Vegmonkey and the Mrs.

Due to only having a small space, we have to be exact. Planning what we plant enables us to use the ground twice in one year.

‘Bed One’ housed the Root crops last year, namely carrots, parsnips, onions and leeks. They all grew well but were harvested by the end of the summer which left a bed full of empty ground.

To use up half of the space, we planted ‘Senshyu’ Japanese Onions that would grow overwinter. The idea was that by the time the bed is rotated (it will become the cucurbit bed), the onions will have been harvested and the courgettes, squashes etc will be planted. 

To complicate matters further, we planted Ulster Sceptre in the other half of the bed, a first early type of potato that takes 10 weeks to mature from planting. Again, the thinking was that they would be harvested in time for the courgettes etc to go in.

We planted the potatoes back in mid-March, so by my reckoning, they will be ready for harvesting around the end of May (10 weeks). The Senshyu onions were planted in September and will be ready for harvesting mid-late June. 

The courgettes and squash plants - not too many mind, due to the space - will have been raised in pots from the beginning of May, maybe end of April and will fill the space occupied previously by the onions and potatoes. That will give them a good 3 months in the ground which is plenty to produce a good harvest.

This way, that one bed will produce a decent size crop of onions, potatoes, courgettes and squash in the space of one year. Not bad for a 2 metre square space! I’d be interested to hear how other people use crop rotation to help produce regular crops of veg. This year i’m going to try growing sweetcorn within the cucurbit bed…if the soil allows!