Succession planting ensures second harvests & maximises productivity as well as helping keep growing areas weed-free through constant use.
- Cultivars needing short growing periods.
- Crops with longer growing periods can be paired with quick-maturing crops such as rocket or spinach.
- Where the 2nd crop needs to be sown before the first crop is ready to harvest, sow in a separate seedbed and transfer straight after harvesting the first crop.
- Vegetables suitable for growing as a 2nd crop, include bulb fennel, pak choi and oriental brassicas, which are less prone to bolting after the longest day.
- Some are more susceptible to disease as 2nd crops – such as peas & broad beans – and do not produce as well as earlier in the year. So plant these crops first.
November > plant broad beans & garlic > in July sow spring cabbage & kale for overwintering
March > plant early potatoes, lettuce, carrot, beetroot > in July sow French beans, dwarf French Beans, runner beans, swede & celery