Succession Planting Calendar: Every-Week Sowings for Steady Meals

What Is Succession Planting?

Succession planting is simply growing crops in waves. Instead of sowing all your seeds at once, you plant small amounts at regular intervals so harvests come in gradually. Many gardeners use this to avoid a single, overwhelming harvest and instead enjoy a steady supply of fresh vegetables and greens.

For home cooks and gardeners who want a steady flow of ingredients, weekly or biweekly sowings of quick crops can be especially helpful. It’s not about maximizing total yield; it’s about matching the garden’s output to what a household can realistically use and enjoy.

“Succession planting allows you to maximize yield through strategic planting, so the garden is continually in production.” – WVU Extension, West Virginia University

Why Try a Weekly Calendar?

When everything matures at once, it can be hard to keep up. A head of lettuce, a bunch of radishes, or a row of beans all ready on the same day might mean some go to waste, especially if you’re not preserving or sharing.

By sowing small amounts every week or every few days, you create a rolling harvest. This can be especially useful for:

• Leafy greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach)
• Fast radishes and baby turnips
• Herbs like cilantro and dill
• Short-season beans and peas

Many people find that a weekly or every-other-week rhythm works well for salad greens and similar crops, spreading out the harvest over weeks instead of days.

How to Set Up Your Own Weekly Calendar

Start by choosing a few crops that mature quickly and are used regularly in meals. Then, decide how often to sow them based on how fast they grow and how much you use.

For many leafy greens and herbs, sowing every 7–14 days during the growing season can keep a steady supply coming. For slower crops like carrots or beets, longer intervals (every 2–3 weeks) may be more practical.

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

• Fast greens (lettuce, arugula, spinach): sow every 7–10 days
• Radishes, baby turnips: sow every 7–14 days
• Beans, peas: sow every 10–14 days
• Carrots, beets: sow every 2–3 weeks
• Herbs (cilantro, dill, basil): sow every 10–14 days

Adjust the interval based on your climate, how much space you have, and how much you actually eat. In cooler seasons, growth may be slower, so you might stretch intervals a bit; in warm weather, you may need to sow more frequently.

Example Weekly Sowing Plan

Imagine you love salads and want a steady supply of greens without a mountain of lettuce all at once. You might:

• Week 1: sow a small row of lettuce mix and a patch of arugula
• Week 2: sow another small row of lettuce and a few radishes
• Week 3: sow more arugula and a short row of baby spinach
• Week 4: repeat with a new lettuce mix and some cilantro

This way, you always have something ready to harvest, something nearly ready, and something just starting out. When one batch is done, the next is coming along.

For beans, you might sow a short row every 10–14 days. That way, as one planting finishes, the next is starting to produce, giving a longer harvest window without a single peak.

Tips for Staying on Track

Keeping a weekly sowing rhythm doesn’t have to be complicated. A few simple habits can help:

• Mark a small section of the garden for “weekly sowings” and rotate through it.
• Use a simple notebook or garden journal to note what you sow and when.
• Set a recurring reminder (weekly or every 10 days) to check what needs sowing.
• Keep a small stash of seeds for your go-to succession crops in an easy-to-reach spot.

Consider using markers or labels to show when each batch was sown. That makes it easier to see which planting is ready and which still needs time.

When to Stop Sowing

As the season winds down, it’s important to stop sowing before the remaining growing time is too short for the crop to mature. Many gardeners stop sowing fast greens and beans a few weeks before the expected end of the growing season, depending on the crop’s days to harvest.

For example, if lettuce takes about 30–40 days to harvest, you’d want to make your last sowing early enough that it can mature before cold weather or frost ends the season. Local extension resources often provide guidance on how many weeks before frost to sow specific crops.

Key Terms

• Succession planting: planting crops in waves so harvests come in gradually.
• Days to harvest: the approximate time from sowing to when a crop is ready to pick.
• Staggered sowings: planting small amounts of the same crop at regular intervals.
• Rolling harvest: a continuous or near-continuous harvest from multiple plantings.

Sources and Safety

Succession planting is a common gardening practice that may help reduce food waste and support a steady supply of fresh produce. It is not a substitute for medical or dietary advice.

For more detailed, region-specific guidance, many people consult local extension services or university gardening resources:

• Succession Planting in Your Vegetable Garden – University of Florida IFAS Extension
• Succession Planting – WVU Extension, West Virginia University
• Succession Planting – Home and Garden Education Center, University of Connecticut

One study of market gardeners found that using 7–14 day intervals for succession planting leafy greens helped maintain a steady harvest over 6–8 weeks, rather than a single peak harvest lasting just a few days Succession Planting Charts for Vegetables – Johnny’s Selected Seeds.