organic rotation
Organic gardeners use rotation to help limit disease in their gardens. Lawrence Hills, the founder of the British organic gardening movement suggested this four year rotation in his book 'Organic Gardening' (1978).
All organic rotations are not the same. Some follow a three year cycle. In our case, it means that plants in the same group are not planted again in a space for another three years.
The photo shows the four year rotation we use.
Front left sees the potato plot for this year with ground mulched ready for planting.
Behind left is the bed given to legumes. These follow potatoes in our rotation. The ground was enriched by compost in the previous year and the legumes thrive on the extra fertility and add to it with their roots that add extra nitrogen to the soil.
Behind right you see the area that will follow with brassicas and leaf crops that love the fertility left in the soil by the peas and beans.
Front right you see the area given over to roots and onion family.
3 comments:
I always try to have some sort of rotation, but in a very small patch sometimes it is impossible not to grow similar veggies on the same patch. I am careful mostly with the blight on potatoes or tomatoes which can carry on from year to year. Good tidy husbandry and clearing up infected debris is a must!
Rob,
I've learned the hard way that I needed to plan for rotations, in spite of what I knew about it! I'm hopeful that a year fallow in my 'main' vegetable garden will knock back the root-knot nematodes..,
Cheers,
Lisa
Our rotation is flexible. We plant into raised beds which are easily identified and remembered. Parsnips and celeriac are planted in the brassica bed. Keeping notes of what has been planted where makes it easy to avoid planting anything in these families again within four years.
Rob
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