Crop rotation is when you grow different kinds of vegetables in each bed every season. Here we will look at;

• Why we rotate crops.
• What crops to rotate.

There are two reasons to change the kinds of crops you plant in your bed each season,

Don’t plant the same kind of vegetables in the same bed every season. Each kind of vegetable crop needs a different amount of food from the soil. If the same kind of vegetable is planted every season, the soil can become very poor and then nothing will grow well. It is best to rotate your crops to keep your soil healthy.

Your vegetables may have a disease. If you plant the same kind of vegetables in the same place again, then they will also get sick. But a different kind of vegetables will not easily catch the disease. So crop rotation keeps your crops healthy.

There are three groups of vegetables: the bean family, root vegetables and leaf and fruit vegetables. Each season you should grow vegetables from a different group in the same bed.

Root vegetables include carrots, turnips, and betroth. Root crops grow well even with a small amount of compost or old manure. This is why they are called light feeders.

The bean family includes peas, beans and Lucerne. To grow well, these vegetables need more food than root crops. They need a medium amount of compost or old manure. This is why they are called medium feeders. But when these vegetables are fully grown their roots make the soil rich. They then give back to the soil more food than they have taken away.

Leaf and fruit vegetables include tomatoes, potatoes, mealies, green peppers, spinach, cabbage and lettuce. They need a lot of compost and manure to grow well. They are heavy feeders.

Grow a different type of vegetable in every trench bed each season. The first season, grow root vegetables in one bed, the next season plant a vegetable from the bean family there, and the following season plant a leaf and fruit vegetable in the same bed. Then you can begin the cycle again. This will help to keep your vegetables healthy and free from disease.