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queuetue

Next year - crop rotation?

queuetue
15 years ago

This was my first year (moderately successful) with SFG. I'm definitely in for another season.

What are your thinking on next year's crop locations? Are you concerned with mitigating soil-borne diseases by rotating crops? Rotating soil? I'm especially wondering about tomatoes and peppers, which I would prefer to have in the same locations next year.

Comments (6)

  • anniesgranny
    15 years ago

    Pros and cons. It is said you should never grow tomatoes in the same spot, but I've had mine in the same place for at least ten years now and never had any problems. My father grew his in the same place for 50 years, no problems. It's only my opinion (and not a popular one) but I wouldn't worry about it UNLESS the plants get diseased...then I would certainly move the next year's plants to another spot.

    Granny

    Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

  • alison70
    15 years ago

    I just stirred the whole bed up and added more compost, I figure I just rotated the soil instead.

  • engineeredgarden
    15 years ago

    I personally feel that crop rotation is mainly a concern with large scale agriculture. Things to consider are: pests, nutrient levels in the soil, and soil diseases. With sfg, all of these problems can be corrected very easily.

    1. Pests are gonna find your plants, regardless of location. A person just has to deal with them.
    2. Nutrient levels are gonna be replenished with additional compost or fertilizers.
    3. Soil diseases can be a real concern, but can be eliminated in several ways.

    I'm planning on moving some things around next year, but only because I will be introducing a couple of new veggies into the garden.

    EG

  • carolynp
    15 years ago

    I'm going to move a bunch of things about, but mostly because I'm going to try at least half my tomatoes in the swc's. I'm totally sold on them at this point. Other than that, I'm going to try granny's compost method in my beds that go unused over the winter (leaves and manure, covered). Since we're adding new compost every year and there are only 4 to 12 inches of soil at this point, I think I agree with Alison that we're rotating soil.

  • sinfonian
    15 years ago

    I tried to rotate crops from spring to fall. I did well except for peas, which could only go back where I removed them.

    That said, my spinach leaf miners either followed me from season to season, or were present in the soil in two different beds. So the verdict is sitll out in my book on crop rotation.

    That said, Steve Solomon is a huge fan of it for my area, so I'll keep it up.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

  • anniesgranny
    15 years ago

    I think one must not plant in the same spot for three years to be successful at crop rotation. That would be nearly impossible in the small home garden. I guess if you had boxes labeled 1, 2, 3, 4 you could just move the same crop from box 1 to box 2 the first year, then from box 2 to box 3 the second year and from box 3 to box 4 the third year. Then just keep repeating.

    Granny

    Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Kitchen Garden

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