[Catweazle]

I'm planning a large veg plot for next year,  using a 5 year rotation to keep soil fertile and free of disease.  Is it better to split up beds of the same veg type so as to minimise the risk of a pest or disease wiping the whole lot out ?  Or will the more difficult logistics of looking after them be more trouble that it's worth ?

For example,  rather than plant 4 rows of lettuce then 4 rows of cabbage,  4 of radish etc. etc.,  would it be better to plant 2 rows lettuce,  2 of cabbage,  2 of radish,  then 2 more of lettuce,  2 more cabbage,  2 more radish etc. etc.

I haven't grown veg on this scale before,  previously it was very small raised beds in my Kent garden but now I have several acres of Wales to play with.  I'm thinking of devising a small rotation system on a block of maybe 1/10th acre and then duplicating the whole block over the rest of the land.  Does this seem sensible ?  Or am I going to be making a lot of extra work for myself ?

[Fleecewife]

Cabbage and radish are both brassicas.   I have always done my rotation system using rows not beds, in which case a row of brassicas would be interplanted with lettuce, or with radish, while the brassicas are still fairly small. I think that on a bed scheme I would be looking to plant my brassicas at their final distances, then fill in the gaps with quicker growing salads which will be finished before the brassicas overshadow them.  Some crops such as potatoes and squashes have a lot of foliage and don't really lend themselves to intercropping so I would give them an area to themselves.
 
However you proceed, it is well worth keeping accurate records, so you know just where every group was grown right back to when you begin.  You think you will remember but you don't.
 
Another point to consider is protection of certain crops - again brassicas are the obvious example - where to have the plants in dribs and drabs here and there would make netting them against pests far more difficult.
 
All in all I would opt for large blocks of the same type of veg, plus some intercropping,  and be very strict with my rotation plan, including green manures.
 
If you plan to use some sort of mechanical help, such as a rotavator, which is justified in a larger plot, then rows work better than beds, and larger areas of the same crop can be cultivated more efficiently than if they are broken up.

[Catweazle]

Thanks Fleecewife,  that's very helpful 

[MAK]

Wow Stop ! 
I have probabley teard the same books re veg gardening and planted as out indicated above. Now I have changed my tack.
My neighbours have lots of land. They rent out fields and in return their veg patch gets visited by a muck spreaderr in early spring. Their family then plough 8-12 rows of 40 meters or so. In these arretes they plant veg. No rotation !
Spuds are planted about 5 inches into the arrete ( 2 people can do a row of 40 meters in just a few minutes).
now the rub - my neighbours draw a line in the soil - open a packet of seed and sow the lot. They have to thin carrots, lettuce, brasiccas etc on mass and transplant their cauliflowers, cabbage, swede. turnip and beetroot by nipping the tap root and pinching off a few main leaves. The end products are amazing - little methodology but plenty of experience.
No way will I propogate some seed, pot on then transplant next year. I'll chuck the muck on the ground and follow my neighbours ( all 3 are ver 80  years).
 I will buy my leeks and stuff all 60 in a hole in the ground, cut off the green leaves then soak in. Simples. 

Essentially I feel I have fussed too mutch in the past and relied on books. Experienced gardners hold a lot of knowledge specific to the soil, local climate and their table needs. follow the leaders I think.

BW Martin

[Mel Rice]

My vege patch is in blocks. I do inter crop but with the same general sort of plant. so my root block will have a row of turnips, then beetroots, then sweede, a second row of turnips and so on. I start planting at one end of the bed (the sunny end) move down, and have been known to get a second crop in where the first one was if it was a fast grower. the whole block then moves down one next year for rotation.
I find it easy to think about manure wise....and where to send other people to weed or pick things.

[Plantoid]

Catweasle  try and get hold of a book called the garden vegetable expert by Dr DG Heessayon second hand off the internet from the likes of Amazon  usually an old edition will serve just as well as a new £9.00 one
It will give you some sound ideas if you are going to make bigger rows in bigger beds
 MAK's  pottager gardening part of his post is not in there but you can use it if the seeds you sow are of a similar period of growth from sowing to harvesting.and you regularly pick the bigger veg growing before they get to max size . You can also make several beds up over a period of several months to give you a continued succession of veg over a long period .