Succession Planting For Nonstop Salad Greens

Succession planting transforms any garden into an ongoing source of salad greens from spring through fall, increasing harvestable greens per square foot even during short growing seasons. Staggering sowings of quick crops like radishes and lettuces is another effective strategy that dramatically expands harvestable greens per area planted.

Opt for fast-growing heirloom varieties that can withstand both cold and heat conditions to deal with seasonal shifts effectively, like White Lisbon romaine or Asian Delight pak choi which can survive summer heat without losing their color or nutrition.

Lettuce

Succession planting offers a simple yet effective solution to harvest fresh greens from spring until frost threatens in fall. Succession planting transforms your garden into an efficient food production system instead of an isolated piece of land dedicated to one crop alone.

Lettuce greens are one of the easiest vegetables to succession plant. Simply sow fast-maturing varieties every week and you’ll enjoy an uninterrupted supply all summer long. Choose either cool-weather varieties such as Black Seed Simpson (45 days; loose head; mild flavor) or Salad Bowl (55 days, sturdy romaine); or heat-tolerant types like Jericho (28 days; elongated leaves and light frost protection).

For hotter climates, try growing Red Tinged Winter lettuce (60-70 days and produces hearty clumps with reddish edges) or Bloomsdale lettuce (40 days; smooth leaves; nutty taste). When the sun becomes intense, shade cloth or an open umbrella are helpful ways to ensure success for this vegetable.

Whenever your lettuce begins to look wilted in the summer heat, submerging its heads or bunches for 10 to 15 minutes in ice-cold water can revive them. This same technique works wonders on radishes which require shade. A succession-planting approach ensures no feast or famine: once one crop finishes producing fruit, another crops is immediately planted to take its place.

Carrots

Summer days leave garden beds thirsting for the fresh vegetables they so desperately crave, making succession planting the ideal strategy to extend harvest season and maintain a steady supply of cool-weather vegetables on your table. Simply arrange plantings so that as one crop matures it is replaced by another ready for harvesting.

Sowing lettuce, spinach and radishes every 14-21 days ensures you will always have fresh leaves to harvest. If you need longer-maturing greens such as Black Seed Simpson lettuce or Bloomsdale (an 18th-century heirloom variety with thick, curled leaves that withstand heat), might be suitable.

Carrots take longer to grow than other vegetables, so select a variety that’s resistant to bolting in hot summer conditions such as the ‘Shin Kuroda’ cultivar from Japan that germinates quickly and produces five-inch orange carrots with sturdy taproots in 75 days.

Peas and beans require more time to grow than many crops; you must stagger your plantings to maximize yield throughout the growing season. Sow new batches every two weeks, beginning with fast-maturing Blue Lake varieties which reach maturity in 60 days, before switching over to Tokyo Long cultivars which offer sweet mild flavors as well as heat tolerance.

Sunflowers

Sowing vegetables in waves is one of the smartest strategies for vegetable gardening, transforming a short sprint into an ongoing season-long marathon that maximizes yield per square foot. Instead of planting all at once, simply seed new batches as soon as an earlier crop has matured for harvest. This simple strategy keeps your kitchen full of fresh produce all summer and autumn (and even into winter in some climates).

This staggered approach, commonly referred to as “every-other-week planting,” works well for fast-growing crops like beans, radishes and lettuces. As soon as your spring radish plantings have been pulled up and removed from the soil, planting heat-loving bush beans is ideal. When those have finished growing you can move onto planting lettuces – all while protecting soil against erosion by rain or wind as well as suppressing weeds while providing organic matter that feeds back into it year round!

To maximize this system, choose quick-growing varieties with staggered maturations dates. For instance, ‘Black Seed Simpson’ lettuce makes an excellent succession planting option because it matures within 21 days; however, due to heat stress it bolts quickly in summer; therefore you should switch over to heat resistant varieties during this period and switch back later in autumn.

Beans

Succession planting isn’t a set of rules, but rather an adaptable set of smart strategies designed to increase garden productivity. With proper planning, crops, and gardening perseverance you can harvest fresh homegrown goodness on a consistent basis throughout the summer season.

This staggered approach to vegetable gardening helps eliminate feast-or-famine worries by making every space in your vegetable garden–from urban balconies to 100-square-foot plots–work for you all season long. This technique works particularly well when planting crops with short harvest windows such as lettuce and radishes; similarly it helps protect plants that slow down in hot weather or succumb to pests (such as cucumbers). By sowing new batches of quick-growing veggies every couple weeks, harvest can continue throughout summer!

Selecting the proper veggies is key for succession planting: select varieties that mature quickly so you can reseed and reap quickly, such as 1700s heirloom spinach ‘White Lisbon,’ which matures within 60 days, or fast-growing greens such as arugula, Tokyo Long, or kale that can withstand seasonal shifts with ease.

Tip: To prevent birds from pulling up your newly sprouted beans, tie a string an inch or two above their row of beans. This will deter birds from plucking the young bean sprouts away by their roots; and later when your sprouts have grown taller you can untie and remove it!