Allium and root crop fields
Root crop field
The market garden beds are where much of the produce is grown for sale at the Kwantlen Farmers Market. These beds host a wide variety of crops, many of which have short days to maturity and are replanted often throughout the season. The plots are organized into crop groupings and managed through a long-term crop rotation system, which you can read more about below.
Crop Rotation
The market garden follows a six-year crop rotation. One-third of the cycle is dedicated to soil-building summer cover crops, and winter cover crops are planted between each summer crop. This system improves soil health and helps prevent pests and diseases.
Summer cash crops are grouped by type so that no closely related crop is planted in the same plot again for six years. The crop groups include:
- Alliums — Storage onions, green onions, and shallots. (Zucchini, beans, peas and flowers are also grown in this plot, though they are not alliums.)
- Brassicas — Broccoli, cauliflower, turnip, radish, mizuna, radicchio and arugula.
- Greens — Lettuce, chard, spinach, and some herbs.
- Roots — Carrots, beets, and leeks. (Although leeks are alliums, they’re grouped here because their harvest involves significant soil disturbance.)
Crop rotation
Plot layout