The raised beds that form the kitchen garden.
The new growing season is fast approaching. As of this year I have my full complement of raised beds for growing edibles in, so I thought I better work out a crop rotation plan.
This is the layout, where I have numbered each section or bed, to make it easy to plan in order to know what crop is where.
As I have a smaller garden, I've decided to go for a 3 year rotation plan instead of a 4 year plan. I'll be going into detail about this in a future post(1). Here are my 3 year rotation plans.(2)
For my garlic, the plan is to only grow a larger number which I can then share, every 3 years. I may also grow some extra food in pots as well, depending on energy levels etc.
I have allowed for sowing green manure at different points in the year, and I'll continue to add some well-rotted manure and compost to the beds, as needed.
I'm not growing anything from the Solanum family (potatoes and tomatoes), and the only thing from the Brassica family (i.e. cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli) will be Kohl Rabi. In general, the Solanum and Brassica families require a lot more work than I have the spoons to manage. I've grown Kohl Rabi in the past and found it wasn't overly impacted by the white cabbage moth, so hoping that will continue, given they aren't easily available in the shops.
The asparagus, being a perennial, isn't part of the crop rotations as since it will stay in that bed for the next 20 years or so.
Looking at the kitchen garden beds from a different angle.
I suspect I may end up amending my plans as I go along, depend on my health. But having the crop rotations worked out in general, makes it easier manage what to sow where. Now, I'm just waiting for Spring!
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- I'm putting together a post sumarising crop rotations (the reasons for, etc) for Solarpunk Action Week (8th - 14th March). If there is an issue you'd like to see included, leave your request in the comments below.
- If you would like to see these in more detail, I've uploaded them to Scribd.
