Succession Planting with Tilth Soil

Your garden is a living thing with vast potential. For many first-time or casual growers, their interaction with their garden is limited to initial bed prep and transplanting; a few glorious days of gathering soil under their fingernails, then standing by in wait for one or two overwhelming yields. Succession planting is a way to extend your growing season for a continuous harvest; deepening your relationship with your garden and the food on your table. 

Generally, there are three different methods of succession planting: planting different crops in succession, planting the same crops in succession, or simultaneously planting different crops with different dates to maturity (DTM). You might try one or all of these methods depending on your space, the length of your season and what you like to grow. 

Planting different crops in succession is done by following early season crops with plants that tolerate the cooler temperatures of late summer/early fall. This method allows for increased productivity and variety in your garden. Plants that thrive later in the season might include those grown underground, like beets and carrots, as well as dark, less colorful greens. 

Planting the same crops in succession is a way of staggering your harvest. This could be a great opportunity to experiment with different varieties of a single vegetable, like tomatoes; planting early, mid and late-maturing varieties at the beginning of the season. 

Simultaneously planting different crops is a strategic way of maximizing efficiency in your garden. Conceptually similar to companion planting, it requires choosing crops with complementary maturation rates. For example, you might plant carrots alongside lettuce. The lettuce will grow quickly and can be harvested before the carrots start to require more space.

When using succession planting methods in your garden, it’s important to plan ahead. It can be helpful to use a calendar or a spreadsheet to keep track of first and last frost dates and DTMs. You can find information about your crops’ DTMs and seasonality on the back of your seed packet, or from online resources like this one. It’s also helpful to know your hardiness zone. In the Cleveland area, we range from zone 6a-7a. 

With your garden working extra hard, your soil may need a hand in replenishing some of its nutrients as you move through crop cycles. Our compost plus amendment, Boost, can be sprinkled around your established plants to increase their vigor and vitality. As you harvest the last of your cold weather vegetables, you can use our Garden-to-Bed kit to sow cover crops that will protect your soil from erosion, compaction and nutrient depletion during the winter. 

Not only can succession planting increase productivity, it also offers growers a broader understanding of soil health, growth cycles and ecosystems by putting them in continuous conversation with their gardens. Growing with intention is a rewarding and radical choice in the face of modern linear food systems that isolate us from our food, our soil and each other. Whatever methods you choose, succession planting can help you increase engagement with your garden well beyond the day you put your plants in the ground.