How to reap the benefits of crop rotation in your own garden

Even the smallest vegetable patch can benefit from the principles of crop rotation, says Clare Wilson

By Clare Wilson

WHEN I finally reached the top of my local area’s long waiting list for allotments, one aspect of vegetable growing that seemed daunting to me was crop rotation. This means dividing your ground into a few different patches and changing where you grow your plant varieties year on year. The intention is to reduce the build-up of pests and diseases, while also improving soil fertility.

Any guidance I could find on doing this seemed complicated, plus it required more ground than I initially had, since most of the new plot was badly overgrown. But as I learned, you don’t always …