What is Succession Planting?
The goal of succession planting is to make the most of your garden space and keep the beds growing and producing. Filling in the garden as soon as crops are harvested

Preparing for Succession Planting:
After the first crop is finished and removed, weed then rake the soil. You can add a thin layer of compost (Bumper Crop) if you feel your soil needs a boost. You can then plant young plants or seeds right away. The warmer soil and sunlight will help these second crops to quickly grow.

Group Similar Crops Together:
Dedicating whole beds to crops in the same type of crop makes it easy to rotate the beds from season to season and to plan for succession crops. Usually, the crops in the same family share similar watering and fertilizing needs and mature at the same time.

Select Early Maturing Varieties especially in the Late Summer, early Fall. Choosing varieties that mature quickly is key to succession planting. The earlier the plants grow and produce a harvest, the sooner they can be replaced with another crop. Some varieties mature earlier than others.

Grow Transplants:
You don’t have to wait for a crop to be finished in the garden before starting the next succession planting. Sowing seeds and growing seedlings in pots and trays can give them a head start. When space opens up, you can transplant healthy seedlings instead of sowing seeds. Some seeds will not germinate when it is too hot. You can start these seeds indoors,and plant them in the garden when the weather is a bit cooler.

Choose disease-resistant varieties that mature quickly. Here are a few suggestions for Succession Crops:

Arugula
Bush beans
Beets and beet greens
Braising greens mix (mustard, kale, collards, Asian greens…)
Broccoli raab
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Chard
Chicory, endive, radicchio
Cilantro
Collards
Kale
Lettuce, leaf and head type and mesclun mix,
Mustard greens, (fast as baby greens to spice a salad)
Peas, shelling, sugar snap, and snow pea type
Radishes
Scallions and other hardy bunching onions, for fall use and to overwinter for spring
Spinach
Turnips

Herb Harvesting- Replanting- clean out the freezer to make room for incoming summer herbs. Rinse extra herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary and mint (to name a few) lay flat to dry, then bag and freeze or make them into pesto to freeze.