Hi again, can anyone tell me what to do about the three year rotation if I want to try and grow cabbage and stuff over the winter but have no room on the allotment to "save" space so will have to use ground that has been cleared of earlier crops? This is only the second full year that we've had the plot and whilst I'm happy with how it is progressing and managing to get crops off most of what I plant, this is the first year I've tried to extend the season but scratching my head over the rotation thing??? :BangHead:
Welcome to A4A.
I also find rotation tricky at times. I tend to put winter brassicas after peas, broad beans or early potatoes. They can actually go in before the previous crop has finished. With brassicas planted between peas I find the haulms of the peas end up dieing around them, and finally seem to just disappear.
This year I have also got rid of a tired bed of strawberries, and have put in winter cabbage there as well, hoping to put in potatoes next year to clean up the soil. That will be followed by squashes which will creep up over the bed as I remove the potatoes.
I particularly find purple sprouting broccoli and spring greens a bit of a difficulty rotation wise because they are there for a longer time in the spring, but they give a great crop when not much else has got going.
Certainly for me as soon as something comes out something else goes in. But it leads to dottings of beds all over the place, instead of neat quadrants dedicated to one type of crop.
Sometimes I find it difficult to remember what went into a spot three years previously.
I try to put potatoes and other roots then legumes(peas and beans) followed by brassicas. I call it PLC. The c is for cabbages. Its just my way of remembering. Sometimes I do have to break the rules. I don't think it causes any problems.
This works for me but others may do things differently.
Tony made me some slate labels that we leave in when we have cleared the ground because we forget very easily
Thanks for the advice, I think I need to change my mind set and just think about each area rather than the whole plot on a yearly basis, the marker suggestion is good as I don't think my scribbled plan will cope with this approach and my memory isn't up to it either. Love this forum, it's made me feel better about what I'm doing already!!! :icon_cheers: