Sunday On The Allotment - 22 Nov - Autumn Jobs - Planning

Allotment Jobs - Autumn - Planning

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Actually - not on my allotment today - cold, wind  and rain have hit West Cornwall so I decided to stay indoors this weekend.

But - using the time productively - doing some planning for Spring and the next growing season.

I use crop rotation on my plot. There are various ways of doing this - I use a four year crop rotation plan. Some growers use three or five year rotation.

The basic principle is to avoid growing the same crop on the same bed in successive years.

This helps to maintain and improve soil fertility over time - as different groups of crops have differing needs. It also reduces the build up of pests and diseases in the soil.

I divide my plot  into four sections  - and grow different types of crops each year on each section.

The four groups are:

• Potatoes
• Beans and Peas
• Brassicas
• Onions and Roots

Some crops fall into a fifth "Miscellaneous" group and can be grown wherever space allows - although I still avoid growing the same thing in the same place two year running. These include Pumpkins /Squash, Salads, Spinach and Sweetcorn.

I started by drawing a plan of the allotment - with this year's crops.




I then drew up a plan for next season with the crops rotated around.

Beans and Peas onto last year's Potato patch, Potatoes onto the old Onions and Roots patch, Onions and Roots where I had Brassicas and Brassicas onto the previous Beans and Peas area.

The next job is to plan specific crops for each of the four areas and start on a list of seeds to order.

More on that and crop rotation in future posts.

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- for lots more information, growing tips and photos:
Allotment Growing

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