• 26 Jul 2012
• Posted in: On View
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Successive Plantings: Increasing Diversity in your Garden

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By Amos Dyson, LA Plaza Garden Teacher

Have you ever had the experience of planting, harvesting and eating a delicious garden vegetable like corn? Good enough, but what if all of your corn you planted ripens at roughly the same time? All vegetables have growing seasons – the months of the year when they grow optimally. In our Southern California climate, these growing seasons tend to be many months. A few vegetables can be grown almost year round. If you stagger planting your favorite veggie variety (a few planted at the beginning, a few in the middle and a few towards the end of the growing cycle), you can ensure a more continuous harvest throughout the growing season.

For example, I might plant Swiss chard starts in the fall followed by successive plantings in the winter and mid-spring. (Swiss chard has a particularly long growing season in Southern California.) This ensures some plants with big leaves for hearty stews and others with small leaves for fresh salads. Just be sure that your varieties are being planted roughly at the right time of year. Check with your local nursery or the back of the seed package for growing seasons.