Crop Rotation Tips

By Ron Krager

You may not have a John Deere tractor but if you have a garden you can still employ good crop management just like the large farms in our valley. Crop rotation is a practice that promotes healthy plants and increases yields whether it is on a 6×10-foot backyard plot or a 160-acre farm.

Rotating your crops benefits the garden by:

1) Maintaining soil fertility and avoiding depletion of the same soil nutrients year after year: The most important nutrient is nitrogen. Rotation alternates soil building (nitrogen fixing) plants with those that are high nitrogen users.

2) Reducing insect and disease damage: Pathogens in the soil, insects, and to a lesser extent, weeds are associated with or specific to plant families. Rotating crops disrupts the pathogen and pest life cycles.
There are various crop rotation systems but all are based on plant families, plant type, or nutrient requirements. The simplest thing to remember is a three year scheme based on which part of the plant you’re going to harvest:

• Roots and bulbs: onions, carrots, potatoes, radishes, etc.
• Fruits and seeds: peas, beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, melons, etc.
• Leaves and stems: lettuce, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, etc.

An example of rotation is:

An even better rotation utilizes four four areas by breaking out the soil-building legumes into a separate group. There are additional, sophisticated plans that involve interplanting and order of rotation. On the other end of the spectrum, if you do nothing else, move your soil building legumes around in the garden.

Permanent crops like strawberries, raspberries and asparagus that require being in the same place for production can also be rotated but on a longer term basis (for example: every three years).

So get a pencil and paper, sketch out your garden and plan your rotation areas.

This information is contributed by Ron Krager, Master Gardener student and volunteer through the MSU Extension Service.