Author Topic: rotation  (Read 3804 times)

brownthumb2

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rotation
« on: December 06, 2017, 10:16:51 »
last year we dug and sieved a spades depth added compost for carrot bed  The best carrots we ever had  doing the same to the next  bed this year (four foot beds )what can I grow in the old carrot one  was thinking parsnips as they like a good depth ,but being a root veg  am I asking for trouble or swede is a possiblity as I think  they are part of the brassica family ?

lezelle

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Re: rotation
« Reply #1 on: December 06, 2017, 10:47:28 »
Hi Ya Brownthumb, Firstly are you following a 4 year or three year rotation plan. I tend to use the three year option but if you look up on line there are others that explain the way. I grow my parsnips in between two rows of carrots in the same bed. Brassy's follow my runner/french beans. spuds into brassy ground where I usually put my carrots etc. Sweetcorn and others get put in any room I have left. Hope this helps you and good luck with your search.

Beersmith

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Re: rotation
« Reply #2 on: December 06, 2017, 17:30:13 »
Putting rotation issues to one side, it would be an easy decision for me personally. I find growing big healthy long parsnips very easy, but find growing swede really difficult. I've never understood why as I can grow most other brassicas without problems.

Swede look fairly tough but it can be deceptive. Flea beetle nibble mine when young, if left uncovered I've suffered attack by pigeons, they sometimes get hit by caterpillars, but under mesh they get mealy aphids and mould, add in a bit of slug attack and I rarely get more than a mediocre yield. I keep trying but if it was an either or question you can see which I'd choose.

I persevere because I like the flavour of both, but while I never need to buy parsnips most of my swede come from the greengrocers.
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BarriedaleNick

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Re: rotation
« Reply #3 on: December 06, 2017, 19:37:35 »
I think parsnips should be ok - they don't like to much manure so a previously used bed should be ok.  I cocked mine up a bit this year and they all look like deranged starfish.
I have to make special beds for snips - I am solid clay so I tend to build up a fairly thin beds and fill them full of sand, old compost etc. I think this year I must have added to much of the good stuff.
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brownthumb2

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Re: rotation
« Reply #4 on: December 07, 2017, 09:56:01 »
 I always used a four/five crop rotation system as I have  five beds off 22ft x11 ft purely for crops needing rotation  But this year we decided to put our 22 foot long beds in to 4 foot by 11 foot non dig beds  last year we dug and sieved one bed grew carrots  this  coming year we will do the same to another  working down though one 22 foot length  = 4  times 11x4 beds   Carrots will be grown in the second sieved and well dug bed We have a lot of granite bits in the soil  carrots  last year parsnips this year  then swede Leaving the fourth bed well manured  working the way down the original bed length  Year four the carrots will be the first bed again.Well that is the plan keeping the other 16 beds as no dig unless we decide to carry on and dig and sieve the others lol

ancellsfarmer

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Re: rotation
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2017, 20:18:01 »
My rotation plan goes Legume/leaf/fruit*/root, based on the part you harvest, ie1) beans/peas, 2)brassicaes/salads/celery,3)cougettes,squash etc 4)carrots,parsnips,beet,celeriac, spuds.
Put in other terms:1)plus own compost,2)plus lime/ash, compost&manure 3)plus manure 4)compost plus leafmould selectively when planting
I do not dig.
 Add compost to seed rows .If your soil is shallow, grow stumpy varieties while you build it up, even if its 'tight', carrots will go down. Recommend realseeds Giant red carrot, good for 200mm in undug soil.
Would not sieve anything(except preparing composts, woodchip maybe, to remove chunks, twigs stones), if you are growing for showing (ie longest wins a prize), plant in oil drums and water at the bottom.
*Fruit as refered to, not including soft fruit-they are elsewhere.
For discussion,
 Its my observation that many allotment holders spend too much time "faffing about", whereas their time could be more productively spent growing crops. I've asked for a tin hat for Christmas!



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brownthumb2

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Re: rotation
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2017, 11:25:29 »
you would need a tin hat if you had allotment where I am the soil is full of stones  granite area  so need to sieve for long rooted veg couldn't grow decent  carrots until lastyear when we sieved the soil and added compost  yes my crop rotation similar to yours  legumes, roots, brassicas,  potatoes  onions and  sweet corn usually end up on the end of the onions

Digeroo

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Re: rotation
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2017, 08:30:41 »
I am not sure I would recommend putting parsnips after carrots.  They are the same family.  I thought after a root you put down manure.  So beans would follow.  Or perhaps courgettes/squash or both.

