PLANNINGFORNEXTSEASONWhatisCropPlanning?

• DecidingWHATtogrow,HOWMUCHtogrow,andWHENtogrowit.

I. STARTWITHGOALSETTINGYoumayhavemanygoals,butdeterminelongtermandshortterm.

1. WHATDOIWANTtoaccomplishnextyearandwhy?a) moreprofit?b) higheryieldperbedperyear?c) Higheryieldforspecificcrops?d) Newvarieties?e) Diseaseorweedsuppression?f) Moreorlessdiversity?g) Maximumsoilbuilding?h) Restorchange?i) Qualityoflifegoals?j) Betterrecords?

2. THINKHOLISTICALLYtodeterminethesoundnessofyourgoals.Regardlessofyouridealsfornextseason,youneedtofigureouthowtoaccomplishthemwithoutcompromisingtheoverallhealthofthelandbase,yourfinancialresources,oryourwell-being.

a)Whatwillmysoilsupport?(Testeachplotorbed)b)HowmuchmoneydoIhaveavailable?c)HowmuchtimeandhelpdoIhave?

3. PRIORITIZEyourgoalsinto2or3topaimsforthenextseason,basedon

youranswerstoholisticquestioning.Writedownyourgoalsinaplacewhereyouandyourteamandseethem.

II. CREATESYSTEMSTOIMPLEMENT&TRACKYOURGOALS1. CreateorRe-evaluateyourCropRotation:Thisistheconceptof

growingdifferentcropsorfamiliesofcropsinsuccessionthroughoutthegarden,takingcaretoavoidrepetitionofcropsinthesamespacesoverasetamountoftime.Ifyoudon’talreadyhaveacroprotation,thisistheplacetostart.Thebenefitsofcroprotationare:o gentleruseofsoilresources:sincedifferentcropsusenutrients

differently,rotatingfamilieswillkeepyoufromtaxingthesoilsystemo avoidanceofdiseaseandpests:sincediseasesandpestsreactto

specificmicroclimateandhostplants(i.e.attacksonlylegumes,

preferswettersoils,isspecies-specific),changingthecroporfamilyofcropsineachbedeachseason(ormanytimeswithinoneseason)willprotectyourharvestsfromrepeatoffenses.

o Improvedsoilstructureduetoencouragementofdiverserootstructurethroughoutthegarden

*Establishyourrotationbasedonprofit&productiongoalsbalancedwithcropnutrientrequirements.Thisisusuallyaccomplishedbyrotatingaccordingtoplantfamilyand/ornutrientrequirements.Planforatleast4yearsbeforerepeatedthesamecropinthesameplot.*Integratecovercropsintoyourrotationwheneverandwhereveryoucan.Plantokeepthesoilcoveredatalltimes.*Usedifferentmodelstoinformyourowndesign.(Resource:Kroeck’sCropRotation&CoverCroppingorMagdoff&Es’BuildingSoilforBetterCrops)*Foranoverviewofvegetableplantfamiliesandtheircharacteristics,seethisonlinePDF:http://ucanr.edu/sites/placernevadasmallfarms/files/170644.pdf

2. Mapthegarden,orupdateexistingvisuals:UsuallyacroprotationwillguidethelayoutofEQUALplotsorgrowingareas,andyoucanbegintocreateapictureofhowthingswilllooknow,andovertime.o Onmyfarm,Iusedtokeepapicturemapofthecurrentseason’s

design.Ithadeachfielddrawntoscale,withthecropfamilyandcover

cropcomboforthatseasonwrittenin.Fordetailsaboutspecificbedswithinthefieldsandpast+futureinfo,Iusedanexcelspreadsheet.

3. Determinebedsperplot,rowfeetperbed,anddevisestandardized

spacingtohelpyoufigurequantities.(Ex.Allcropsfitintooneofthreespacingdeviations,orsomesuchdesign).

4. Spreadsheetscanorganizequantitydetailsabouteachcrop,andhandletiming.o Youcanorganizeonespreadsheetforeachplot,oryoucandevisea

mastersheetforallcropsthatsimplyhasacolumntodenotewhichploteachcropisassignedto.

o Yieldgoalswillinformwhatgoeswhere,orhowmanyrowsofeachcropyoudecidetogrow.Otherfactorsmaycontributetohowcropsarearrangedinrelationtooneanother.(Forexample,cropsthatareallharvestedatoncewilllikelygoallinonerow,cropsyouwaterwithasprinklermaybeorganizedtogetherbasedonthespanofyourwateringtool,andcropsthatwillshadeothersmaynotbeplanteddirectlytogether.)

o Oncethespreadsheetiscompleted,youmaychoosetoaddbed-specificinfotoyourmap,ornot.

5. Beginthinkinginweeks,insteadofdays.

o Eachweekhasanumber,whichyoucanassignbyhandonyourcalendar(manycalendarshaveweeknumbersprintedonthem).Beginusingweeknumberstoassigntasksandgoals.Thiswillhelpyoumanagetimemoreflexibly,andkeepthingstidywitharelativelysmallmarginoferror.

6. Startwithharvest,andcountbackwardo Useseedcatalogsorotherresourcestoobtaininformationaboutyour

cropsandspecificvarieties.Countbackwardfromthedesireddateofharvesttodeterminewhentoplant.Notethedifferencebetweencropsthatwillbedirectsown,andthosethatwillbetransplanted.Useyourexperiencetodiscernidiosyncrasiesofyourgarden,oroftheseasonathandthatwilleffectcropmaturation.

7. Buildformulasintoyourspreadsheettomakecalculationsquick

andeasy

8. Colorcodingcanfurtherassistinorganization,forexample,todenotehowthecropsaremanagedthroughouttheirlifespan.

9. Toinformfutureplanning,haverecordsforPLANNEDandACTUAL

results.Thisisalwaysfascinatinginformationtohave.Ifgettingbackto

yourspreadsheetonaregularbasisisunrealistic,record“actual”datainabinderornotebookthatyoukeepinthegardenshedorgreenhouse.

10. Sortyoursheetbyweektodiscovertheweek’sactivities.Createlistsof

everythingtohappenthatweek,andprovidethemtostaff,volunteers,orkeeptheminyourbackpocket.