How To Always Have Greens Coming Out of the Garden!
Posted by N. Astrid Hoffman on
Mastering the Art of Succession Planting: A Continuous Harvest Guide
Planting in succession is an ideal way to keep your harvest coming out of the garden as long as possible. Depending on where you live, your season may be long or short. The good news is there are great ways to expend your harvest on the front and back end of your season.
This guide will hopefully provide you and your loved ones with more garden fresh vegetables and herbs!
Planting in succession refers to the practice of planting crops at different times throughout the growing season. This allows for you to plant and harvest efficiently. The key is that it requires a little bit of planning and know how much space you have to work with. In addition, understanding how much you want to harvest and how large your family is also a key to your success! You can work backwards to plot and plan your seeding and harvesting times. Suggested succession times are found on our packets and on our individual product pages. Ultimately no ones planting is going to look the same, so curate what works best for you and your family.
This avoids a common gardener's mistake of having a large harvest all at once. Instead, with planting in succession you can enjoy a steady supply of vegetables throughout the season.
Through this practice you gain valuable experience and knowledge about gardening techniques, crop rotation, and optimal planting times. This hands-on approach keeps you connected to your garden and allows you to refine your gardening skills.
By staggering the planting and harvesting of crops, you can optimizes the use of available space. The idea is that as one crop is harvested, the next is growing and you are seeding the next round.
This method allows you to maximize your garden's productivity while eating fresh vegetables regularly.
Planting in succession also allows you to better manage water, fertilizers, and soil nutrients. As you harvest, amend the soil with compost or organic matter and prepare it for the next planting. This helps maintain soil fertility and prevents nutrient depletion, as different crops have varying nutrient requirements.
As you plan for your successional garden you can incorporate and adapt to the changing seasons and weather. Many crops have different temperature and light requirements, therefore you can plant your crops with their optimal growing conditions. For example, you can start with cool-season crops in spring, transition to warm-season crops in summer, and end with fall or winter vegetables as the temperatures cool. Did you know lettuce does not like the heat and will actually grow bitter with warm temperatures?
Optimal varieties for planting in succession are varieties that are quick to mature, can be enjoyed in their baby stage and are easy to germinate.
Some of our varieties perfect for successional planting include: