Why Should I Stagger Planting My Vegetables?

When planning and planting a garden, why is it said to stagger planting some of my veggies? There are some vegetables that produce lots and lots of fruit and keep producing for a good portion of the year. Like tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini. However there are some that it is a one-time harvest. Like onions, spinach, beets, lettuce, carrots, bok Choy, beans and corn (to an extent). This means that those seeds planted at the same time will most likely be ready for harvest within a 2 week period of each other. This is good if you are planning to use them all within this time period. However most the time, you want a continual harvest throughout the season. So starting your lettuce and spinach in 2 week intervals will make it so you can have a more steady harvest instead of having it all at once. So when planning your garden and choosing what to grow, think about if it is a one-time harvest or not, this will help you know if you should stagger your planting and spread it out so that you have a harvest spread out also.

Happy Gardening!

 

To make this easier for you, here is a free 30 day trial to The Gardener’s Spot Garden Planner! This will help you know if you should stagger the planting and even tells you when the best time to plant each plant for your area.