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Good morning
I can’t decide how to organise my garden plot if there is only the two of us. Would it be better to plant a row of lettuce, row of spinach, row of leeks, two rows of carrots, two rows of beets… Then maybe two weeks later do the same (following the first lot) so all plants don’t mature at the same time. Or should I split my plot into sections and make an area just for leeks, carrots, parsnips (and plant each row in two weeks intervals)?How do other people plant theirs?
Hi Bodka72,
I’m not really sure what you mean by “if there is only the two of us”.
What your talking about here are two distinct techniques.
One is successional sowing – always a good idea with salad crops if you want to avoid gluts but equally good practice with others.
The second thing you mention is crop rotation. This technique is important to avoid the build up of pests and diseases in different areas of your plot.
If you can come back with an answer to my question it would help.Don.
Hi again Bodka72,
I just read the title of your question and all is now clear!
As I mentioned in my previous post you are talking about two distinct techniques.
These are not difficult to understand and work through but I personally would find it difficult to explain these briefly but others may jump in and help you out.
Can I suggest you look up “Successional sowing” and “Crop Rotation” on the internet (or better still get a copy of one of Charles’s books) and then come back with any specific query you may have.Don.
There is a great article on succession sowing/second cropping on this site by Charles.
If you type “succession” into the search box it will bring you to it.Rotation is a simple concept to understand.
Broadly speaking plants are divided up into different plant families.
Being simplistic, our veg is divided into 5 families; Potatoes, Legumes (eg Peas/Beans), Brassicas (eg Cabbage, Cauliflower), Onion (eg Onion, Garlic, Shallots), Roots (eg Carrots, Parsnips).
Each of these are vulnerable to specific pests and diseases. To avoid a build up of these pests/diseases we plant each family in a different section of our plot every year, i.e., we rotate each family to a different bed each year.
This is a huge subject in itself and it is well worth putting a bit of time into researching it.
The basic concept is quiet simple but there are nuances which need to be understood also.Don.
Elena, referring to your original question, the “every two weeks” principle is not necessary, especially in spring when later sowings catch up the earlier ones. Every two months is closer to the mark, but sow a few more each time and keep picking outer leaves and thinning larger roots.
Difficult to generalise, best check details for each veg.
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