Can you plant more of the same vegetable in the same space after first harvest?

[ThePlumpkinPatchParticipant]

Hi everyone,

I’m very new to vegetable gardening – this is my first time growing my own produce in my back garden and I’ve been reading Charles’ books and watching all of his Youtube videos!

I have only four raised beds, so plan to grow small quantities of lots of different things in each bed.

Something I’m unclear about is if crop rotation needs to happen a year later, or throughout the season. E.g, one bed will be dedicated to lettuce, spinach, spring onions and chard. When my spinach needs replacing 14 weeks after sowing, can I put more spinach in those exact same rows, or do I need to put a completely different vegetable in there?

I hope that makes sense – I couldn’t find a clear answer on this but do understand that year by year, it’s a good idea to switch things around.

[CleansweepParticipant]

Yes ,
you could but,
it might be better to start another planting elsewhere before hand to give continuity of supply. There are only a few crops which will reach maturity more than once in a growing season, radish definately, spinach possibly, but mid season plantings often go strait to seed.
The principal of rotation year upon year is to avoid any pest or disease that a particular crop may be susceptable to, being already present when you plant out. Repeated growing in one place may deplete minerals necessary for that crop.These are technical considerations which may be heeded, but realistically, they should not be given too much influence on your choices. Treat them as ‘fine tuning’ once you succeed in general crop production.
Problems tend to be from the unbiddable sector :pigeons, slugs, butterflies and moths, the odd rabbit, too many b****y voles, all of which are not location specific.
Personally, I tend to replace cleared rows with the next quarters plantings, broad beans with leeks, potatoes with autumn sown overwintering salads, peas with brassicas, etc. and rotate annually, four crop types- based on legumes-leaf-fruit(curcubits)-root.
Best of luck, please report succeed or fail!
Cleansweep

[charlesModerator]

Timing is everything.
Plus understanding when vegetables flower, and true (not leaf beet) spinach is best example: whenever you sowed it, seeding/bolting happens by June.
So clear your first spinach then and plant lettuce to crop July to September.
Then 10th August sow spinach in modules to plant between the lettuce for harvests in autumn then spring until June.
Then you could clear and plant kale or whatever.
Use my Sowing Timeline, be familiar with best times for all veg https://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/sowing-timeline-for-vegetables/
Plus, most veg grow in half a season when you are organised with propagation and have plants ready.

[Author]

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