A different way to grow?

[veggiechicken]

Another nutty idea that's bouncing around in my head - so I thought I'd share it
Pull up a chair!

First you need an idea of how many veggies you eat a week. For example, it might be a pound of spuds, 6 carrots, 4 onions, a cabbage and a lettuce. I know you eat more but this is just an example.
Now multiply this by 4 = what you eat a month:- 4 pounds of spuds, 24 carrots, 16 onions, 4 cabbage and 4 lettuce
This is how much you need to grow each month!
Now you need 4 beds, each large enough to grow a month's veggies, we'll call them A,B,C,D.
Month 1 - plant up A with everything to provide what you eat in a month
Month 2 - plant B "
Month 3 - plant C "
Month 4 - plant D and eat A
Month 5 - Plant A and eat B
Month 6 - Plant B and eat C and so on.

Each bed has 4 months maximum to mature and all crops are eaten or composted during its 4th month.

Where you plant your spuds, carrots and cabbage etc in the bed isn't important - rows, clusters, it doesn't matter. All that matters is you grow enough for your needs and don't grow surpluses.

You'd still need beds for slow maturing crops - like parsnips, sprouts and would need to grow varieties that would be mature enough to eat in 4 months.
I'd also start as much as possible in modules, to have it ready to plant out at the beginning of the month.

I know there are lots of ifs and buts but I'd value your opinion on whether it would work or not.

The benefits would be no gluts, successional sowing to extend season, crop rotation by planting in a different spot in the bed each cycle. Its like SFG without the squares

Waddya think?

[Snadger]

Well, its not quite as crackpot as your usual ideas.

So what about your perennial alliums and all your other dodgy planting plans, are you going to give up on those now?

Different months are ideal for starting diferent veg. You aint going to get the same growth in January as you are in April.

Surely if you work out your annual requirement for each veg variety and only grow that amount, that would be problem sorted?

[Jungle Jane]

It looks like an excellent idea I wish I had more land. I've got a bit better at successionally sowing carrots,rocket & potatoes by marking sowing dates on the calendar but they're in containers. I would do it too but don't have the space,its a good plan

[veggiechicken]

All my other "dodgy" plans continue elsewhere in the garden!
Annual requirement doesn't work for me - I'd still have to sow 52 cabbages at intervals throughout the year. - and I'd forget the crucial times.
I'm trying the Roots,Shoots, Fruits and Leaves approach to sowing summat every week to make myself succession sow. The next step is to have a 4 bed rotation to grow them on (in my mind anyway)

[Penellype]

I think you would have to alter the timings for different times of the year. There is no way that you would be able to grow things in 3-4 months starting in November or December except possibly indoors under grow lights. Its also nice to have some variety - for me things like courgettes, cucumbers, peas, beans etc are only eaten in the summer, or as soup from the freezer out of season. You'd struggle to grow spinach in the summer and oriental greens in the spring because they would tend to bolt.

Having said that, I had a couple of crops that took 2 goes to get started this year (runner beans were mostly eaten by slugs, one variety of peas had very poor germination). Successional sowing certainly prolonged the harvest for these, whereas normally I would have sown just 1 lot. I'm going to incorporate more of this into next year's sowing plans and hopefully have fewer gluts and a better spread of harvest.

I think if I tried to work out how much of everything I eat over a year I would frighten myself silly!

[Small pumpkin]

I like the idea. organisation would be key to it working really well. I don't think I'm organised enough. I'm dreadful at consecutive sowing, Improving but not good enough for this challenge.

[burnie]

You have to keep roots away from manured beds though, otherwise it could work if you factor in cover to get early/late crops, so cloches or a poly tunnel?

[veggiechicken]

Continuous cropping plants like beans and courgettes wouldn't be in the plan. Basically, it would be veg that you eat in one go - like carrots.
Seasonal variations for veg and climate would also have to be considered but I'm hoping that it would make me plan ahead, not oversow and not have gluts.
I'd like there to always be a Go-to bed that would have something in it to eat each month, that would be cleared and restocked at the end of the month.

[Snadger]

Even just for me and OH I reccon each of the four beds would have to be quarter of the allotment in size.!

It won't work. Sorry to be negative VC, but you can't plant up beds with the same stuff every month of the year..........its just not possible..............no, na, never! Thats why we have main planting months and main harvesting months.

[veggiechicken]

Well, that settles it - I'm doing it
It wouldn't be the same stuff every month. Take cabbages for instance - spring, summer, autumn, winter varieties. Same with carrots. I'd only stretch the seasons a bit as I try to do now. ( Mangetout and CFBs in the GH as we speak)
The only criteria is that it should be usable within 4 months + the time in modules before planting out.
Simple!!

[Snadger]

Well, that settles it - I'm doing it
It wouldn't be the same stuff every month. Take cabbages for instance - spring, summer, autumn, winter varieties. Same with carrots. I'd only stretch the seasons a bit as I try to do now. ( Mangetout and CFBs in the GH as we speak)
The only criteria is that it should be usable within 4 months + the time in modules before planting out.
Simple!!

Sounds very complicated to me, but so do most of your Baldrics " I have a cunning plan"

[veggiechicken]

At least it doesn't involve converting a rubbish dump into an Aztec temple

[Snadger]

At least it doesn't involve converting a rubbish dump into an Aztec temple

Ha ha..........I can goad you to my hearts content now you have no pointy stick!

Hmmm........Aztec temple.............

[veggiechicken]

I still have "friends in high places" - I think

[Potstubsdustbins]

I don't know whether it would actually work for a full year due to climate considerations but successional sowing is a must for me, hence the pile of 130 3" pots, 60 5" pots and 30 6" pots. There are others as well, plus a very important old calendar and a diary.

On a weekly basis I check my calendar to see what I should be sowing, then reference my diary to see how things did in previous years and then sow accordingly.

This years prime example was curly kale, last year I sowed to late to get a crop at the right time so this year it went in 3 weeks earlier meaning that as I harvested my potato dustbins I had foot high kale ready to plant on the day the spuds were harvested.

Good luck VC it's not as daft as you think............maybe.