emmie9999, try corn if you want to and have some extra room (particularly if you expand your beds). I live in the country in PA, with lots of corn around. There's a farmstand a half-mile up the road that always has great corn, but I still grow some of my own, just becauase it feels good to look out and see a little patch of corn in my garden. (But I've got a pretty big garden, so I'm not so worried about the space.) This year I'm increasing the fun factor by experimenting with a couple of open-pollinated heirloom varieties along with a regular supersweet hybrid type. You can plant a small patch of corn, but then it helps to hand-pollinate it to get good ears. When the silks show up, cut off some bits of the tassles from the top and dust it over the silks. CAVEAT: I haven't tried that yet, but I read somewhere here that it works well. I'm going to try it this year. Last year I had one very small patch of late summer corn that didn't pollinate well -- I didn't know about hand-pollinating then. A lot of my gardening is just aimed at getting fresh veggies, but a lot of it is also just for fun. I grow some dried beans, for instance. From the perspective of food, it doesn't make any sense, since you can buy a pound of dried beans in the market for about 80 cents. But I grow old heirloom varieties, like Steuben and Amish Knuttle, which you can't get in the market. I don't have room to plant enough to get more than about 1-2 pounds of dried beans per variety, but the beans are pretty and it's just fun. With green beans, you might consider pole beans. You get a much larger harvest from a small amount of garden space. You also can harvest a lot of it standing up. And the teepees look lovely -- I make mine out of 7- or 8-foot lengths of bamboo. One of the downsides is that you can't use row covers (at least not easily), if you're planning on using covers. You also have to make sure the teepees don't shade something else in the garden. One last downside to teepees is that occasionally a good wind will make them start leaning, especially in the early summer before the beans are strong enough to anchor them. Have fun and good luck with your garden.

This is the organic Gardening thread! Some interesting points have been expressed in the thread. One of the key organic principles is replenishment; of course referring to nutrients and organic matter. The use of cover crops, rotations, intercropping, green manures, recycling refuse and manure to name a few, fill the replenishment options. That certainly does not preclude the organic amendments for deficient nutrients or adjustment of pH. The OP specifically poised the rotation topic. It compels me to ask of those who plant the same plants in the same location, "What do you proclaim to be the cause of pests and disease?" If a plant(s) succumbs to a pest or disease in that location from year to year, do you not think that the origin might be the soil? Rotation is primarily directed at avoidance of direct exposure to pests and disease that exist in the soil. While there is also truth in healthy soil reducing the impact of pests and diseases, moving the host plant to a fresh location reduces the incidence. The continuos presence of the host (as mentioned by Peter) continues the cyles of pests and disease without interruption. By rotating crops you insert a non-host species or one that is antagonistic to that pest or disease (i.e. - marigolds for nematodes). Diversity of planting is also an enhancement, especially for pests and disease. The availability of nutrients is also a factor in the growth rate of the plants; a plant growing too fast or slow suffers stresses which are invitation to pests and diseases. Being in a zone 5 and growing many long season heirlooms I am compelled to start most for transplanting. Timing the starts attempts to have a strong plant able to adapt easily when placed within the suitable growing conditions. Transplants also permit me to properly prepare the beds. For me rotation means having a growing plant or crop in the soil 70-80% of the year. A fall green manure and/or cover crop is part of the plan. Timing of fall sowing may require inter-seeding to permit suitable germination and growth before first frost. Turning under the spring growth prior to transplanting adds nutrients and organic matter which must be given 2-3 weeks for initial decomposition; so not to starve the transplants of nitrogen. Rotation does have a part in the small and medium scale. For my two distance-separated plots totalling nearly 10,000 square feet it is simple to rotate plantings by simply leapfrogging beds. My five year rotation plan shifts each wide (3 feet) bed about 21 feet (including the paths). For nutrient replentishment I strictly limit amendments to compost, composted manure (cattle/horse) and green manure. My soil is tested every three years for comparison. My nutrient management plan is based on improvement versus maintenance. My primary plot is sand which has produced for nearly 40 years. A new plot of silt-loam on a beef farm has been in production for me over five years. My only bad year was 2009 due to very brief summer weather and only about 30% sunny days. I'm sticking to my rotation plan.

should I account for a crop rotation? Sure if you have the room. Most who used raised beds don't so can't rotate. I don't rotate in my raised beds and never have. But then I don't have a problem with the wilts. IF Fusarium or Verticillium wilt is an accurate diagnosis, and that's a big IF IMO, then using only the resistant varieties may be your only option. Or consider one of the systemic fungicides. Simple annual rotation won't provide any effective control for the wilts. Amending the soil beds with a 1:3 mixture of high quality compost has proven to be beneficial as the compost contains bacteria that can help control the soil-borne causal fungi. Another good mix is the 5:1:1 recipe discussed on the Container Gardening and Sq. Foot gardening forums. It contains no soil - no dirt - so fungus problems are minimal. Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Univ. Conn. IPM : Tomato Wilts

I agree with rj - rotation just isn't applicable if you are using Sq. Foot gardening. One of the underlying principles of that approach is that it eliminates the need for rotation - if indeed there is one. And as others have already pointed out, while it may play a role in large farm or commercial production, it doesn't in the home garden for most simply because the average home garden isn't large enough. There are indeed many discussions on this issue over on the Soil & Compost forum as well as the Vegetable Gardening forum that a search will pull up if you will search 'crop rotation'. And the consistent recommendation is annual (or more often) additions of good compost. The beneficial fungi and bacteria in quality compost have been proven time and time again to be most effective at controlling, and even eliminating pathogens in the soil. You, in effect rotate the soil, not the plants. Since SQ. Foot gardens (which do have a forum here so check out this discussion on it from that forum) are composed of 1/3 compost of high quality and peat and not dirt (assuming they are true SQ. Ft.) rotation is a non-issue according to Mel. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: Crop rotation discussions