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Planning the 2014 garden![]() I've been playing with different methods of garden rotation
over the last few years. The easy way to do this is to plant in
zones --- all of the crucifers go in zone A in 2013, in zone B in 2014,
in zone C in 2015, and then back to zone A in 2016. My long-term
plan at the moment is to rotate tomatoes using this method, moving them
through the sunniest, sprinkler-free spots: the forest garden, the back
garden, and the area around the gully. ![]() My current method uses a
spreadsheet like the one shown above. I've considered hiring
someone to turn my method into an app, but since I've never used a smart
phone, I doubt that'll happen anytime soon. Instead, I just
manually hunt through until I find a bed that hasn't been planted with
the family I'm trying to find room for within the last three years, then
bold that line to remind myself it's been taken. ![]() The final step is to pick through my seed box and figure out what I need to order. This year, I'm running a germination test
on old peas (which are clearly fine), parsley, and peppers; am
definitely ordering lettuce, basil, onions, cabbage, broccoli, carrots,
and corn; and have old-but-fine or saved seeds for everything else. Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
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The Weekend Homesteader
I am planning our first garden, 1 acre, and trying to be organized. Although I've been researching the web, it looks like The Weekend Homesteader will help me. My question: if I buy the complete book, will I get all the info in the monthly series? (Probably so, but want to be sure.) Thanks!
Comment by
agnes e
— Tue Jan 14 09:40:30 2014
Paperback vs. ebooks
agnes --- Thanks for reading! The book has everything that's in the monthly ebooks except for a few bonus pictures that I threw in just for prettiness. (It's a lot cheaper to fit extra pictures in ebooks than in paper books.) So you should be just fine with the paperback.
Comment by
anna
— Tue Jan 14 10:32:04 2014
groundhog contemplation
Looking forward by looking back: you see the opening, rosy sky, and, I guess, your shadow, in facing west. So you are looking, too, on the surface, at shadows (which will have a different cast in summer, that's true). But I, the groundhog, see that your thoughts of warmer times and the life above ground, is not the Whole Picture! Just as, when we hiked at Bays Mtn in the leaf litter, we were so insignificant, compared to Outer Space: then we were to the Whole Picture as all your Live in the Soil is to the plants you are "rotating" But then what happens to the hosts of life that lives on and around those plants? How confusing! For sometimes, it might be the soil-life from last year that would help the garden if you kept it "the same". That is, from the example of the tobacco hornworm, cited in Bringing Nature Home, a balance will happen in your soil, over the course of the summer, if it you have fixed the soil and plantings "right". The trick is, that some plants do seem to be "enemies" to others, for ex. raspberries and tomatoes? As a groundhog, I look for perennials!
Comment by
adrianne
— Tue Jan 14 10:59:51 2014
comment 4
Anna, what are your favorite varietals, the veggies you MUST plant every year? You should do a lunch time series on all the types that work best in our region!
Comment by
Emily from Bristol
— Tue Jan 14 21:40:59 2014
sunrise
The future cannot hold what the past did, but the past cannot hold what the future will. Reflections.
Comment by
Lesley Monroe
— Wed Jan 15 04:02:39 2014
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