Think Rotation Now

Have you planted your broccoli or kale? It’s time to get those seedlings in the ground, with cooling soil temperatures creating just the right conditions for these and other cool season crops – according to your plan for NEXT year’s garden.
Why develop this plan now? It identifies the location of the various different vegetables or herb plants you want to grow next summer. If you have planted your tomatoes or eggplants in the same spot in the plot for each of the past three years, it’s time to locate those vegetables in another section of the plot. With such crop rotation and good garden sanitation (removing plant debris and weeds), you help minimize pest pressure next summer.
Using this layout as a guide now allows you to locate the cool season crops that you expect to overwinter in areas that you won’t need till it’s time for warm season veggies (okra and eggplant, for instance) to go in the ground, while reserving the areas you’ve designated for varieties (bean varieties, carrots or potatoes) that should go into the ground just after the average last freeze date. Put mulch on those areas and just let them rest. Good Gardening!

-Carol Hassell