CROP SWAP
The Benefits of Crop Rotation

What is more satisfying to a gardener than nurturing the plants, harvesting the crop, and eating the delicious bounty from his vegetable garden? What is more disappointing to a gardener than to lose his efforts to insects and disease? Every summer at Primex, one of most frequently asked questions is ‘what’s wrong with my tomato plant?’. Customers bring us samples of blighted leaves and fruit that cannot be cured, rendering the whole crop useless. We have found that many folks are planting one vegetable, or one vegetable family, in the same spot year after year. Plant families are subject to the same disease and insect problems and should not be planted in the same area more than once every four years to prevent disease organisms and insect populations from building up in the soil and wreaking havoc on your plants. One way to effectively combat this problem is to begin a crop rotation program.

Crop rotation has been employed by farmers for hundreds of years. It not only helps break the cycle of disease but it also interrupts pest cycles decreasing the insect population in the garden. A good rotation plan will give rest to and rejuvenate nutrient deficient soil.

Crop rotation is not a difficult process, it just takes a little planning and knowledge of the different vegetable plant families. When beginning rotation program, start by grouping plants together in the garden that are suseptable to the same insects and disease. These plants are sorted by family. These families include:

Beet Family (Chenopodiaceae): spinach, Swiss chard, beet

Cabbage Family (Brassicaceae): broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, radish, turnip, Chinese cabbage, collards, rutabaga

Carrot Family (Umbelliferae): carrot, celery, fennel, parsley, parsnips

Squash Family (Cucurbitaceae): cucumber, squash, pumpkin, melons, gourds

Daisy Family (Compositae): chicory, endive, lettuce

Grass Family (Gramineae): wheat, oats, rye, corn

Nightshade Family (Solanaceae): tomato, potato, pepper, eggplant

Onion Family (Alliaceae): onion, garlic, scallions, shallots, leaks, chives

Pea & Bean Family (Leguminosae): beans, peas, lima, soy, clover, alfalfa

Create a layout of your planting area. Divide that area into four equal sections. If you are designing a new vegetable garden, plan four separate beds with paths in-between. Where there is a shortage of space, container gardening is an excellent solution. Your crops will be rotated within these four sections or planting beds. Every four-year cycle each bed will have one year of rest. Again, remember to group plants from the same family together in one section. Each year move your group of crops from section/bed to the next, not repeat planting that family in any one section/bed for four years. Here is an example:

YEAR ONE

YEAR TWO

YEAR THREE

YEAR FOUR

Each garden bed should be amended at the end of every planting season and planted with a cover crop to prepare for the following Spring. Cover crops, or ‘green manures’, are a temporary planting of a fast-growing crop, grains or legumes, that are generally sown in the fall and tilled into the garden in the Spring. The planting area that is at rest should maintain a cover crop throughout the entire growing season and tilled into the garden the following Spring allowing time for beneficial micro-organisms to build up in the soil.