If I could teach you one tool and only one tool to maximize your garden’s harvest, it would be succession planting! Technically succession planting is putting in a new bed of the same vegetable at intervals throughout the growing season. Basically it’s continuous planting or staggered plantings so that you get a constant harvest of a particular fruit/veggie, rather than a one and done type planting/harvesting.
When I had a large square foot garden, I utilized succession planting constantly. It allowed me to take full advantage of my garden space the entire growing season. You can easily fill those spots that previously harvested food left behind, like during the transition from early spring crops to summer crops. Maximized garden spots means maximized garden yields.
I typically start my succession planting with lettuce, which is a great place to start if you’ve never tried succession planting before. It’s impossible to eat all the lettuce a garden produces at once, so I began replanting smaller amounts every 2 weeks. I love it because I am able to have different types of lettuce that produced every couple of weeks.
Another benefit of succession planting is that it naturally breaks up your garden chores into smaller pieces. Sure I end up planting from March through the end of September, but because I’m only planting a small amount every week, it takes little time at all. Can you imagine doing all that planting at once? It’s a TON of work all at the same time. This way it spreads out the work and makes it more manageable. { I wrote post about the importance of using grow lights a while back, you can read all about that HERE}.
When it comes to getting a continuous harvest from a particular type of veggie/fruit, certain plants work better than others. Here’s a basic succession planting date guide for a continual harvest:
Green Beans – Plant every 10 days
Beets – Plant every 14 days
Cucumbers – Plants every 3 weeks
Kale/Collards – Plant every 3 weeks
Lettuce – Plant every 10-14 days
Melons – Plant every 3 weeks
Radish – Plant every 7 days
Spinach – Plant every 7 days
Summer Squash – plant every 6 weeks
Sweet Corn – Plant every 10 days
Carrots – Plant every 2-3 weeks {as weather allows, stop when it gets too hot and resume in late summer/early fall}
Cauliflower – Plant every 2 weeks {as weather allows, stop when it gets too hot and resume again in late summer/early fall}
Turnips – Plant every 7 Days
After you’ve decided on the veggies you want to plant, you need to create a planting schedule. Creating a detailed succession plan eliminates the guesswork of what and when to plant later on. You can do this by drawing a spring, summer, and fall map of each garden space or garden bed you have. Then plug veggies into the diagram, with early, quick crops followed by long-season ones. You’ll need to note transplant and harvest dates.
Once you have your plan, you can manage the succession of your crops by sowing small amounts of seeds or transplanting a few seedlings at regular intervals, either in the same spot or at different times in various parts of the garden. I’ve done both with great success.
Planting season, it has finally arrived! đ {Even if some of us are having to start our seeds under lights}
What are YOU most looking forward to growing this year? Curious minds want to know.
~Mavis
Are you ready to start your garden but you’re not sure when you should plant your seeds or set out your transplants? Head on over HERE and you’ll be taken to a handy dandy chart that is broken down into what vegetables should be planted {or transplanted} each month in your area.
Anyone can do this. Dirt + Seeds+ Water = Food!
~Mavis
Gardening books hold kind of a special place in my heart. I wouldnât be the gardener I am today {or maybe not a gardener at all} if it werenât for a few gardening books I picked up years ago. I spent almost the entire winter of 2008/2009 reading up on gardening. I found some incredible reads that taught me so much and made me realize how much I didnât know. So Iâve never stopped reading gardening books.
Here are just a few of my favorites, although if weâre being honest, narrowing this list down was virtually impossible. Gardening books are right up there with the bible {okay, not quite, but you get the idea!}.
My Favorite Garden Books:
- Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting
- The Complete Compost Gardening Guide
- Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre
- Sugar Snaps and StrawberriesÂ
- The Gardenerâs A-Z Guide to Growing Organic Food
- The Kitchen Gardenerâs Handbook
Kathleen says
Mavis-Than you soul much for this post. Succesion planting may seem like such an easy concept but I was really struggling with the planning and timing. the way you have it list by plant type just made it aeem so easy to schedule and accomplish. Thank you.
