I'm very new to permaculture (and pretty new to gardening in general). But we built some new beds this year, right outside our back door, to do our first, from-scratch, polycultural veggie garden. (We still have the fenced garden on the far end of our property where we're putting the low-maintenance/low-browse plants.) I used one of the polycultures that Toby Hemenway writes about in Gaia's Garden. Here's my question:

He includes brassicas in the polyculture and we're BIG on eating brassicas, so they're all over the place. But what do we do next year--do we still need to rotate them in a polyculture? Should I concentrate the brassicas in one area of the garden (it's pretty small, so it would be tough) so that I can rotate them next year?

Thanks!
Genevieve

You might try mapping where you planted them this year, and if you can find other spots to place them next year, grow something else in the previous spots.

Increasing the health of the to the maximum is the best way to avoid pests and diseases. Healthy soils produce healthy plants that resist problems more easily. The longer you can go without pests or diseases in your plants, the longer you can replant in the same area.

And you might consider expanding in your "middle area", between the backdoor beds and the low-maintenance area. And don't forget your front yard, side yard, along the driveway, large pots on the patio or driveway, etc.

The longer you do it, the more easily you will be able to tell what will work and what won't.

Sue