Here's this year's potato plan - a bit involved, but it's like this so that we pull the hashed area first and can put our leeks in there as early as possible...
OK, this is the third draft (30th March). Just putting the root crops in the onion quarter. Still not too sure if the Uchiki Kuri squash will go in the brasica quarter on a trellis or whether to move it to Plot 8B. Will determine this for sure once we've finished digging...
This is the 2013 plan - second draft (3rd March). Even includes Plot 8 - though, its a bit rough still.
See Blog entry:
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This is the plan for 2013 - first draft (3rd Feb)
We haven't quite worked out everything, but that will do for a start. See blog entry
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From 2011 we decided to go for a four-year rotation and for convenience we divided plot 7 into four quarters with bark paths between for ease of access to each quarter.
Plot 8a is mainly for salad, fruit, herbs and bits & bobs so that's not included in the plan.
Well, it was a plan, but it's only guidelines...
March 2012 and this is the definitive - at least till next month
Of course, all the best made plans....
Now it's January 2012 and we've already decided to keep the roots (parsnips and carrots in Quarter 3 - this is because we have nicely sifted carrot/parsnip trenches which were not affected by pests/diseases last year so they should be happy enough for another year. Also, there's plenty of room for them because we won't need as much room as we thought for our beans.
Oh yes, and our peas are staying in Quarter 2 for 2012 too...
So, today (22nd January) the plan for Plot 7 in 2012 is this....
We need to work out the potatoes a bit better as once the leeks are ready for planting out they'll be put in the potato quarter - so we'll need to eat/clear the Belana and some Orla potatoes. Beetroot, small turnips and kohl rabi (plus any other little extras) will fill the gaps in the onion quarter.
This is our basic plan of action (drawn out in 2011).
OK, this is the third draft (30th March). Just putting the root crops in the onion quarter. Still not too sure if the Uchiki Kuri squash will go in the brasica quarter on a trellis or whether to move it to Plot 8B. Will determine this for sure once we've finished digging...
This is the 2013 plan - second draft (3rd March). Even includes Plot 8 - though, its a bit rough still.
See Blog entry:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the plan for 2013 - first draft (3rd Feb)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From 2011 we decided to go for a four-year rotation and for convenience we divided plot 7 into four quarters with bark paths between for ease of access to each quarter.
Plot 8a is mainly for salad, fruit, herbs and bits & bobs so that's not included in the plan.
Well, it was a plan, but it's only guidelines...
March 2012 and this is the definitive - at least till next month
 |
| March 2012 Plan |
Of course, all the best made plans....
Now it's January 2012 and we've already decided to keep the roots (parsnips and carrots in Quarter 3 - this is because we have nicely sifted carrot/parsnip trenches which were not affected by pests/diseases last year so they should be happy enough for another year. Also, there's plenty of room for them because we won't need as much room as we thought for our beans.
Oh yes, and our peas are staying in Quarter 2 for 2012 too...
So, today (22nd January) the plan for Plot 7 in 2012 is this....
 |
| Jan 2012 Plan |
This is our basic plan of action (drawn out in 2011).
Thanks for your advice. I didn't rotate my tomatoes one year because I changed my crop rotationcrop rotation plans and ended up with a bad case of blight. Won't do that again. (Plus I read not to compost store-bought tomatoes because they can spread blight. So I stopped doing that, just in case.) Generally, I rotate my raised beds like this (but I still tweak things now and then, and add other minor crops to these main ones): Year 1 is cukes and cabbage family. Year 2 is tomatoes/peppers. Year 3 is legumes. Year 4 is zucchini. Year 5 is tomatoes/peppers. Year 6 is garlic/onions. Year 7 is compost and letting the bed rest (a biblical concept). I try to keep two years between planting plants in same spot. It's still a work in progress. But it's fun work.
ReplyDeleteI must admit that we haven't stuck to this plan for a while, but we do tend to stick to the beans-potatoes-onions rotation and take care to not repeat years where possible. Unfortunately, today though I will be planting garlic where onions were last year - I hope I don't regret it!
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