April 4, 2001
Stillwater Gazette
Betsy Halden

Plan our gardens for the new season

We all will be glad when the snow is gone, the frost is out of the ground, and the temperatures are in the 60’s. Until that happens we can think about and plan our gardens for the new season.

We know that a good garden clean up in the fall helps to prevent problems. Crop rotation is another way to prevent problems. What is crop rotation? Is it important? Here are some pointers about this healthy gardening practice.

Crop rotation means to alternate where in your garden you plant certain families of crops. For example, planting tomatoes in a garden bed one year and then planting eggplant in the same bed the next year would not be following the principles of crop rotation. Tomatoes and eggplant are in the same family, and the idea is to avoid planting two crops from the same family in the same location three successive years. The reason to alternate crop families in one location is that certain diseases will attack all members of the same family. Rotating the crop will deter the buildup of soil-borne diseases.

How do you know which vegetables are in which families? Major vegetable families and common crops grown in them include:

Cruciferae – mustard, broccoli, collards, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, cabbage

Cucurbitaceae – melons, squash, pumpkins, cucumbers

Umbelliferae – dill, parsley, coriander, fennel, carrots

Solanaceae – peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes

Amaryllidaceae – leeks, shallots, onions, garlic, chives and garlic chives (all formerly listed in the family Liliaceae)

Leguminosae – peas, beans

Gramineae – sorghum, corn, oats, rye

To practice crop rotation, don’t plant any members of the same vegetable family in the same garden bed for at least three years. In addition, try to alternate heavy feeders, such as member of the Cruciferae, Cucurbitaceae, Solanaceae, and Gramineae families with the soil- building plants of the Leguminosae family.

Crop rotation can help to prevent some of the most damaging vegetable diseases, such as early blight, Septoria leaf spot, and fusarium and verticillium wilts. However, merely rotating crops cannot ensure that your plants won’t get these diseases. Soil-borne disease organisms can travel from garden bed to garden bed by hitching a ride on shovels, hoes, rakes, and tillers. Remember the importance of garden clean up in the fall. To increase your plants’ likelihood of survival even more, be sure to plant disease resistant varieties.

To learn more about garden planning visit the University of Minnesota Extension Service website: www.extension.umn.edu. Click on Gardening and Horticulture and you’ll see topics such as Composting and Mulching: a Guide to Managing Organic Yard Wastes; Low Input Lawn Care – LILaC; Plant elements of Design, A Plant Selection Program. I love to browse on the website. I learn something each time I visit.

Betsy Halden is a Master Gardener with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. University of Minnesota Extension Service materials were consulted in the preparation of this column. You can reach Betsy Halden at eahalden@comcast.net