Crop Rotation - easy to remember method

Dear Gardeners,
Here's a super quick way to remember how to rotate your vegetable beds for good healthy soil use and the supression of soil viruses.



If you start as above, with one bed in each phase (EWHGF in consecutive beds) and then each bed moves through the same order: from E to - W to - H to - G or F, then you can have successive crops from each bed throughout a two-three year period.

Here's a video that shows each bed going though the five crops:



Jim's own list of veggies using this system (we'll add planting dates to this) is here:

Early – carrot, lettuce, peas, parsnip, radish, early cabbage, fava or broadbean.
Winter – beet, cauliflower, chard, collard, cabbage, celeriac, daikon radish, kale, Kholrabi, leek, lettuce, onion, purple sprouting broccoli, parsnip, root crops, spinach, rutabega, mesclun.
Heat – beans, broccoli, beet, corn, celery, basil, cauliflower, cabbage, chard, carrot, cucumber, dill, leek, mesclun, onion, parsley, potatoes, parsnip, radiccio, squash, peppers, summer turnip, tomato, watermelon, zuccini, herbs.
Fallow – buckwheat, crimson clover, fava bean, fall rye, oat, winter field peas, white clover.

And the following information comes from G. Johnson of respectyouralders

Planning Rotations for Year-round Veggie Production

Rotation 1

Growing: W Winter-harvested crops: Winter leeks, kholrabis, brussel sprouts, root crops.
Harvest by: Late February
In time for: E Early spring-sown crops: peas, fava beans, lettuces, most greens, radishes, cloche-sheltered root crops, early potatoes, early cabbage

Rotation 2

Growing: E Early spring-sown crops: peas, fava beans, root crops, most greens (spinach), oeverwintered spring bulbing onions.
Havested by: late June, early July
In time for: W - the bulk of direct seeded winter crops: winter carrots, kale, brussel sprouts, overwintering broccoli and cauliflower, rutabaga, beets, chard, kholrabi, transplanted winter leeks.

Rotation 2.5

Growing: E early potatoes, early cabbage, fall sown garlic
Harvested by: early August
In time for: W Late sown winter crops: overwintering onions, cloched greens, daikon radish.

Rotation 3

Growing; W spring-producing winter crops: kale, collards, purple sprouting broccoli, spring cauliflower
Harvested by: early to mid-May
In time for: H - Heat loving summer crops: corn, vine beans, late potatoes, squash, sunflower, tomato transplants etc.


Rotation 4

Growing: H Heat loving summer crops: corn, vine beans, late potatoes, squash, sunflower, tomato
Harvested by: late September to mid-October
In time for: F or G - garlic, fava beans, winter cover crops (fallow).
------------------------
Note: that if needed, Rotation 1 can be slightly out of order.

Jen adds:
Also, the above system lets you choose garlic or fallow for the final rotation, and if you choose garlic, then fallow should follow the garlic, with the planting of a cover-crop.

This system also allows you to follow garlic with a fall sown winter crop if necessary (rotation 2.5 above).
But in general it seems to work to rotate as per the above video:

EARLY
WINTER
HEAT-LOVING
GARLIC and/or
FALLOW


Feel free to advise and to add to the above lists, if it makes rotation easier to plan.

Best,
Jen