When it comes to your garden, the best defense against disease and pests is a great offense. A great offense is crop rotation.

Don’t ever plant the same crop in the same spot year after year. Not only is the soil depleted of the nutrients that a particular crop may need to flourish, but it also makes it much more prone to disease and pests.

Here are just a few suggestions when it comes to crop rotation:

• Make yourself a schedule so that you know what was planted when.
• I suggest drawing up at least a 3 year rotation so that you are sure that soil is ready for that particular crop again.
• If you need a little help mapping out a rotation check out this publication from Penn State http://paipm.cas.psu.edu/pdf/POP/croprotat.pdf It is the simplest rotation schedule that I have found.

Once you get a schedule, crop rotation is easy and it is a great, organic alternative to synthetic chemicals. Good Luck