September 2015 (2)

Its the end of September already and I'm getting ready for spring planting.

To help me keep track of what needs to be grown in each bed, I have set up a couple of pages to record spring and autumn plantings of vegetables grown in my 4 Ecobeds.  Here are some of the reasons for adding this feature to my blog:-

1. I have a shocking memory and need a reminder when I'm ready to start spring and autumn plantings.
2. I need to know what's the best use of space.
3. I need to take the direction of the sun into account, especially as half my Ecobeds are north - south oriented and the other 2 are east - west.
4. Usually you put the larger plants in a bed furthest away from the sun, but sometimes smaller plants need protection from hot sun (as with the lettuce in the diagram).
5. As well as rotating crops from bed to bed each year, I like to change their position within the bed when spring planting takes place.
6. When crops are grown in succession throughout the year, they are usually relocated in spring as described above, but in between the main plantings they have to be grown in the same spot.  Its not ideal but so far its worked ok with just a month for soil preparation between plantings.
7. I try different layouts each year to see what works best, and I need a record of what's been tried before.

Each layout represents how plants are arranged in one of my 4 Ecobeds.  The growing area in an Ecobed is 2550mm x 1500mm.