Starting my new plot - a wonderful opportunity to revisit some of the writing I've done earlier; amazing how much one sentence can conceal!

How am I planning?   I'm thinking about

• how much I need to grow to keep the family in vegetables for a year.   it might be fun to look at Dig For Victory Leaflet, Number 1, from the Ministry of Agriculture around 1940 - how to grow enough to feed a family from a standard allotment; fortunately we have freezers, and no need to inflate the nation's barrage balloons!   My list is just a little different - as yours will be.
• the fruit, rhubarb and herbs I want.
• a workable rotation plan - without growing too many potatoes and brassicas as I always used to do on a 4-year rotation.
• my preference for growing in beds, 4 foot wide, with paths between.
• and I'd like ALL the plot working well from springtime (optimistic!).

Size, area, and beds - I have a standard size plot, 10 by 30 yards, about 2700 square feet.

• Step 1 - set aside an area for a shed, compost heaps, water butt, children's flower space - and just sitting contemplating; they're going to go in the shady corner, as it'll be harder to grow much there.   That's about 250 feet gone - 2,450 to go; no bother!
• Step 2 - work out how much to set aside for the permanent paths between each bed - 4 the length of the plot and 2 across the plot, each 18 inches wide.   Another 600 feet gone (as much as that?   But - I'll avoid walking on the beds, and be able to grow at higher densities) - 1,800 left.
• Step 3 - set side about one-sixth for permanent beds - fruit bushes, asparagus, strawberries, herbs and rhubarb.   Another 300 gone - only 1500 left for my vegetables?   Now I panic!   That's not much more than half the plot - am I going wrong?
• Step 4 - work out how long each of 5 beds can be (at 4 foot wide) - hey, I can have 5 x 25 metre beds (in fact, 10 x 12.5 metres) for the rotating crops!   Based on my old plot, I'm pretty sure that's just about enough growing space for the sort of crops we want.

Confused by the mixed measures?   No, I won't measure it out with a tape measure; my real-time measuring is by Wellington boot, size 10, and long stride!

Crops and Rotation - for our needs, in two years time, my plot could look like this -

• 2 beds for potatoes - (2 rows earlies, 2 rows second earlies, and space to try out different varieties from potato day)
• 2 beds for peas/beans - (1 x 12 metre double row of peas with lettuce, chard, and spinach alongside; 1 x 6m block of broad beans, 1 x 6m block of French beans)
• 2 beds for brassica - (1 x 2 metre block for the seed bed, 6 x 2m blocks for summer cabbage, winter cabbages and savoys, romanesco, kale, cauliflower, swedes, and 3 x , and a 3m blocks for the brussels sprouts, sprouting broccoli, and spring cabbage)
• 2 beds for alliums - (1 x 12m block for onions, 1 x 3m block for garlic, 1 x 4m block for shallots, 1 x 6m block for leeks)
• 1 bed for roots - (2 x 2m blocks for parsnips, and for salsify and scorzonera, 2 x 3m blocks for carrots, and beetroot)
• 1 bed for the rest - (1 x 3m block for sweetcorn, 1 x 4m block for squashes, and I still have extra space for salads and anything else takes my fancy)
  
• and the permanent beds for the strawberries and rasps (these two might even fit in a long strip of spare space along the long side of the plot); fruit bushes; herbs; and asparagus.

The preparation necessary - so much for dreaming, now the hard realities!

• I need NOW 2 beds working to take my leeks and brassicas, transplanted from the old plot;
• bed space to transplant my fruit bushes, rhubarb and strawberries;
• and loads of manure or mushroom compost to add to my heavy clay soil.

By the end of the year, as a minimum, I need to have (I think)

• all the permanent beds cleaned, dug, manured and planted;
• 2 beds should have vegetables for the winter - but I should have cleaned, dug and manured 4 or 5 other beds;
• and 3 or 4 beds left untouched until spring - when I'd like to plant potatoes, using lazy beds to clean them; I'll need to watch my rotation gaps!