Crop Rotation on Organic Farms a Planning Manual

Home , Fallow (color), Hay, Silage

This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Vegetable Crop Rotations

Calvert’s Gift Farm Even Star Organic Farm Four Winds Farm Jack Gurley, Md. Brett Grohsgal, Md. Polly & Jay Armour, N.Y.

Winter Garlic Crimson Clover Oats

Spring Y1 Tomatoes OR Peppers Potatoes OR Tomatoesa Winter Squash Summer

Fall Winter Lettuce Red Clover Brassicas (strip crop) Straw mulch Garlic Winter Spinach Red Clover (in alternate beds)b Spring Y2 Okra – Flowers – Basil Winter Squash Summer Soybeans (in alternate beds) Straw mulch Fall Winter Lettuce Brassicas Vetch (strip crop) Winter Oats Vetch Straw mulch

Spring Y3 Fava Beans Cucurbits Beans Summer Brassicas Fall Crimson Lettuce Winter Clover (strip crop) Brassicas Compost Winter Vetch

Spring Direct-Seeded Quick Crops / Red Clover Y4 Small-Seeded Greens / Radishes Tomatoes Summer Cucumbers (mulched with Lettuce Winter Lettuce straw) Fall Garlic Red Clover Brassicas (strip crop)

Winter

Spring Y5 Return to Year One Return to Year One Return to Year One Summer

Fall

KEY • “Fallow” indicates a deliberate period of bare soil, often with frequent cultivation to kill weeds. a This rotation switches be- • Split boxes indicate strip crops or split beds. tween potatoes and tomatoes • Intercrops with crops from more than one family are represented by a dark gray background. in alternate cycles. b • Cash crops are indicated by black text, cover crops and fallows by white text. This rotation is designed The boxes below show the color codes for plant families in the rotation diagrams. around alternate beds.

Grasses– Legumes – Brassicas – Nightshades– Cucurbits – Beets, spinach – Mulch Cash Crop Poaceae Fabaceae Brassicaceae Solanaceae Cucurbitaceae Chenopodiaceae Lettuce – Alliums – Carrot– Grass-legume Miscellaneous Fallow Intercrop Cover Crop Asteraceae Liliaceae Apiaceae mix CHAPTER 4 | Crop Sequences from Expert Farmers’ Fields 49 This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Vegetable Crop Rotations (continued)

Golden Russet Farm Kretschmann Farm Nesenkeag Farm Will Stevens, Vt. Don Kretschmann, Pa. Eero Ruuttila, N.H.

Winter Wheat OR Oats Alfalfa Rye – Vetch

Spring Y1 Tomatoes Winter Squash Summer Brassicas

Fall Rye – Vetch Rye – Vetch Winter Oats

Spring Lettuce (triple crop) Y2 Potatoes Potatoes Summer Spinach Turnips Fall

Rye – Vetch Rye – Vetch Winter Wheat (overseed)

Spring Beets Y3 Sudangrass Summer Winter Squash Summer Vetch Late Brassicas Fall with Underseeded Rye OR Oats Oats – Field Peas Winter Wheat

Spring Spinach / Chard Lettuce / Beet Greens Y4

Summer c Arugula / Mustard Sweet Corn / Summer “Smalls” / Brassicas Lettuce Fall Rye – Vetch Oats (and compost) Winter Alfalfa

c Spring Spring “Smalls” Y5 Return to Year One Summer Summer Fallow

Fall Wheat OR Oats

KEY • “Fallow” indicates a deliberate period of bare soil, often with frequent cultivation to kill weeds. c • Split boxes indicate strip crops or split beds. “Smalls” indicates any crop • Intercrops with crops from more than one family are represented by a dark gray background. grown in small quantities, such • Cash crops are indicated by black text, cover crops and fallows by white text. as scallions, green beans, and other “oddballs.” The boxes below show the color codes for plant families in the rotation diagrams.

Grasses – Legumes – Brassicas – Nightshades– Cucurbits – Beets, spinach – Mulch Cash Crop Poaceae Fabaceae Brassicaceae Solanaceae Cucurbitaceae Chenopodiaceae Lettuce – Alliums – Carrot– Grass-legume Miscellaneous Fallow Intercrop Cover Crop Asteraceae Liliaceae Apiaceae mix 50 Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Vegetable Crop Rotations (continued)

One Straw Farm Pleasant Valley Farm Riverbank Farm Drew Norman, Md. Paul & Sandy Arnold, N.Y. Davida Blyn, Conn.

Winter Mulch Orchardgrass – Alfalfa Hay Hay Spring Lettuce Y1 Summer Plow-down – Fallow Buckwheat Beans

Fall Radish Crimson Clover – Vetch Oats – Field Peas Winter Winter Rye

Spring Carrots Multiple Crops in Strips: Onions/ Y2 Tomatoes Spinach/ Beets/Radish/Salad Mix/ Summer Lettuce/Peas Beans Turnips Carrots Beets Lettuce Fall Rye – Vetch Winter Rye Rye

Spring Plow-down – Fallow Lettuce Y3 Summer Tomato / Pepper OR Cucumber/ Winter Squash / Eggplant on Zucchini / Melon Brassicas (with hay mulch) plastic on plastic Fall

Mulch Winter Rye Winter d

Spring Oats – Field Peas Lettuce Y4 Beets Summer Brassica Buckwheat Lettuce Radishes Greens Fall Arugula and Spinach Radish Winter Winter Rye Rye d Garlic Spring Y5 Flowers Summer squash Tomatoes (with hay mulch) Summer Lettuce

Fall Hay Mulch Rye

KEY • “Fallow” indicates a deliberate period of bare soil, often with frequent cultivation to kill weeds. d • Split boxes indicate strip crops or split beds. Harvest of brassica and fall • Intercrops with crops from more than one family are represented by a dark gray background. cool-season crops extends into • Cash crops are indicated by black text, cover crops and fallows by white text. winter. Clovers may be interseeded at the last cultivation. The boxes below show the color codes for plant families in the rotation diagrams.

