Why Do We Grow Vegetables in Rows

Why do we grow vegetables in rows? There are practical reasons, but historical ones too. Many of us are now wondering which is the best way to cultivate our kitchen gardens and allotments and talking about it. Perhaps this scenario sounds familiar?

You’ve decided to grow your own vegetables and have dug over a patch of the garden. You’ve even got as far as double digging and adding organic compost to the soil as it was compacted. And then someone asks you whether you’re using the square foot method of cultivation or whether you’re going to grow your own vegetables in rows?

Brain whirring slightly you take a sip of tea before you answer…

and they throw in the question “And what are you doing about crop rotation?”

Then you’ll be glad you’ve read this blog and have our eBook and printables downloaded to your smart phone…

There are many different methods of growing fruit, vegetables and salads. You may have heard of or use some of them, but there are probably some you don’t know too.

This blog is about the traditional ‘growing in rows’ method of cultivation for vegetables and fruit. With a brief diversion into crop rotation and those other cultivation methods so you can answer the above question. (We like to be helpful, links to the blogs are at the end).

But before we get dug into growing vegetables in rows

A little clarification of the terms or phrases ‘crop growing methods’ and ‘types of cultivation’ as I use them and which you may find helpful.

‘Crop growing method’ – these are physical boundaries for the crops or manner in which the kitchen garden is laid out. For example, raised beds. Within these methods you can then use different ‘types of cultivation’, for example, crop rotation.

There are some systems which are a mix of both, but this works as a general rule. FYI Plews has a Gardening Glossary on the website which explains these and other terms using non-technical language.

Why do we grow vegetables in rows? – a potted history

Growing in rows is frequently asserted to be a late eighteenth century introduction alongside the increased use of agricultural machinery. However, this is usually because people are getting muddled between gardens and farms. Let me explain.

Ploughs, whether hand pulled, horse drawn or mechanical, are most efficiently used in a long straight run. This is why rows have been used for hundreds, indeed thousands of years on farm land.

The Romans grew their vegetables in rows and raised beds. But they weren’t the first society to do so. Strictly speaking, growing vegetables in rows was an invention of the Chinese. There is a document from the third century BCE where the efficiency of the crop or amount produced is said to be increased by growing the crops in rows.

In the late seventeenth century came the introduction of seed drills. Farmers, landowners and market gardeners were able to efficiently sow seeds along the rows.

The great walled kitchen gardens of the aristocracy and landed gentry have a history of using both rows and block planting depending on the crop and the arrangement of the kitchen garden. Their kitchen gardens could be many acres in size, so there was space to spread out.

If we head back to the Middle Ages and Europe, we find that something called ‘strip faming’ was used by the peasantry (and sometimes the lord of the manor). This is where a family’s share of the agricultural fields was divided into scattered strips rather than being in a block. But the fields were each sown with one crop, such as wheat, not different crops. Farming was largely carried out in this manner until the late 14^th century when the Black Death and abrupt population reduction forced social and economic changes.

Small gardens and cottage gardens

The peasantry was composed of freemen and those owned by the manor but most had a garden attached to or near their cottage. Here they would grow what we now think of as ‘kitchen garden’ crops – carrots, pot herbs and so on. Those with larger plots (up to 4 acres) probably grew staple vegetables in rows for practical reasons. But in the smaller gardens they were likely to have grown a mixture of edible plants together.

However, the idea of domestic gardeners growing vegetables in rows came about largely through the increasing interest in gardening during the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. And it was partly due to the rise of wealthy urban middle classes that gave rise to this pursuit of gardening.

How to grow your own vegetables in rows

Why do we grow vegetables in rows?

Well, the simplicity of rows helps many vegetable gardeners to work out how many seeds they need to sow in order to feed their family. And whilst we may think of long straight lines for rows, they can be blocks of the same vegetable, ie short rows, say 2m long. And depending on the vegetable this could be 4 – 8 rows wide.
Rows can also help in distinguishing between crops you want and weeds you don’t want. Thereby making it easier to know what to remove. The space between the rows allows for a plank to be laid down so you can walk along, hoeing out the weeds but not treading on your crops or compacting the soil.
Rows are best laid out on a north – south axis so the crops get the most benefit from the sun as it travels across the sky during the day. As the sun moves across from east to west, a north-south axis allows all the crops to benefit from the maximum sunlight. This isn’t the case if you’re going to grow your own vegetables near the equator, of course!

And there is something beautiful about an allotment in the early morning with the sunlight catching row upon serried row of leeks and runner beans on frames.

Growing vegetables in rows is not limited to growing them on the ground. Just because your vegetable plot consists of raised beds, doesn’t prevent you from using this method.

This growing method can also be decorative. For example, edge the plot with a band of evergreen Thyme for year-round interest. Or for summer colour sow calendula as an edging (edible flowers, pollinator friendly, companion planting).

Crop Growing Methods – Crop Rotation

If you’re going to grow your own vegetables in rows, then it is useful to know that this cultivation method is best used in conjunction with crop rotation. I’ve discussed crop rotation in more detail in another blog, under the Growing Methods for Gardeners series. But briefly, it is a crop growing method where the different types of crop are grown in the same area in successive years in order to reduce pests and diseases and to maximise the soil nutrients.

A three course rotation means that crop A will be grown in area D in year 1 and then again in year 3. Four and five course rotations are also used. The number of courses is directly affected by the number of different edible plant groupings. For example, brassicas, roots, legumes are the three most common groups used. (I explain this using a table in the Crop Rotation article)

Crop rotation is extremely important in monocultures, ie where a single crop is grown; although the area may be a raised bed or a ten acre field. There are arguments against the necessity of rotation in small areas, but I would still advise rotation if a monoculture system of cultivation is in place. The addition of companion planting would be beneficial whatever the size of area under cultivation.

For help with planning your crop rotation we have printables to download – see links below.

Why do we grow vegetables in rows?

Although digging has been mentioned, growing in rows and crop rotation also work with no-dig methods of cultivation.

Whether you’re new to growing vegetables or wondering about changing your methods, my first question to you would be “What do you want to eat?” not “What do you want to grow?” or “What growing method do you want to use?” Why? Because knowing what you want to eat will be the best way of determining what, where and how to grow that crop. (That’s the gardening teacher and edible garden designer in me!)

And finally

And that I feel is enough for one blog – keep drinking the tea 😉

If you’d like to learn more about growing your own veggies – whether that’s in rows or not, why not have enjoy a Plews gardening course with your own garden as the classroom? You could have specific Edible Gardening Lessons Plews Gardening Lessons make a good presents too…

For further gardening advice and inspiration, check out Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below and our monthly Tipsheet – You could come and find us on Instagram Pinterest and Facebook too.