Crop Rotation Chart - reading the timeline

To enlarge the above sample, click on the above drawing, then use the back button to return here. (look for "You are Here" to help read the above sample chart.)

How to Read Our Crop Rotation Chart:

At today's meeting, we filled in our Two-Year Crop-Rotation planners so that we are always following the "Early-Winter-Heat-loving" cycle of crop rotation. If you need a refresher on how this works, have a look at the short video.

This is easy to learn and remember, and we use this method so that our soil always stays fresh and fullsome through successive, intensive year-round plantings of vegetables. The idea is to use the space intensively, so that there is something to eat in all for seasons, but to use the space wisely, so the soil stays rich and fertile through successive plantings.

However, you may have trouble reading the brightly coloured chart if you don't realize that the TIME of year runs up the right hand side. Each bed is shown progressing through time, from 2010 to 2011.

See above diagram, click on it to enlarge, and look on the right side for "YOU ARE HERE".' The future is Spring 2011 and Summer 2011 on the right.

Then you can plan which crops occur next in the rotation of each numbered bed.

Hope this helps chart-readability and general time-line orientation.

If you want to see the list of what veg are 'early - winter - heat-loving" there's a full list of all common vegetables here.

Here's a short list:
Early – carrot, lettuce, peas, parsnip, radish, early cabbage, fava or broadbean.
Winter – beet, cauliflower, chard, collard, cabbage, celeriac, daikon radish, kale, Kohlrabi, leek, lettuce, onion, purple sprouting broccoli, parsnip, root crops, spinach, rutabega, mesclun.
Heat Loving – 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.

Note: Fava bean is popular because it's actually edible. All others are tilled under.

See last year's seeding plan here.



Best, Jen