I think you should put your faffing about comment in a new thread so we can discuss without disturbing the rotation.  Perhaps you could define faffing about more precisely.

ancellsfarmer

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Re: rotation
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2017, 09:52:14 »
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Digeroo

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Re: rotation
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2017, 16:32:35 »
I rather mean what are people doing which is faffing about?  Too much talking:  Guilty.  Too much wandering around vaguely which I rather enjoy: very guilty.  Planning.  Thinking.  Relaxing.  Yes guilty.  Sitting watching the wildlife:  Guilty here too.   

pumkinlover

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Re: rotation
« Reply #10 on: December 09, 2017, 20:41:55 »
I would love to be more organised.
I spend ages wandering around trying to find my tools. Hat I took off when warm then cooled off. Water for a drink and keys. I could have achieved something great in my life if I hadn't spent so much of it looking for keys.

Digeroo

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Re: rotation
« Reply #11 on: December 10, 2017, 07:31:35 »
I spent a great deal of time energy and stress looking for keys.  I now have a cheap Chinese watch with a payg sim card.  Make sure you have one that does not cut you off when you do not use it much.  Virgin is quite good you only need to make the occasional call.  So now I can ring my phone when I want it.

galina

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Re: rotation
« Reply #12 on: December 10, 2017, 08:02:55 »
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-Multi-Colour-Carabiner-Clips/dp/B06WV8JLFY/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1512892685&sr=8-5&keywords=carabiner+key+ring

No advertising intended and there are many different types about, but these carabiner keyrings have pretty much solved my lost keys in the garden.  I just clip them on as I go out and they stay with me.

Now I just need something for trowels, which I lose (and find) regularly.  Solution there is to have three, which is about enough to be able to find one of them. It's called rotation  :tongue3:

Digeroo

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Re: rotation
« Reply #13 on: December 10, 2017, 08:09:06 »
But you have to find the keys to put on the carabiner.  Every jacket I have has zips on the pockets. 

For trowels  and gloves I have an orange bucket.  I try and hove them in when I finish with them.  Easy to see the bucket.  Frustrating when it's empty.

Vinlander

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Re: rotation
« Reply #14 on: December 18, 2017, 10:27:32 »
I persevere because I like the flavour of both, but while I never need to buy parsnips most of my swede come from the greengrocers.
I have no luck with swedes. Part of my problem is that I've taken the "any soil" instruction on the packet and the "3rd year" advice too literally and treated them as a "proper" (ie. long) root vegetable to be grown on low fertility soil - this simply doesn't work on my heavy clay. The only good swedes I see are grown by someone who fertilises by the book, so even their roots get about twice as much as my brassicas.

I'm going to try something obvious - put the brassica roots in the 2nd rotation with the other brassicas, maybe also try them in the first one - I prefer to persevere with "lean" rotations (on fertile but heavy clay) - I don't like "soft" plants that need mollycoddling, I  think many of them don't taste as good, and full-size veg can mean less variety in the week's meals - unless you preserve the excess (which is a lot of faff in a different, almost opposite sense).

NB. Anyone who likes swede will like them even more mashed with nutmeg.

Cheers.
With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

Silverleaf

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Re: rotation
« Reply #15 on: December 18, 2017, 15:52:48 »
Now I just need something for trowels, which I lose (and find) regularly.  Solution there is to have three, which is about enough to be able to find one of them. It's called rotation  :tongue3:

I’ve got 3 trowels (and three of the mini forks that often come with them). One good set lives in the shed and only gets used when I plan a proper gardening session and therefore bring the shed keys outside with me, and the other two (both cheap) tend to stay outside in all weathers so I can dig up the odd weed or poke around to see if any potatoes are ready yet when I pop out to collect forage for the rabbits. :)

ancellsfarmer

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Re: rotation
« Reply #16 on: December 18, 2017, 19:13:42 »
I was raised to know that swedes "couldn't be grown in a garden ,only in a field." Most commercial crops seem to come from the sandy soils of Norfolk, Suffolk and Devon. My experiences of trying., in gardens in Sussex and Surrey fitted in with the above 'wisdom' , miserably failed.
Now working a corner of a field, in Hampshire, swedes are possible, although on London clay, with plenty of organic material. This years crop ,sown after potatoes in early August, are now about 6" diameter and tender of flesh. Variety grown is Joan by realseeds.co.uk
 
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Plot 18

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Re: rotation
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2017, 20:42:16 »
I grow my swede on free draining soil over a heavy clay subsoil - seems to work well :)
They do need a lot of feeding though, I find.

brownthumb2

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Re: rotation
« Reply #18 on: December 22, 2017, 14:55:16 »
There is always a lot of discussion on what is a swede  Down here in Cornwall we class swede as in the yellow fleshed   known in the USA as rutabaga's  not sure if that's spelt correct   and turnip the purple topped white  fleshed root

Plot 18

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Re: rotation
« Reply #19 on: December 22, 2017, 16:57:58 »
There is always a lot of discussion on what is a swede  Down here in Cornwall we class swede as in the yellow fleshed   known in the USA as rutabaga
The yellow fleshed type is what I grow the other sort are definitely turnips, aren't they, and I don't like them Ha Ha

 

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