When planning your next garden planting it is wise to reflect on the previous year's crops and where they were planted. It is vital that you are rotating your crops in your zone 1 annual gardens. If your garden features the same plants in the same places year after year, pest pressures will build, soils will become depleted, and disease will run rampant. I rotate my annuals in such a way that the soil and plants benefit. For example, I follow my greedy feeders of nitrogen in the plots where I was growing nitrogen fixing peas and beans.
Crop Rotation Schedule
- Potatoes
- Legumes (Peas and Beans)
- Brassicas (Broccoli, Kale, Cauliflower) & N-Feeders
- Salad and Root Veggies
- Legumes
- N-Feeders (Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucurbits)
Keyhole Garden (Potatoes, Brassicas, Onions, Leeks)
I have (6) zone 1 plots where I can rotate annuals. In this schedule after year 1, those plants in plot #1 go to plot #2, plot #2 goes to plot #3 and so on. Plot #6 plants go back to plot #1. I break up each of my plots equally in two blocks, so plants in plot #1 block A will move to Plot #2 block A the following year. I try to loosely follow this broad crop rotation schedule to avoid depleting minerals and nutrients, understanding that it is impossible to follow the rotation schedule exactly when you are grouping multiple plants together.
Companion Planting
There are certain plants that benefit each other by being planted in close proximity to one another. One simple rule of thumb that mostly works is if they cook well together, they usually grow well together like basil and tomatoes. There are others that you should keep apart. For the most part, I like to group multiple plants together for the mutual benefits, but also the pest confusion. For example, a healthy dose of onions and leeks around my potato patch helped me to avoid the dreaded potato beetle.
Plot #1
Block A: Brassicas, Potatoes, Onions, Leeks
Block B: Brassicas, Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Leeks
Plot #2
Block A: Beans, Spinach, Eggplant, Lettuce
Block B: Watermelon, Corn, Radish, Beans (Modified 3 Sisters, radish early season)
Plot #3
Block A: Eggplant, Beans, Peppers, Nasturtium
Block B: Squash, Corn, Beans, Radish, Watermelon (3 Sisters, radish early)
Plot #4
Block A: Lettuce, Radish, Beans, Carrots, Geraniums
Block B: Cucumbers, Radish, Nasturtium, Peas, Squash, lettuce
Plot #5
Block A: Spinach, Peas, Beans
Block B: Corn, Cucumbers, Beans, Squash, Soybeans, Sunflowers (Modified 3 Sisters)
Plot #6
Block A: Peppers, Tomatoes, Geraniums, Basil, Marigolds
Block B: Tomatoes, Carrots, Basil, Onions, Marigolds
Modified three sisters using short blue corn, watermelon, and bush beans. The watermelon needs more sun than squash so the short corn is a nice complement, and the bush beans work well as the short blue corn does not provide as steady of a trellis.
So with some pre-planning and thought into what will be planted where, you can provide a more balance soil quality, avoid pests and disease, and have an overall better harvest with less inputs and work. Take a moment to share your experiences with companion planting and various crop rotations and I look forward to reading your comments.
~ Phil Williams
Phil Williams is a permaculture consultant and designer and creator of the website foodproduction101.com. His website provides useful, timely information for the experienced or beginning gardener, landscaper, or permaculturalist. Phil's personal goals are to build soil, restore and regenerate degraded landscapes, grow and raise an abundance of healthy food of great variety, design and install resilient permaculture gardens in the most efficient manner possible, and teach others along the way.
by phil-williams-2 
