Above is a simple diagram of a Kitchen Garden shown as a four bed and four year cycle. Using this cycle will help you to make the most of your soil fertility. Legumes add nitrogen to the soil whereas all other plants take it out of the soil. So nitrogen hungry crops such as potatoes and tomatoes follow on after Beans and Peas.
Changing where you grow certain types of veggies each year will help to reduce the chances of pests and diseases getting a hold.
Companion planting will also help crops and I will be covering this later in February.
Next week look out for tips on boosting soil fertility and condition.
In this my second year of gardening, I wish I had kept each bed to one crop family and it would be easier to just rotate everything to the next bed. Instead, I have four beds that are mixed. I had legumes with okra and peppers, and in the next bed brassicas with potatoes and herbs, and so on. Best would be to dedicate each planting bed to one crop family.
ReplyDeleteAn awesome and simple diagram, thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your advice. I didn't rotate my tomatoes one year because I changed my crop rotationcrop rotation plans and ended up with a bad case of blight. Won't do that again. (Plus I read not to compost store-bought tomatoes because they can spread blight. So I stopped doing that, just in case.) Generally, I rotate my raised beds like this (but I still tweak things now and then, and add other minor crops to these main ones): Year 1 is cukes and cabbage family. Year 2 is tomatoes/peppers. Year 3 is legumes. Year 4 is zucchini. Year 5 is tomatoes/peppers. Year 6 is garlic/onions. Year 7 is compost and letting the bed rest (a biblical concept). I try to keep two years between planting plants in same spot. It's still a work in progress. But it's fun work.
ReplyDelete