Crop Rotation - Now completely confused

[Flummery]

I'm a Snadger type gardener. I do lax. I do it VERY well! I rotate crops in the sense that I don't grow the same thing in the same bed for at least 3 years. Other than that, I put things where I fancy them! I have to say, it works and I don't have any build up of strange diseases.

You can get very anal about crop rotation if you aren't careful.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Hazel is our Seymour Guru!

And he also tells you all about succession sowing to get the best value out of the available space.

I rotate crops in the sense that I don't grow the same thing in the same bed for at least 3 years.

I can't remember what was in a particular bed 10 minutes ago, let alone 3 years! Of course what doesn't help is that since my carpentry endeavours, all the beds look the same.

[jackie j]

Last year I planted my onions then put the beans next to them ( rows of onions then Beans ) and both were fine.

[kentvegplot]

Or you could do what Chris Beardshaw suggested on GQT, which is to use the 'polyculture' method. All it means is that you mix up your planting, and when you've harvested something you plant something different in its place. I suspect this is fine unless you know you have a disease which you need to deal with.

[womble]

I heard about the polyculture as well, in principle I think the idea is not bad, but in actual application, surely its difficult to work out which soil had the brassicas and onions in it for example, last year.

[Flummery]

When you get 'into' chooks you read the words Crop Rotation as though it's a strange hen behaviour thread!

[BilboWaggins]

When you get 'into' chooks you read the words Crop Rotation as though it's a strange hen behaviour thread!

Have you been at the Vino de Parsnip again??

[Flummery]

I'm off the vino de anything for Lent Bilbo. Heaven help us when I get back on it if I make so little sense without!

[BilboWaggins]

But you always make sense to me Flummery, of course, not sure what that says about my sanity

[PoshCloche]

Laugh, I too have tried to follow proper crop rotation and have got the spread sheets to prove it. Trouble is though I spend more time planning it out on the spread sheet than I do planting up!
Now I try and make sure I plant the following in different places each year and just fit the rest in where ever it will go.
I sow carrots in between my rows of winter onions
I try and change where I plant potatoes each year.
I change where I grow brassicas each year.
I sow parsnips each year in a different place and they never grow.....but thats a different story.!

[OverWyreGrower]

I had onions, garlic, leeks, peas, courgettes, tomatoes and squash in one bed last year.... everything was fine and grew well....

This year, the onions, garlic and leeks are def going in together, but I have a bigger bed for squash and courgettes, simply cos they take up more room... will probably chuck in lettuce and rocket etc where the gaps are

[hamsterqueen]

There was something about this on Gardeners Question time this week. The man said that he has given up crop rotation and just sows all different types of veg together on his plot. It has been OK for a while now.

I only have a smallish plot with raised beds and try to move beans and tomatoes about as much as possible, but I end up sowing in any available bit of the bed, either when the other crop has finished or been dug up/eaten by the foxes, slugs and cats.