Rather than planting a vegetable garden all at once and harvesting its produce in a rush, try spacing out planting dates and extending harvests across several weeks or even months. This is called “succession planting,” a gardening strategy endorsed by YouTube’s CaliKim, who explains how it works in her book, Raised Bed Gardening.
“Work with the weather by planting the appropriate vegetable for the appropriate season — cool-weather veggies in spring and fall, and warm-weather veggies during the spring and summer,” she advises. “You can get a head start on the season by starting vegetable seeds for the alternate (upcoming) season indoors to plant outside when the weather is right.”
This means planting frost-tolerant veggies like peas, lettuce and radishes in early spring while at the same time planting the seeds of warm-weather crops like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers indoors. By the time cool-season crops are ready to harvest, the warm-weather starts will be ready to plant outdoor in the same space.
“The reverse is true at the end of the summer growing season. Start cool-weather veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts) indoors in late July or early August for transplanting outdoors 6-8 weeks later once the weather cools off and your summer veggies are winding down.”
