Help with Basic Crop Rotation Plan

[craftymarie]

Am making a rough plan of what is being planted in each bed and I could do with a bit of help please.

I'm not growing potatoes and tomatoes go in pots so have got 3 beds which I've roughly split into:

Bed 1: Legumes
Bed 2: Brassicas
Bed 3: Onions and Roots

I am mostly just stuck with where Squash, Marrows and Courgettes would work best. I've narrowed it down to sticking them in with legumes or brassicas because onions need less water. But which would work better? Or does it not matter where to put those?

[Thelma Sanders]

They're the crops that fit in wherever there is room

[craftymarie]

They're the crops that fit in wherever there is room

Yes that will probably be the case I imagine Thank you. So not to worry to much where these go. I really love them so will be squeezing in as many as I can!

[Thelma Sanders]

Yes that will probably be the case I imagine Thank you. So not to worry to much where these go. I really love them so will be squeezing in as many as I can!

They don't suffer from disease like the rotation families do, but it's still best not to grow them in exactly the same place every year. I squeeze in as many squash as possible as well

[planetologist]

Squash and the like get really big, so I'd combine them with the brassicas that are slow growing and many of which get to be substantial plants themselves, so wouldn't be too badly affected by a few months of shade.

[Snadger]

My view is that crop rotation is for farmers who practice monoculture on large tracts of land.

On a small garden or allotment plot, simply not following 'like with like' has served me well and along with regular mulching with organic material and very little digging , I have managed to eradicate club root and onion white rot on my plot.
My plants are healthy, require little watering, and most importantly, taste good!

I'm just pointing out that there is another way, rather than sticking rigidly to crop rotation spreadsheets and suchlike!

[craftymarie]

Thanks planetologist and snadger.

Yes that's what BM basically said just don't grow things in the same place next time and I definitely want to avoid that in case of soil diseases and stuff. It's good to hear that works really well.

I'm terrible at having to plan things. I spreadsheet pretty much everything - holiday list, christmas gifts, work, seed inventory, you name it The planning is just a confidence thing which makes me think I can conquer anything.

Hopefully next year I'll feel much more laid back about it. I'll be happy as long as we get some yummy veg

[Penellype]

I stick some of my courgettes in the flower garden - they have nice big orange flowers and some of the fruits are quite attractive too until eaten.