Crop Rotation in the Vegetable Patch

Gardening Articles | March 15, 2009

Crop rotation is very important but can be terribly complicated. Here is a simple system to follow.

Why Rotate Vegetable Crops?

To prevent a build up of pests and diseases in your soil.
To prevent a continual loss of particular nutrients in your soil.
To allow for liming and manuring the soil. Some crops are happy to be planted immediately after these actions while others prefer to be planted two or more years afterwards.
To allow for the growing of green manure crops which you will dig directly back into the soil.
To allow 'fallow' times when animals can be put on the land.
To reduce the need for artificial fertilizers and pest controllers.

How to Rotate Crops

There are literally as many crop rotation systems as there are gardeners. Everyone does things slightly different. If you do nothing else just do this:

Leave at least two years before replanting the same crop on the same piece of land.

The most widely used system of crop rotation is perhaps the 4 year system. It requires only 4 vegetable beds to work and is simple to follow. In its most basic form this is when to grow what:

Year One - Muck the bed well and plant potatoes and brassica plants.
Year Two - Lime the bed and sow legumes.
Year Three - Grow miscellaneous plants and mulch with compost.
Year Four - Sow root crops.

This system takes into account the conditions enjoyed by different sorts of crops. It is not terribly complicated but sometimes the different sizes of crops and your own situation can make the system impractical to follow 'to the letter'. Worry not, bend the rules as much as you like so long as you never repeat plant the same thing in subsequent years.

For more information on getting the most out of the veg plot visit A Self Sufficient Life

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lec Watkins

Living off grid in Spain