Thanks Carolyn, I think you helped not hindered.
I don't have any tomato soil borne diseases. My biggest issue with tomatoes is foliage diseases and I do mulch with straw. Typically that does help a lot but this past summer it was constantly wet and humid so disease was off the chart, never saw it so bad.
I see the issues you present with turnips/beet/eggplant. I only grow radishes in the garden and did not even do that this past year, stopped growing turnips a few years ago and eggplants have been grown in 5 gallon pails 75'-100' from the garden so flea beetles are not a problem. Also with chard and beets, I see the combining together makes a smorgishborg (sp?) but I have not grown beets for a few years tho i'd like to next year and my chard was not effected when I did grow beets.
No simple answers. Seems I read years ago that crop rotation in a small garden is not all that effect against insects as the distances are small.
So I have dropped eggplant and potatoes, the latter I like but are just too much work and space for the return, I really have pared back on what I grow as I get so much I can't eat it and that's just silly. I think I have separated the related crops well with this 4 quarter method so I'll just stick the few items I was uncertain about in a quarter where there is room for them and not worry.
Thanks,
Tom
|