Where should I plant vegetables in my garden this year?

We had a garden last year with peppers, beans, parsley, etc and I know where abouts each was planted. However, I've heard that you shouldn't plant the same thing in the same spot year after year. Is there a guide out there that tells me what is best to plant in a location after something else? For example, plant tomatoes in the same spot you planted your beans last year. Thanks.

Where should I plant vegetables in my garden this year?
You just have to make sure you don't plant veg from the same family in the same place for a couple of years. The veg plant families go like this:



1) Nightshade family: Potato, tomato, peppers and chillies, aubergine/eggplant, strawberries, raspberries



2) Legumes: beans and peas



3) Brassicas: Cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, swedes, turnips, pak choi, mustards, radishes



4) Curcubits: melons, squashes, courgette/zucchini, cucumbers



5) Carrot family: carrot, parsnip, parsley



6) Beets: lettuce, spinach, chard, beetroot, cress etc.



7) Alliums: onions, leeks, garlic (I grow these with all the carrot family, as the onion smell keeps the carrot fly away!)



There are a few others too which don't fit into any of these families, like sweetcorn, artichokes, sweet potato and lots of herbs. The traditional order is potato family, legumes, brassicas, then another crop before returning to potatoes. This is because the potatoes break up the soil for the beans' deep roots, and the beans leave a lot of nitrogen behind which is good for the brassicas.



Hope that makes sense!
Reply:You need to get a soil fertility book that describes the kinds of soils and plants that go with it. It is called "mono-culture" when a person plants only one type of crop all the time, such as only corn or only potatos.



The Potato Famine in Ireland was because people planted their potatos year after year in the same gardens and farms, and disease affected the entire island by killing everything off!



Different plants do different things. Beans do a good job of putting nitrogen into the soil. Some plants are good to ward off pests (marygolds for instance). You also have to know what kind of plants need lots of direct sunlight, which can tolerate a lot of shade, which plants need good drainage and which plants (like corn) need a lot of water... corn also depletes the soil, but I love fresh corn-on-the-cob anytime... ever eat a piece of fresh-picked corn in the morning that is cold from the nighly dew? It's good!