Tracey says
I love your posts! I do not have a big, in-ground garden and usually just do large pots etc. I have good success with tomatoes in pots, but not much else. đ Now that my girls are grown enough not to use the play structure any more, I converted the bottom part (where the sand box etc used to be) to storage for garden tools and we are finishing up turning the top of the structure into sort of a green house. (We live in central Indiana). Can you recommend veggies that grow well in pots and about how big the pots need to be.
Debra says
I live in Arizona and have pretty much year round garden. I use GARDEN PATCH GROW BOXES with GREAT results.
Rebecca in MD says
Thank you so much for this post. I have often been overwhelmed with harvests because everything came in at once. I am definitely going to try staggering plantings based on the schedule in your post.
We use mostly raised beds for our garden, but I am going to mingle in some veggies in the flower beds this year. We will be growing:
Tomatoes – just started my seeds this week
Sweet peppers – just started my seeds this week
Hot peppers – just started my seeds this week
Green beans
Cucumbers
Canteloupe
Watermelon
Eggplant – just started my seeds this week
Herbs – Oregano, thyme, parsley, basil, rosemary – – just started my seeds this week
Zucchini
Yellow squash
Onions – I have 72 plants growing on under my grow lights already
Here’s to hoping for a great harvest this year!
Claire says
Heads up! Succession planting sounds good but does not work in all zones. The lower the number, the less frost-free days available. one has to be a little more cunning to extend the growing season (and then just be prepared to work real hard while the sun shines)
Judybee says
What agricultural planting zone are you in? Recently moved to zone 5 from zone 9 so my âknowledge â about when and what to plant is outdated. Thank you.
Mavis Butterfield says
Judybee, we are in Zone 5 too. đ
Margaret Hudgins says
Mavis, can you please tell me about how many vanilla beans to an 8oz bottle? I just ordered in some Madagascar Vanilla beans, which BTW smelled awful and more like a tannin bath than vanilla, and want to get it right since this is my first attempt at making my own vanilla. I love your blog, and wait for it every day; it doesn’t show up here in Oklahoma until around 3-4 pm.
Mavis Butterfield says
2 vanilla beans, split. Leave them in for at least a month and give the bottle a good shake once a week or so. đ
Mel says
I’ve never had great luck with succession planting since it seems to get too hot too fast in the spring and summer. Established plants seem to tolerate that, but I have a harder time getting new things started once the heat really sets in. We also have a relatively small amount of space, so saving room to succession plant means harvests too small to really use, and I have trouble making room just for seasonal swaps.
I have gotten better at overwintering though. Yesterday I picked cabbage and Brussels sprouts I planted in the fall, and I have some carrots that might make it. I also overwintered onions and shallots for the first time, and they seem to be doing well–it’s actually the first time I’ve gotten them to grow well.
Marybeth says
I do this with my lettuce every year. I have lettuce from June to October. As I pick the lettuce, I plant more. So easy.
BETTY D says
A good tip ….those toilet tissue empty paper rolls and also the paper towel…Cut toilet tissue ones in half..fold under one end and fill with starting soil and seeds. Can also be placed in those empty egg cartons…and when they sprout…just plant the whole thing in the ground …water etc….helps the soil and pant to grow …you wont be disturbing the plant when transferring them to the outside soil…..great to recycle things…..so many uses for them..the towel ones can be cut down to size to use…..though you might can use and do…love reading your ideas and others whom comment…thanks everyone….
Diane says
Mavis, I saw on another post that you planted a whole flat of lettuce. Not sure how many that is (36?), but sounds like a lot. Wouldnât you only plant a 6-pack or two at a time?
Mavis Butterfield says
72! I like to plant extra for the chickens and possibly the veggie stand.
Sara says
I just grew my first garden last year and had so much lettuce at once! I loved it while it lasted but am excited to try succession planting. My only question is – does this only work when growing from seeds? I like to buy garden plants from a greenhouse already pre-started and I have to buy all at once before theyâre sold out. So should I just put a couple in the ground at a time and keep the other plants in my barn or garage? Does that make them grow less quickly? Thank you!