Monoculture!

[Snadger]

Ok, here's my dilemma!
I'd like to grow carrots in the same area each year! I know this goes against the tennet of crop rotation. Show leek and onion growers and even runner beans are sometimes grown in the same area year after year How come you can get away with certain veg but not others?
I am a great believer in crop rotation, and am aware of the pitfalls in monoculture, but............

I inherited an old leek trench about 2 foot wide and 18 foot long and 18 inches deep on my present allotment. It's been used for growing leeks for umpteen years so the soil is a nice screened loam. It is an ideal width for covering with a stock width of enviromesh, with enough room for a frame to grow carrots under all season.

This year I'm harvesting the best carrot crop I've ever had. Clean, with no carrot fly damage and very few forked roots.

The intention is, once I have finished with this years crop,to roughly dig to expose as much surface to the winter rains and frost as possible, to sterilise soil (don't ask!) to add sand and grow bag compost in spring deffo no fresh manure!
I will give a light dressing of blood fish and bone before sowing next year, and see what happens?

Ok, now I'll sit back and wait for the flack!

[Flummery]

Not at all, dear boy. It's an experiment. I await the results with interest.

Flum

[rustylady]

Bean trenches stay in the same place for years and years, especially if you have a permanent frame for them to climb. The main reason for crop rotation is to avoid a buildup of pests, and also to avoid depleting the soil of specific nutrients. However, if you make sure the crop is fed well, and you control pests with whichever method you prefer, then there is no reason not to make a permanent bed for specific crops. We do this for rhubarb, asparagus, etc. so why not with other crops?

[bazzaboy]

Interesting point, Snadger, I ask myself the same question every year when it comes to siting onions... I was brought up (in gardening terms) on people like Geoffrey Smith and if you look at his publications of the time, not THAT long ago (say 1976) he doesn't include onions in any rotation and specifically says "Onions are best grown in the same bed for several years to build up fertitlity"..... Not so morre contemporary publications. The fear of course is that you increase your chance of getting white rot and these days that seems like a jail sentence (15 years is it, the latest estimation!) Geoffrey deals with white rot by saying: "White rot or mouldy nose - lift and burn infected bulbs, grow onions on a different plot next year and dust drills with calomel." Bm bm! Sounds simple enough. However I think calomel is no longer available (wisely, I believe it contained mercury....). The end result of conflicting advice for me personally is a compromise - i.e. I sometimes move the onions! I think in the end it's a matter of "you pays your money and takes your choice" and if you're careful and industrious - as you sound to be with your leek trench - then all should be well. Hope so.

bb