CROP ROTATION

Photo: Rhubarb can stay where it is when planning crop rotation.

My hard work preparing the vegetable patch in winter seems to have been worth while as it is weed free and ready for planting. The whole area was made into paths and raised beds and covered over with plastic to stop the weeds taking over before the vegetables go in. The paths were covered with a very good quality Axminster carpet and the beds were constructed out of old wood, the materials were all courtesy of the local land fill sites. I was tempted to pick up an old coffee table and settee to put on the carpet to look like a comfortable outside room but I don’t think that style of garden design has caught on yet!

Most of the vegetables that I’m growing this year have been started off under the protection of the propagator; this not only keeps the worst of the weather off them, but also stops the slugs from munching the tender new plants. There are a few seeds that I put straight into the garden such as carrots, parsnips, leeks and radishes that don’t transplant very well.

I’ve also planted my garlic and onions straight into the beds as these are grown from bulbs, but as for my cauliflowers, kale, broccoli, spinach, turnips, courgettes and peas I’m going to have to find the best areas I can find to plant them, most of the root vegetables such as carrot and beetroot don’t like to be put in soil that has recently been manured, which is causing a few problems for me as the raised beds are new and all of them contain some well rotted manure, I thought I might put them into my herbaceous borders this year to grow alongside the pansies while I come up with a crop rotation plan for next year.

CROP ROTATION

Vegetables shouldn’t be grown in the same spot year after year. If they are then two main problems arise. Firstly, soil-living pests and disease that thrive on the crop will increase in numbers. Secondly, continuous cropping with the same vegetable may lead to the levels of nutrients in the soil to become unbalanced. Therefore a simple crop rotation plan is needed to move the plants around every year. There can be an area in the plot for growing things that don’t need to move like asparagus and rhubarb, but for the rest of the patch a 3-year rotation plan can be drawn out. The main routine is this: Plant a root crop one year then an above ground crop the next then go back to root crop in the third year.

YEAR 1
ROOTS
BRASSICAS
OTHERS


YEAR 2
OTHERS
ROOTS
BRASSICAS

YEAR 3
BRASSICAS
OTHERS
ROOTS

YEAR 4
SAME AS
YEAR 1

Here’s a definition of the categories:

ROOTS: These are crops such as beetroot, carrot, Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, potato and salsify (a bit like a skinny parsnip) For these crops no manure should be added and the ground doesn’t need to be limed. A general fertilizer could be raked into the soil 2 weeks before planting.

BRASSICAS: These are broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, radish, swede and turnip. Some well-rotted manure could be added and the soil can be limed unless you are sure that the soil is already alkaline (a soil testing kit will tell you this)

OTHERS: This area will cover beans, celery, cucumber, leaf beet, leek, lettuce, marrow, onion, peas spinach, sweet corn and tomatoes. In this year loads of well rotted manure can be added and lime if the soil is acid.

HORSETAIL UPDATE
A couple of weeks ago I asking if anyone had a solution to the invasive horsetail weed. I had a telephone call from a gardener in Carndonagh who may have found a solution (if you are organic and don’t use chemicals you can turn the page now if you like) The chemical is called Mortone it only comes in five litre containers and is available from the Co-op for around fifteen euros. Although it doesn’t mention the weed in the list of things it kills I’m told it does work.

Horticultural.