Succession Success

Ditch the dreaded dormant period between seasons and boost the productivity of your patch year-round.

Have you ever dreamed of picking beautiful, fresh, healthy produce from the garden every week of the year? Achieving year-round harvesting is possible. Forget the seasonal planting guides that tell you to plant everything in spring, then find yourself waiting 2-3 months for the seedlings to grow, and finally start harvesting produce in early summer. Aim to plant a new vegetable crop every month of the year, never leave a bare patch of soil waiting in the patch and make the most of your soil real estate. 



As the garden curator of a school kitchen garden, successful abundant year-round harvesting is essential. 



In the warm season, larger, slower growing crops that are generally not planted in succession include: tomato, zucchini, pumpkin, capsicum and chilli. These repeat fruiting crops can be continuously harvested as they produce more fruit. 



My top plants to fill the garden from the end of winter, through spring, and into summer that can successfully be planted in a rotation succession for continual harvesting include: bok choy, lettuce, beetroot, carrot, turnip, celery, sprouting broccoli, dwarf beans, radish, rainbow chard, spring onion, and chives. 

Succession Planting for Spring

August 

As you harvest the last of your winter cabbage and cauliflower and prepare to remove the plants, clear the patch of soil. Incorporate organic compost and pelletised organic manure fertiliser into the newly cleared soil. Don't wait for spring weather to arrive before planting summer crops. In the freshly prepared soil, plant quick-turn around cool-season crops such as bok choy, lettuce, beetroot, carrot, turnip, celery, and a second succession crop of sprouting broccoli, which produces broccolini shoots much faster than regular broccoli varieties. 

September

After harvesting the last of the winter leeks and heading broccoli and removing the plants, prepare the soil. Plant beans, rainbow chard, capsicum, chilli, radish, spring onion, and sow your sweetcorn and sunflower seeds directly into the garden bed. 

October

Harvest the bok choy, lettuce, and sprouting broccoli planted in August, and remove all remaining winter crops from the garden. Prepare the soil and then plant tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkins, and melons.

November 

Harvest the beetroot, carrot, turnip, and celery planted in August, along with the radish and spring onion planted in September. After harvesting and preparing the soil from where these crops have been removed, plant eggplant, chives, dill, and second succession crops of lettuce, spring onion, radish, and beetroot.



Lastly, maximize your soil's potential by interplanting fast-growing, quick-turnaround crops while larger, slower-growing crops are in their early seedling stage. These quick-turnaround crops will establish and be ready for harvest by the time the larger crops need more space to grow.