Polyculture & seed endophytes

Do you rotate your crops or do you go in for a bit of vegetable freestyling and create interesting and productive polyculture beds? Plus the importance of endophytes for seeds

With the weather improving and slugs on the decline (I hope), I have been busy in the garden trying to plant out all my veg before it is too late. The potted squash are already looking a little yellow so they had a feed before going out in my hugelkultur-style raised bed where they should find plenty of nutrients to keep them nourished through summer.

I’ve also finished planting up my polyculture beds (so much later than last year!!). Those of you who have read my books know that I’m not a fan of crop rotation. It’s not that I haven’t rotated in the past - I grew up with a grandfather who always rotated his crops as recommended by Percy Thrower of Gardener’s World (and that’s a name from the dim and distant past, pre Geoff Hamilton no less). And all the gardening books of the time went into great detail about how you could grow crops on a 3,4,7+ year rotation. And of course in organic standards, you are expected to rotate your crops to build fertility and reduce pests and disease.

But…