Crop Rotation: The Simple, Time-Tested Secret to Bigger Harvests and a Healthier Garden

This simple but powerful technique improves soil health, reduces pests and disease, and creates a more sustainable garden.

Raised garden beds, ideally in a multiple of four, make it easy to rotate crops between beds each year. Mariana Serdynska/Shutterstock

Have you ever wondered why those tomatoes that did fabulously the first year were less productive in the second year and are downright struggling in the third season?

Planting the same plant in the same location for multiple seasons depletes the soil of the particular nutrients the plant in question needs to thrive. It also allows for a buildup of plant-specific insect pests and soil-borne pathogens that will increase each year.