Crop Rotation 4: When they grow

Now it is time to think about the sequence of crops in their beds, to enable successional planting.  And to do this,  I need, very simply, to be aware of when these vegetables need to be planted, and when harvested.

So, here are the relevant dates for the most important vegetables in my wish-list: 

Potatoes

·        First Earlies are planted in early March and usually lifted by Mid-July.

·        Second Earlies are planted in late March and harvested in August.

     Maincrop potatoes are planted in April and occupy the ground through till the autumn.

Alliums

·        Leeks need to be planted out by the end of July and can occupy the ground through till the following April.

·        Over-wintering Onion Sets and Garlic are planted out in September/October and harvested by July.

·        Shallots are planted between October and March (depending on who you ask!) and are also harvested by July.

·        Spring-sown Onion Sets are planted out in March and harvested by August.

Legumes

·        Peas and Broad Beans are hardy and can be sown in early spring, or in some cases overwintered.

·        French Beans and Runner Beans are more tender and should not be planted out before early June.

Brassicas

·        Calabrese and Summer Cabbages & Cauliflower are planted out in spring and harvested by late summer.

·        Brussel Sprouts & Winter Cabbage are planted out in May/June and harvested as and when ready through the winter.

      Winter Cauliflower, Kale and Sprouting Broccoli are planted out in the summer and harvested through till the following spring.

     Turnips are sown in situ in September and the tops harvested February/March time.

·        Spring Cabbage are planted out in September and harvested through till the following June.

     Swedes are sown in situ in June and harvested in the autumn/winter.    

(Note that, although overwintering brassicas need to be spaced about 2 ft apart, they do not start needing all of this space until about mid-August. So we also need a nursery bed where young brassica plants can grow and thrive until the ground is ready for them to be planted out in late summer.)

·      

Roots

·        Parsnips are sown in March and harvested in the autumn/winter.

·       Carrots and Beetroot are sown successionally from March onwards and harvested in the autumn.

·       Forcing Chicory is sown in June and dug up in November.

Other           

·        Sweetcorn and the Gourd family are tender plants with a short growing season. They need to be planted out in early June and harvested by September/October.

So now we have all the information we need to organize our crops efficiently and pull off the magic trick of turning 20 beds into 29!! Or getting through a 5-stage rotation in 4 years! It’s water into wine stuff!

 I am dividing my 20 beds into 4 sets of 5. The crops in these beds will rotate around the plot in a 4-year cycle. I will call these 4 stages “breaks” as John Seymore does.

Taking into account soil requirements and growing seasons, a suitable basis for a rotation, to satisfy my vegetable wish-list, is as follows:

Potatoes – alliums – legumes – brassicas – others

So, time to sprinkle the magic dust, click my heels 3 times and board the Hogwarts Express!