[suziequeue]

So we are finally getting round to making some raised beds in our allotment in the middle field at home and I could actually entertain the idea of starting a crop rotation next year. We don't "do" potatoes as we grow them in sacks separately and tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers all go in the polytunnel. Have tried peas and ......... No.

I think we will have six beds in total each measuring 1.5m x 10m - so a total of 90sqm of growing space which I think will be plenty for just us.

My plan is to have:
Bed 1: alliums - onions, garlic, shallots, leeks
Bed 2: legumes - mainly beans of various sorts, mange tout and possibly some sweet peas
Bed 3: roots - carrots mainly I expect and some beetroot
Bed 4: brassicas - cabbage, sprouts, broccoli, kale, kohl rabi
Bed 5: green manure
Bed 6: rest

The thing is, I am not sure how to "categorise" other veg that I want to grow such as: celery, romaine, celeriac, parsley, squashes and courgettes.

So - is there an ideal "order" that I should plant in (e.g brassicas after alliums or somesuch), and what beds should I plant the "other" veg in?

I appreciate that this sounds a bit pedantic but I want to make the best stab of rotation if I can.

[pgkevet]

There probably is a theoretical best rotation but I like to keep my brain from thinking too hard. As I understand it spuds and brassicas need a 4yr+ rotation and theoretically the greediest plants ought to follow the pulses. However whenever i grow pulses I find that even with runner beans the roots aren't impressive so I find it hard to believe there's really that much nitrogen fixed that its going to make a huge difference...

If your green manuring then you have to avoid brassica type green manuring within 4 yrs and perhaps use a pulse if you believe the nitrogen fixation is really that good...or forget the green manuring altogether on a few raised beds and make a good compost heap instead. Or in my case I chuck all the garden/tree shreddings on my resting plot and plough it in at the end of season to rot in the ground over winter after spraying off whatever 'weeds' had grown that year (my approach to free green manure).

I have endless space and 2 x 1/4 acre patched alternate using. Spuds rotate from each end each plot so thats my 4 years. Brassicas at the other end and pulses and alums, sweetcon, physallis, parsnips, carrots etc get grown in a different order in the middle sections (as I said I'm simple)

[cloddopper]

Perhaps invest in a book called the " Vegetable expert by DG Hessayan it's available from Amazon or any large garden centre for around £ 10.
It covers almost all crops in groups that we grow  in the UK & gives sow, transpant & harvest times as well as cooking and care .


 Most times a four bed rotation is good as the green manure is dug in the fallow bed .
 bed 1& 2 can be inter planted as compatables and pest control  onions help deter carrot fly and carrots help deter onion fly apparently .

 You may well find that beds that are only 6 mtrs long are a better bet for you're not tempted to cross the bed to get to the other side as much as you tend to be with long beds .
I offer that you'd be better to make the paths between 3 to four feet wide so that you can get a barrow down them when there are full grown crops on either side .

 One of my early gardens I designed & constructed  four   36 inch wide beds in a bar grid each almost  8 mtrs long with a perimeter path of 36 inches wide &  32 inch  wide 3 inch thick concrete path ways in between the beds.
 It was a delight to see , as it really set off the whole garden

It was fantastic doing all the sowing and neat transplanting , however  when the cabbages , marrows etc got going you couldn't find the paths let a lone walk on them .
 
 

[suziequeue]

Yes - I have Dr Hessayon's book which is a bit of a bible for us but his crop rotation plan is only three/four years and doesn't really fit with what I want to grow.

I find the beds that we have made are the perfect width for reaching into the middle from either side. There is a generous barrow width between each bed and and about four foot at the near end. We have left the in-between as grass which OH keeps strimmed. The bed planks are ten by two which gives plenty of depth for us.

Will go back to Dr Hessayon's for the plant groupings though. Thanks.