By now, your garden is waking up properly, and things are growing fast. To make the most of the season, it is time to think like a production gardener, sowing little and often so you always have something ready to harvest.
Main Topic: Succession Sowing & Gaps
Succession sowing means replacing harvested crops immediately with new ones. It keeps beds productive and maximises your harvests all season long. Most growers sow everything at once and then wonder why they have a glut followed by nothing. The fix is simple: stagger your sowings and treat every empty space as an opportunity rather than a problem.
This Week's Key Tasks
- Sow new rows of quick crops like radish, beetroot, and lettuce every two weeks
- Refill gaps left by early harvests with fresh seeds or transplants
- Alternate heavy feeders like brassicas with lighter ones like carrots
- Keep seedlings in small trays ready to fill any empty space fast
Record your sowing dates in a notebook or phone app. It makes staggering crops easy and helps you fine-tune timing for next year. GrowTrack does this automatically, tracking every planting so you can see exactly when beds become available.
Mini Q&A: Your Gardening Questions Answered
Q: How close together should I plant for continuous harvests?
A: Slightly tighter than usual, but not crowded. For lettuce, about 15 cm apart is ideal. Harvest outer leaves first to let new ones form in the centre. You get a longer harvest window from each plant before it bolts.
After each harvest, add a light side dressing of compost or worm castings before replanting. It restores nutrients and keeps soil healthy through heavy use. A tired soil is the main reason succession sowings underperform.
Resource of the Week
Boost your soil between successions with the free Ultimate Side Dressing Guide. It shows what to add, when, and how much to keep your crops growing strong without chemical fertilisers. Download free here.
Succession sowing keeps your garden, and your harvest basket, always full. Sow a little more this week, and your summer table will thank you.
You reap what you sow,
Tony O'NeillGreen Thumb Digest, brought to you by Simplify Gardening
P.S. Next week: Grow Up — Support Climbing Crops for Bigger Yields