Growing healthy vegetables by rotating your crops

If you change where you grow your vegetables each year you will prevent the build-up of disease and pests.  This sample rotation plan requires two vegetable beds each divided into four sections. It allows plants that have similar requirements to be grown together.  It also allows some sections to remain fallow over winter so you can pile up vegetable matter and manure and make compost in situ.  Salad vegetables are grown wherever there is some spare space as they grow quickly and don’t prevent you from growing your major crops. This rotation is designed for places that have definite winters with the occasional frost.  But crop rotation is important in warmer places too.

BED A

SECTION 1 - LEAFY GREENS AND ROOTS

  • In winter prepare this section of the bed for spring leafy greens and root vegetables

  • Plant seeds of English spinach, silver beet, spring cabbages; red cabbages; celery; celeriac; bok choi and Chinese cabbage in seed trays in a glasshouse or protected spot

  • In September plant out the seedlings of the leafy greens.  They will need to be grown quickly and without check otherwise they will bolt to seed.

  • In September plant out seeds of carrots and beetroots.

  • At the beginning of summer plant some more beetroot and carrots.

  • After the summer solstice and harvesting of the first vegetables plant Florence fennel, English spinach, Chinese cabbage, Bok and Pak Choy and celery where the root vegetables were previously planted.

  • Plant carrots, parsnips and beetroots where spring greens were planted.

SECTION 2 - PUMPKINS

  • In autumn make a pile of vegetable matter and manure to turn into compost by spring.

  • In September make two mounds of compost, one for a hard skinned pumpkin and another for a butternut pumpkin

  • In October plant pumpkin seeds – try growing some mini pumpkins

  • Remove some of the flowers on each plant to reduce number of fruit so the remaining fruit ripens earlier

  • In March harvest pumpkins before first frosts although some people like to leave them out to toughen up

  • Leave this section of the bed fallow over winter

SECTION 3 – TOMATOES - NIGHTSHADE FAMILY

  • At the beginning of spring, plant seeds of tomatoes, eggplants, capsicums in seed trays for growing in a glasshouse or wait until the weather is warm enough to sow them in a protected area or pot on the verandah

  • In early spring prepare this section of the bed for these members of the nightshade family

  • In late spring  plant out half the seedlings of eating  tomatoes, preserving tomatoes – romas, eggplants, capsicums, chillis and peppers.

  • If you have a snap frost you will still have half of your seedlings left to plant in summer after the danger has past (hopefully)

  • In late summer and early autumn harvest tomatoes etc. before first frosts

SECTION 4 -  SWEET CORN AND MELONS

  • In spring plant seeds of mini watermelons and rock melons in glasshouse or warm spot

  • In late spring start planting successive blocks of sweet corn up to end of the year

  • Plant popping corn and pick when young for baby corn or leave to dry on plant for popping corn

  • In late spring or early summer plant seedlings of melons and baby pumpkins around the corn seedlings to form an understory

  • Harvest the corn as soon as it becomes ripe otherwise it will be tough

  • Harvest the melons before the first frosts.


BED B

SECTION 1 -   ONIONS

  • In April – May sow onion seeds in a seed bed and prepare a section of the bed for onions

  • In April plant leeks, garlic and French shallot sets

  • In September plant well developed seedlings of brown onions for keeping, white onions, red onions, French shallots. white onion for pickling

  • In September and October plant seedlings of Autumn ready leek, shallots, Spring onions

  • In January progressively use onions

  • Pick white, and red onions for eating in summer and autumn

  • Save brown onions for keeping

  • Harvest onions and garlic before first frosts

SECTION 2 - PEAS AND BROAD BEANS, BEANS

  • In April prepare bed for legumes

  • In May plant broad beans

  • In June plant peas (but these need to be replaced in early spring if the weather is severe)

  • In August and September plant more peas, dwarf peas, snow peas if necessary

  • In September plant scarlet runner beans (these can be grown as permanent plants)

  • In October  plant dwarf green peas

  • In November plant French beans and beans for drying leaving space between rows for crucifer seedlings to be planted later on

  • In January remove remnants of peas

SECTION 3 - CRUCIFERS AND CUCURBITS

  • In December plant seeds of crucifers in glasshouse

  • In February plant seedlings of cauliflowers, Savoy cabbages, broccoli, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Tuscan kale

  • In September remove remnants of crucifers

  • In October plants seeds of zucchinis, cucumbers, gherkins in glasshouse

  • Plant seedlings out in November

  • In March clear remains of cucurbits and leave bed fallow

SECTION 4 - POTATOES

  • In August prepare bed for potatoes

  • Buy seed potatoes as required and allow eyes to develop.

  • In September plant small potatoes such as kipflers for summer eating

  • In October plant potatoes that will be good as ‘new potatoes’

  • In November plant potatoes for keeping and include potatoes that are good for mash and others that are good for chips eg. Desiree and Kennebec and Russett Burbank.

  • In January progressively use potatoes – using smaller ones as ‘new potatoes’

  • Harvest and store potatoes after first frosts


Chooks and Vegies

It is a good idea to build the chook pen next to the vegetable garden with an entry to let the chooks into the garden. In winter it is especially good to let the chooks in as there are no precious plants for them to destroy and their scratching turns the soil over and they eat pests.  In spring and summer, they could do a lot of damage so you need another enclosed area on the other side of the chook pen for them to scratch in.  When building the chook pen it is a good idea to place broken glass on the surface of the area you are going to concrete to form the floor of the roost.  This will stop rats from burrowing under the pen and coming out at night to eat the chook food.  Also, make sure you bury the wire netting or turn it out from the fence at right angles to stop foxes digging under the fence and eating your chooks.