Cover crops question

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Brothfeder Catskill Mountains, NY(Zone 5b) Mar 25, 2014

I'm establishing a 1/4 acre garden/farm this year. I plan to have two rotations - short and tall vegetables. In the rotations I've grouped the vegetables by family. I figure I'll just rotate the 'families' around the 1/4 acre each year until each returns to its original spot 4 years later. Is this how you guys do rotations on larger plots like this? I'm worried that placing related plants all in one spot would spread disease like crazy. Is it wiser to avoid clumping families together? Thanks!

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Diana_K Contra Costa County, CA(Zone 9b) Mar 25, 2014

I do a similar rotation.

Plants in the same family do tend to have similar or related diseases and pests. A 4 year rotation can really help, especially if you are going to rotate in either a green manure crop or solarize period.

I set up my beds like this:

Trellis on one side. Trellis is moveable, so one year they are all on the west side, next year on the east.

Larger crops in the middle.

Smaller (quick harvest) crops in between.

A) Solanaceae (tomato, pepper...) tomatoes are tied to trellis. "Small crops" = onion, garlic.

B) Cucurbits (pumpkin, squash, melon, cucumber). Cucumber are tied to trellis. "Small crops" = leaf crops like lettuce, spinach.

C) Corn and beans. "Small crops" are annual herbs.

D) Crucifers (Broccoli etc) and peas. (Crucifers are grown in the milder seasons, they bolt to seed too fast in the summer) "Small crops" are root crops (also crucifers) like radish and turnip.

E) Fallow, green manure (alfalfa), or solarize (in the summer)

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