Crop Rotation A good crop rotation plan is a seasonal dance in which the crops move from spot to spo

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Crop RotationA good crop rotation plan is a
seasonal dance in which the crops move from spot
to spot creating a garden that is constantly new
and intriguing.

• By Merry Lester

If you have any questions about this presentation
email skye_at_mmwands.com
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Crop RotationA gentle balance with the universe.
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What will we cover?

• Discuss the benefits of Crop Rotation
• Review the different groups of common fruits and
  veggies in gardens
• Discuss the varying benefits/deficits to the soil
  of these fruits and veggies
• Offer two different types/length of crop rotation
• Discuss the importance of soil
• Composting
• Cover crops
• Companion gardening
• Answer questions

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What Crop Rotation?

• Childhood visit to Mount Vernon, home of George
  Washington
• Interest in the erosion pattern plowing
• Discussion of the Dust bowl in school
• Long term gardening

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Crop Rotation The principle is simple

• Grow specific groups/families of vegetables and
  fruits on a different part of your garden each
  year.

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Crop Rotation

• Groups are moved around the garden in sequence,
  so they dont return to the same spot. This
  rotation could be as simple as 3 years, or as
  complex as 7 years.

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Quiz

• What caused the Irish Potato Famine?
• What caused the Dust bowl of the 30s?

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Why Rotate?

• Dust Bowl of the 1930s
• Irish Potato Famine
• Both of these are the result of a monoculture
  which
• Depletes the soil
• Promotes erosion
• Perpetuates insects/disease

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What are the benefits of rotating?

• Maintains soil fertility, reducing the use of
  fertilizers by preventing soil depletion
• One crop will pull a particular set of nutrients
  from the soil
• Other crops will give back
• Reduce or prevent common plant diseases
• Reduce insect infestations reducing the use of
  common insecticides
• Reduces soil erosion
• Helps control weeds reducing the need for
  herbacides
• Maintains soil structure (alternating between
  deep-rooted and fibrous-rooted crops)
• And your food taste better

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What happens when we rotate?

• We create a polyculture or permaculture or bio
  diverse culture. The garden unfolds naturally.

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Family/Crop Groups
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Think of these when planning

• Plants either
• Need nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium
• Fix nitrogen back into the soil (legumes, cover
  crops such as rye)
• Consider where you planted each type and rotate

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Planning!!!Keep records of what you planted and
how it came out, use this information the
following year. Plan your garden in the winter
when you are pining over the seed catalogs, then
you will be ready to plant in the spring.
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Simple rotation

• Start with leafy vegetables the first year
• Need nitrogen
• Follow with fruiting crops
• Need phosphorus
• Follow with rooting crops
• Love potassium
• Follow with legumes
• Soil builders

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More complex rotation

• First year brassias or crucifer
• Second year legumes
• Third year onion family or allium
• Fourth year potato or night shades
• Fifth year umbellifers
• Fill in spots with your lettuce, gourd, corn and
  anywhere plants
• Or follow short/cool crops with anywhere crops or
  a cover crop

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Experiment --- Have Fun

• What if it dies? Thats natural, perhaps the
  rotation wasnt the best, record it and start
  over.
• Dedicate some of your crops each year to the
  bugs, if you do, theyll surprise you and eat
  those, not your prizes.
• Stop, look and listen to your garden, it will
  tell you what it needs. If it is unhealthy it
  will be come a target for disease and pests.

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Quiz

• If your leafy vegetables are yellow or lack
  color, what do they need.
• Poor fruiting or poor fruit set, what do they
  need?
• Root crops are small, woody, what do they need?

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Test your soil

• What is its Ph?
• What is it NKP???
• After testing, give it what it needs,
• if leafy vegetables give it nitrogen (compost,
  manure, fish, ocean plants and bone meal)
• if fruiting plant give it phosphorus (bone meal,
  ground rock phosphate, fish emulsion, compost,
  manure),
• if roots crop give it potassium (Wood ash,
  granite dust, compost, manure, kelp)
• ONLY if it doesnt have enough.

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Other things to consider

• Cover Crops
• Winter Rye
• Oats
• Buckwheat
• Clover

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Composting

• Many methods
• Box composter
• Rolling composter
• Worms
• Large bin composter, three year rotation

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Companion Gardening

• Utilize to control pests - ideas
• Brassias or Crucifer need aromatic plants such as
  dill and herbs to deter larva and moths
• Plants like nasturtium attract aphids
• Smelly plants like Marigold repel bugs and
  animals
• Resources
• Carrots love Tomatoes - book
• Internet

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Utilize what is in your neighborhood!
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QuestionHow did I get the first tomato of the
season so early?
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Questions?Email skye_at_mmwands.com