When do you rotate in a crop rotation system?

[chris]

I've harvested most of my root veg, only things left in that bed are parnsips and beetroot - there's a lot of space doing nothing currently. Am going to try and leave the parnsips as long as possible (would love them on xmas day!) - beetroot are being eaten as and when they're large enough.

i'm planning on sowing some more beetroot to see if I can get another quick batch in - but is there a deadline when I should start rotating, or should I go with my next group in the free space now and fill in once the parnsips have been lifted? - bit confused with the staggered harvest time of them you see!

[Capsid]

I never worry too much about a strict rotation system. As long as you don't plant the same veg in the same ground from one season to the next and improve the soil by digging in compost as you go then you won't go too far wrong.

Your plan of sowing more beetroot and then sowing fresh veg once the parsnips are lifted is fine.

[Alison]

I don't have a fixed time for rotation but move things along at each planting ie I wouldn't plant more beetroot where I had just pulled the last lot out so can quite often have things in more than one bed at a time in different stages of growth for example my spring cabbages were in the same bed as the winter cabbage I ate over last winter but a different bed to the sprouts which I planted out this.

By the way, your parsnips need leaving a long time yet, get a good frost on them for them to be sweet . I've not touched my main crop carrots yet so my root beds are still pretty full and as I make small gaps I usually fill them with salad crops if a major crop isn't ready.

[toastie]

Most of my beds are quite full - haven't really made any inroads on the 'earlier' carrots yet as spent most of our time eating the salad stuff e.g. radishes, lettuce, spring onions etc. Agree that parsnips need a while longer yet although think we're a little behind with ours. Presumably somewhere on the plot you have brassicas, swedes, turnips, beans, potatoes etc. Only tend to rotate crops at the start of the new 'season' by growing them in a different place especially potatoes, brassicas and start a new trench for beans about 3/4 months before and fill it with household compost (but not potato skins etc as they take on a life of their own).