not abide to see empty space that culd have a crop in it......
These systems work great if you have plenty of space in your garden. In reality, there always seem to be more plants than space... So you stick them in anywhere half way sensible. And then, things take much longer than expected, especially up here in the cold north, so beds aren't free when the next lot is supposed to come in, but the plants are ready - which is why it never quite works out! OK, it does for some - a friend of mine has a huge garden, and can afford to not use a quarter or so of it at any one time, so there's plenty of spare...
Ina
I'm a size 10, really; I wear a 20 for comfort. (Gina Yashere)
As I said in a post last year, it's a good idea in principle but for a small garden it would take a lot of planning, and as Ina says provided you have plenty of space.
For instance, if you grow PSB and spring cabbage that is still going strong in May, how do you plant your root crops (which should follow) as it is far too late for potatoes, parsnips etc.
I'm firmly with Ina on this, just keep it in mind when planting/sowing and make sure you don't have the same crop in exactly the same place two years running.
Tony
Disclaimer: I almost certainly haven't a clue what I'm talking about.
This is very useful, I was trying to decipher from Seymour the correct way of doing this, like you say the timings arn't always right.
The thing that I am also faced with is what structure I put into my Garden. I have about 25mtr x 25mtr patch which is all dug, but it on a slope and the bottom third is shaded, and the top third is shallow soiled and very stoney. This year I started by planting rows up the hill so to speak, but then I found when planting the potatoes that if I rotavated (did you know rotavator is the longest palindrome in the dictionary) across the hill then I dug terraces which were stoney along the ex-highest bit, ideal for walking, and deep at the front. However with it like this the grass grows up the "step" and if you walk on it, it gives way, plus the cats and chickens like to remodel this vision.
So I don't know whether to do the terracing, but properly with Boards, or do squares or what. Then I think well it's expensive to use wood, and will I be able to rotavate near the boards, or am I just being to fussy, and what about paths, and isn't it a waste of space, and Really I would want to use a mower on these to keep the grass and weeds down etc..............
I have learnt this year it's best not to just get stuck in.
Millymollymandy wrote:Bloody smilies, always being used. I hate them and they should be banned.
No I won't use a smiley because I've decided to turn into Boboff, as he's turned all nice all of a sudden. Grumble grumble.
