Don't grow too much of one thing

Potted pepper with petunia

Sunday, January 8, 2023

As you are planning your spring edible garden, one tip to making it more productive is to not plant too much of one thing.  Every variety comes to maturity in a specified amount of time.  Planting a whole bunch of a single variety will leave you with a glut of a single veggie when it is time to harvest.  It can also provide an ideal set up for pests that love that particular crop.

In an ideal world you would plant exactly the number you need for harvesting fresh in real time.  In reality, Days to Harvest on seed packets will vary based on what Mother Nature decides to do between planting and harvesting.  

A couple of ways to decide how many to plant is to keep track of what you are eating so you have a realistic estimate of how much you need.  Check seed packets to see if it is a one time harvest.  If it says things like "continuous" or "extended" harvest, then it is not a one and done crop.  You can plant one and keep getting harvests over a period of time.  A few good examples of this are peppers, indeterminate tomatoes, and lettuce if you harvest leaves from the outside versus cutting the whole plant at once.

How much to plant?

Another way to get a longer harvest is to succession plant.  An example is planting lettuce seeds every 2-3 weeks so as one plant is done producing, you have another one ready to eat from.  A second way to achieve the same thing is to plant a different variety at the same time.  For example, there are squash and tomato plants that have a shorter Days to Harvest and those that have a long Days to Harvest.  If you plant 3 different varieties of the same crop with 3 different days to harvest, you get an extended harvest.  

Keep the harvest going, do succession planting

  One way to keep pest pressure down if you want to grow multiples of the same crop is the interplant different families of edibles together (This blog gives "families" Another way to look at crop rotation groups).  That way the pests have to travel further to infect another crop they love to eat.  You can also utilize companion planting.  Companion planting is based on those plants that when planted together benefit each other.  This benefit can either be providing nutrients or repelling pests from their neighbor.

Companion planting

If you are just starting gardening, the biggest watch out is to not start too big.  Use the first couple of seasons to learn with a very manageable number of plants.   Starting an edible garden   

Don't be intimidated by gardening. Herbs are a carefree crop to start with if gardening is really scary.  Most are perennials and will keep coming back.  Just get started with 5-7 edibles you love to season with or eat.  You can buy plants at your neighborhood big box store this spring and plant in a pot or your flower garden.