On Wed, 15 Jan 2003 15:34:57 +0000, Rhiannon Macfie Miller
wrote:

My gardening book gives me a crop rotation system in which legumes
follow brassicas, so that the nitrogen-fixing replenishes the soil after
the brassicas have eaten up all the good stuff. But I obviously can`t
start digging trenches when my sprouts are still in full swing and the
broccoli hasn`t even got going yet! Perhaps I should be using some
other rotation system..

I've seen so many contradictory jottings on crop rotation that I've
thrown my hands up in exasperation and resorted to bunging things in
as and where there's space.
As far as I see it there's a reasonably simple logic to follow.
Avoid the same crops in the same spot year in year out.
Give due regard to the needs of a particular crop - such as a stiff,
undisturbed soil for brassicas.
Make sure each crop has what it needs... cucurbits need lots of food,
salads need shade in summer, sweetcorn likes to huddle.

For sure, if you want your veg patch to run like a train then you need
to plan, especially if you get into intercropping - but I tend to
manure everything annually bar the spot that's earmarked for the
brassicas.

Rhiannon, only got three beds (well, two, but one is long and thin and
so can by split down the middle), but with such clayey stoney soil has
given up trying for root veg, so only three crop groups..

I have four beds at the moment, with similarly heavy soil ( on my
third fork in less than six years! ) - and I've had crappy root veg up
'til last year.
What I did was dig out a 4x4 plot and fill it with very old well
rotted manure to a depth of a foot. I then used that for my carrots -
and I have to say they shot right down!
Better still, they pulled up dead easy.... as did the resulting weeds!

With a couple of bags of the cheapest potting compost you can find you
can provide yourself with a small patch that will happily see you in
carrots through the summer. No need to thin, just throw the seeds on
and let 'em find their own space.

Regards,


--
Stephen Howard - Woodwind repairs & period restorations
www.shwoodwind.co.uk
Emails to: showard{whoisat}shwoodwind{dot}co{dot}uk