food for yourself.- In tropical areas, you will need to substitute warmer-
weather crops that provide the same functions.
A 3-YEAR ROTATION
Year 1: The growing of a compost crop interplanted
mixture (see Ecology Action’s Self-Teaching Mini-Series
Booklet 14) with double the amount of seed of cold-
weather grains broadcasted (wheat or hull-less barley or
hull-less oats or triticale, and cereal rye) and legumes
(broadcasted vetch and a sown cold-weather fava bean).
The entire crop is harvested when it is immature so a
main-season crop can be planted in time to go to
maturity. (Inoculation of the legumes with the relevant
nitrogen-xing bacteria for the crops involved will be
needed if the soil does not already contain these
microbes.)
Year 2: The transplanting of a cold-weather grain
(wheat or hull-less barley or hull-less oats or cereal rye
or triticale), with the entire crop being harvested at
maturity. In areas with a long main growing season, a
main-season hot-weather crop is planted afterward to go
to maturity. In areas with a short main growing season,
we try to grow a quick-maturing 60+-day “catch crop”
after the grain harvest whenever possible. Fast-maturing
bean varieties are examples of this. Or an immature
compost crop, such as pearl millet, may be grown at this
point.