Fine Tuning My Crop Rotation Plan

It's good for your garden to rotate your crops every year. If you grow the same types of vegetables in the same rows every year you'll find the health of your crops deteriorating. The same plants attract the same bugs and use up the same nutrients year after year after year.

Every year I find problems with my crop rotation plan and try to adjust it into perfection....but every year I find new problems.

For instance...

1.  This year I have quite a few things that are still producing but it's time to gather salmon and seaweed to prep the beds for next year! This bed had about 7 PERFECTLY good Broccoli plants in it that would have produced Broccoli florets until Thanksgiving, but, I plan to grow Garlic in that row and it's time to plant it now.....

Sad....

Note to self: Be sure to follow late producing vegetables with things that don't have to be planted until Spring. For example: follow broccoli with carrots.

2. This beautiful Nasturtium is about a month away from dying. It's planted inside the fencing so it survived the duck army. Unfortunately, it's enveloped the endgate of the row. I want to till this row now so the ducks can get in there and work it over good, but if I open the gate I will kill the Nasturtium.

Bummer.

Note to self: Plant Nasturtium seeds inside rows that contain vegetables that produce late into the Fall.

3. Garlic leaves turn brown as the plants mature and my garlic row was visible from the road this year. Although I love the looks of dying garlic, it really didn't do much for my curb appeal. I decided that from now on I should grow Garlic in the upper part of the garden that is not visible from the road....but, unfortunately, all the rows in that part of the garden have vegetables that produce late into the Fall. Garlic needs to be planted now, so that's all messed up!

 Note to self: Next year plant one row of vegetables in the upper garden that will be fully harvested by Garlic planting time.

4. Usually I have the Lettuce and Spinach planted to the East of the Pea Tunnel. Although the garden gets full sun, the East side of the Pea tunnel is slightly sunnier that the West side. This Summer I was at my neighbor's house looking at her garden and I noticed how wonderful her Spinach and Lettuce looked in July. I noticed that her garden was mostly in the shade!

photo courtesy of Sarah Eischen

Note to self: Plant Lettuce and Spinach to the West of the Pea tunnel next Year.

There are lots of other little adjustments I need to make.....There's always room for improvement, isn't there? Like my Pastor says, "It's the biggest room in the house."