"George.com" <roblyn@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:fvpel5$vhh$1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> "terryc" <newssixspam-spam@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
> news:pan.2008.05.06.00.34.57.869114@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> The real problem is that multiple plantings of the same crop(famil) in
>> the same plot allows pests/dieseases to buld up in that spot. so
>> spelling the ground from that family lets them starve away.
>>
>> all you can really do is rotate different plots in turn from that
family
>> until the family fad fades {:-).
this is the problem - trying to do that!! i'm a bit disorganised & have
trouble planning in advance (i can plan at the time though... um...).
hence
my question! i keep reading a 3 or preferably 4 year rotation is best - i
suppose i am wondering if i can get away with 2 in some patches.. or
perhaps
only a short break for some of the brassica. it might just be my perpetual
reading of english gardening books - maybe they overstate the probability
of
club root.(?).
<george>
I guess I would need 4 large
> garden beds for that.
i have 6 & it's not working out in an organised manner ;-)
>
> A mate who is an organic grower told me not to be anal about rotation,
> given the size of my back yard vege garden. Mr Yates points out that in
> temperate climates there is a natural rotation between hot season & cool
> season crops.
well, this is good news on both counts. that applies with my potato/tomato
problem - there's always going to be breaks over winter & so far i can
keep
them moving around. more concerned about the brassica, where i'm growing
many kinds & hence, there is always brassica in the beds, & not enough
room
to limit them to specific beds.
> You can't follow egg plant with tomatos or follow tomatos with potatos.
He
> also suggests gardens packed with organic matter, humus, compost etc
help
> minimise build up of problems in garden beds (maybe the microbal
activity
> in the humus combats negative soil deseases etc). Feeding the garden
with
> poop or compost each year also minimises the need to sow nitrogen fixing
> or nutrient scavaging green manures.
>
> That said, I reckon green manures are quite an interesting topic &
> something I am starting to get my head around. The beans are an
experiment
> with nitrogen fixers (I don't eat beans). The mustard was an experiment
> with keep the bed covered over winter & stopping nutrients leaching. I
> guess if you are going to fallow a garden for a season or 2 a green
manure
> makes sense for a number of reasons. The organic grower mates suggested
> with nitrogen fixers also putting in something that will use the
nitrogen,
> maybe a grass. A 1/2 clover & grass mix on a garden bed will get the
> clover producing nitrogen and also have a crop that utilises the
nitrogen,
> thereby encouraging the clover to produce more nitrogen. When the crop
is
> killed and mulched you get double the amount of nitrogen being returned
to
> the soil (what the clover produced & what the grass took up).
love the idea of green manures. it's not happening in my existing garden
as
the garden is always full! (although i put the pea & bean plants back on
when they're pulled out...)
i've sown field peas in some new beds, which WOULD be going well, but that
the *$^#$!!!! wallaby eats it. (as well as everything else - what's going
to
be left to rotate? ;-) trying to add bulk & nitrogen. have put net & mesh
all about - undoubtedly i'll end up catching the wallaby by accident as he
continues to eat the pea plants <g>
i understand the mustard family are excellent because they grow very well,
are very bulky & have a reputation as a fumigant as well (?). also
wallabies
don't seem to like mustard so much <g> (he never eats the mizuna).
ta!
kylie
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