How To Have More Vegetables For More Of The Year

Succession Planting is the practice of planting the same type of plant, but at timed intervals – for example a month apart. By doing this with vegetables that you use a lot, you will be able to create a much longer supply for your family.

This works best with plants that grow happily for most parts of the year; or if you’re lucky enough to live in a temperate climate, even all year round.

It works like this. Say you plant lettuce at the beginning of September. You only need to grow a short row because you would plant a second row in early October; then another in early November. By the time you’re planting your November succession, your September lettuce are mature enough to eat (I prefer the type where you pick and come again, rather than harvesting the whole plant). If you keep planting a row of lettuce at the start of each month, you will always have lettuce ready to pick straight from your organic garden.

You won’t be subject to availability in the supermarket or price fluctuations. Now you may not need to plant that often if you don’t use a great deal of lettuce. Or you could plant a similar salad crop in alternative months; perhaps rocket, or beetroot, or different varieties of lettuce. Use your own judgement to suit the needs of your family.

Some plants that work particularly well as succession plants include: lettuce, rocket, radish, spring onions, cucumbers and carrots.

Others that work well in the main growing season include: bush beans, corn, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, silver-beet and spinach; even zucchini. Try experimenting with various vegetables that your family loves. If you end up with too much you can always give some to friends and relatives.

That brings me to another way you can be sure to get the most from your organic vegetable garden. You can increase the length of your growing season by using different varieties of the same vegetable.

For example, you can put in an early, mid-season and late variety of many vegetables. That way you’ll have more of your favourite vegetables for more of the year, making whatever space you have available more productive.

You will find many fruiting plants are available in early, mid-season and late varieties too – again making it easier to provide for your family from your organic garden.

The real secret to succession (or successive) planting is planning – as with most things in the garden. Keep a garden diary or journal so you know when to put in your next crop. This will also be of great benefit in seasons to come. You won’t have to rely on your memory to see what worked and what could be improved on this year. And you’ll also know what you grew too much of and what you could have done with more of particular veggies.

I find it really joyful to grow my own vegetables from seed, so try saving some of your own seed too and see how you go with that.