Garden Rotation

[Pavel314]

We're going to rotate two of the garden sections for next year. We currentl y have three sections to our vegetable garden, each 25 feet wide and 30 fee t long, all adjacent with a walkway between the sections. From left to righ t, for the last three years they've been 1, the pumpkin patch; 2, vegetable left; and 3, vegetable right. The two vegetable sections have a variety of rows, containing corn, beans, potatoes, melons, tomatoes, etc. We have bee n changing the crops amongst the rows each year and add compost and manure to the rows every fall.

For next year, we're going to switch the pumpkin patch with vegetable left, putting the pumpkin patch between the two vegetable sections. After harves ting the pumpkins next month, we'll bring a few loads of sheep manure from the barn to spread over the gardens, then till them in before winter hits. Hopefully, the plants will enjoy a change of scenery.

In a few years, we'll probably switch the pumpkin patch with vegetable righ t.

Paul

[songbird]

Pavel314 wrote: ...

i try to rotate everything each season, but in a few gardens the soil is so poor that i keep planting beans until i can get it into shape.

the rest of the gardens i rotate the tomatoes into first with the worms/worm compost and then follow with onions the next year. i squeak some garlic in one of the gardens.

after several years they're due for another shot of worms/worm compost and since we don't over do it with what we plant and harvest and return all food/paper scraps and plant debris the garden soil has gradually improved each season.

i also rotate the areas i plant squash every year or two. we went three years last year and it was ok, but it was time to move on. this year with the seeds going in late we don't have too many squash out there to harvest.

considering where we started and how things have changed and how much we do harvest from these gardens i'm pretty happy with how it has been going.

different plants use different nutrients so it makes a lot of sense to rotate crops as then you will not need to amend so heavily and still can get decent crops.

songbird

[Hul Tytus]

Where are you? I'm in the Ohio river valley and if you drop a seed, you have to be careful to step aside.

Hul

s> ...

[songbird]

mid-Michigan. things grow well here most of the time other than the fact that we are in a low spot which gathers fogs and colder air at times.

songbird

[Pavel314]

Not sure who you were asking but I'm in Maryland, northeast of Baltimore.

Paul

[Drew Lawson]

I'm near-by (Miami Valley, Dayton-ish), but not quite that fortunate on soil. We're on a post-WW2 (therefore, topsoil scraped) suburban plot.

But after 10-ish years of mulch, with the remnants tilled in early spring, Shallow rooted stuff does pretty well. As do tomatoes, though I give them some help at setting out.

Not sure it is up to growing something hungry like corn, but my wife has a corn pollen allergy, so that point is moot.

I had a couple years of gardening at a near-by 1905 house, and the soil was absolutely amazing. The neighborhood, not so much.

[eastman5063]

tly have three sections to our vegetable garden, each 25 feet wide and 30 f eet long, all adjacent with a walkway between the sections. From left to ri ght, for the last three years they've been 1, the pumpkin patch; 2, vegetab le left; and 3, vegetable right. The two vegetable sections have a variety of rows, containing corn, beans, potatoes, melons, tomatoes, etc. We have b een changing the crops amongst the rows each year and add compost and manur e to the rows every fall.

t, putting the pumpkin patch between the two vegetable sections. After harv esting the pumpkins next month, we'll bring a few loads of sheep manure fro m the barn to spread over the gardens, then till them in before winter hits . Hopefully, the plants will enjoy a change of scenery.

I've grown chile on the same 26'x12' plot for ten years now and only recent ly have been seeing a lessening of plant/fruiting vigor. I just pile on abo ut a foot of dry leaves in the Fall and till them in Fall if the weather st ays warm or in the Spring. Suspect the leaves just can't provide enough nit rogen so I'm going to do a soil analysis on the current soil.