ROTATIONCHART

VEGETABLE GARDEN

What is crop rotation andwhy is it important.

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What is crop rotationand why is it important.

Rotating your garden crops can helpalleviate many of the problems homegardeners have. since many diseasesand pests are plant family specific, ifyou plant the same plant in the sameplace each year, diseases build up inthe soil and bugs know just where tofind their favorite snack.

So what's a person to do? Keepmoving them around so these pestshave a harder time finding YOURvegetables, leaving more for you toenjoy.

Many bugs and diseases are partialto groups or "families" of vegetables,so you need to group like familiestogether and move them as a groupto get the most benefit from croprotation.

Don't forget to add this chart toyour garden journal.

What Are The PlantFamilies?

I'll start with the three most"problem" families first. These are themost disease and pest prone of thebunch. Rotating these is the mostimportant.

Solanaceae / Nightshade

Warm Weather PlantsProne To DiseaseThis family contains:Tomato, Potato, Eggplant, Peppers - hot andbell,

Crusaferae / Brassicaceae

Cool Weather PlantsProne To DiseaseThis family contains:Cabbage, Mustard Greens, Broccoli, BrusselsSprouts, Cauliflower, Kale, Collards, Turnip,Rutabaga, Kohlrabi, Typhon, Bok Choi, ChineseCabbage, Collards, Cress, Diakon Radish,Radish, Horseradish, Wasabi, Watercress

Cucurbitaceae / Cucurbits

Warm Weather PlantsProne To FungusThis family contains:Cucumber, Melons, PumpkinSquash - Summer & Winter

Laguminosae/ Legumes

Some Cool Some Warm Weather PlantsNitrogen FixingThis family contains:Peas, Beans, Soybeans, Chick Peas, Peanuts,Clover, Alfalfa, Cowpeas, Lentil

Umbellifarae

Cool Weather PlantsFew Diseases or Pests except NematodesThis family contains:Carrots, Parsnips, Celery, Parsley, Dill, Caraway,Celeriac, Chervil, Coriader/Cilantro, Cumin,Fennel

Poaceae / Gramineae

Wind Pollinated So Plant In BlocksThis family contains:Grasses, Corn, Barley, Oats, Rice, Rye, Sorghum,Sugarcane, Wheat

Allium

Some Cool Some Warm Weather PlantsFew Diseases or PestsThis family contains:Onions, Chives, Garlic, Garlic Chives, ElephantGarlic, Leeks, Scallions, Shallots

Chenopodiaceae / Anarabtgaceae

This family contains:Beet, Amaranth, Chard, Good King Henry,Goosefoot, Lamb's Quarters, Pigweed, Quinoa,Spinach, Sugar Beet, Swiss Chard

Asteracea / Compositae

This family contains:Lettuce, Marigolds, Sunflower, Tarragon,Chamomile, Dandelion, Endive, Escarole, GlobeArtichoke, Jerusalem Artichoke,

Miscellaneous

New Zealand Spinach, Lambs Lettuce, Purslane,Miners Lettuce, Rhubarb, Buckwheat, Okra

Now that you know the vegetable families,

what does a garden rotation look like? This

can be applied to any layout. Just make sure

you follow the "rule" and don't plant each

family of plants in the same place year after

year.

Each year move what you planted the year before, to the nextrow or bed. On the 5th year it willbe back where it started from.

Below Is An Example Of RowRotation

Don't forget to sprinkle in some flowers to

attract the bees!

Here are my 6 most popular blog recipes.FREE for you, the newest member of my

gardening posse!

Now that you're growing all thesevegetables, what do you do with

them?

Enjoy!