Grasses – Legumes – Brassicas – Nightshades– Cucurbits – Beets, spinach – Mulch Cash Crop Poaceae Fabaceae Brassicaceae Solanaceae Cucurbitaceae Chenopodiaceae Lettuce – Alliums – Carrot– Grass-legume Miscellaneous Fallow Intercrop Cover Crop Asteraceae Liliaceae Apiaceae mix CHAPTER 4 | Crop Sequences from Expert Farmers’ Fields 51 This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Vegetable Crop Rotations (continued)

Roxbury Farm Village Acres Farm Wood Prairie Farm Jean-Paul Courtens, N.Y. Roy Brubaker, Pa. Jim Gerritsen, Me.

Winter Rye Plow-down – Fallow Clover Spring Y1 Fallow – July Summer Seed Potatoes Strawberries Fall Oats – Field Peas 1st harvest

Winter Pepper / Fallow Spring Eggplant on plastic Y2 White Clover Wheat OR Oats Summer between crop (undersown with clover) rows Fall Interseeded Rye Strawberries 2nd harveste Winter Clover Spring Y3 Broccoli Summer Buckwheat

Fall

Winter Wheat Timothy – Clover Fallow (frost seed grass and clover into Spring wheat in spring) Y4 Sweet Corn Summer Spring Mustard Plow-down (overseeded with clover)

Fall Buckwheat Plow-down

Winter Forage Millet and Soybeans OR Grass-Clover Mix grazed by poultry Spring Clover (mowed two or three Y5 times) Return to Year One Summer

Fall Rye

KEY • “Fallow” indicates a deliberate period of bare soil, often with frequent cultivation to kill weeds. • Split boxes indicate strip crops or split beds. e This strawberry rotation • Intercrops with crops from more than one family are represented by a dark gray background. is followed by cycling into a • Cash crops are indicated by black text, cover crops and fallows by white text. vegetable rotation sequence. The boxes below show the color codes for plant families in the rotation diagrams.

Grasses – Legumes – Brassicas – Nightshades– Cucurbits – Beets, spinach – Mulch Cash Crop Poaceae Fabaceae Brassicaceae Solanaceae Cucurbitaceae Chenopodiaceae Lettuce – Alliums – Carrot– Grass-legume Miscellaneous Fallow Intercrop Cover Crop Asteraceae Liliaceae Apiaceae mix 52 Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Vegetable Crop Rotations (continued)

Beech Grove Farm Anne and Eric Nordell, Pa.

Winter Fallow

Spring Oats Y1 Summer Cultivated Fallow

Fall Field Peas Winter

Spring Y2 Onion Summer

Fall

Winter Rye

Spring Y3 Summer Cultivated Fallow

Fall

Winter Rye – Vetch

Spring Y4 Summer Lettuce Carrot Spinach

Rye Fall Lettuce Carrot Spinach (interseeded)

Winter

Spring Y5 Return to Year One Summer

Fall

KEY • “Fallow” indicates a deliberate period of bare soil, often with frequent cultivation to kill weeds. • Split boxes indicate strip crops or split beds. • Intercrops with crops from more than one family are represented by a dark gray background. • Cash crops are indicated by black text, cover crops and fallows by white text. The boxes below show the color codes for plant families in the rotation diagrams.

Grasses – Legumes – Brassicas – Nightshades– Cucurbits – Beets, spinach – Mulch Cash Crop Poaceae Fabaceae Brassicaceae Solanaceae Cucurbitaceae Chenopodiaceae Lettuce – Alliums – Carrot– Grass-legume Miscellaneous Fallow Intercrop Cover Crop Asteraceae Liliaceae Apiaceae mix CHAPTER 4 | Crop Sequences from Expert Farmers’ Fields 53 This page is from Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A Planning Manual, NRAES 177. To purchase the book, visit www.nraes.org or www.sare.org, or call (607) 255 7654. The first page of this PDF has information on fair use.

Real Fields on Real Farms: Sample Four- and Five-Year Grain Crop Rotations

Martens Farm Myer Farm Fair Hills Farm Klaas & Mary-H Martens, NY John Myer, NY Ed Fry, MD

Winter Red clover (plowdown) Rye (silage) Spring Y1 Summer Corn Alfalfa Corn (grain) (fourth year) Rye (overseeded) Fall

Winter Rye (silage) Fallow Spring Y2 Summer Soybean Corn Corn (silage)

Fall

Winter Winter wheat Fallow Rye (silage) Spring Winter wheat Y3 Red clover (overseeded) Summer Soybean Corn (silage) Fall Red clover

Winter Winter wheat Fallow

Spring Y4 Winter wheat Summer Red clover (overseeded)

Fall Return to Year One Winter Alfalfa Spring Red clover Y5 Summer

Fall