How to get more veggies out of your garden ... using a 'shoehorn'

Succession planting,

or "Holy Moly" my first veggies have all been harvested; NOW what do I plant [in the small space that's left!]?

Probably the hardest gardening concept to understand, let alone carry out successfully is what and how to plant a succession of vegetable types in the same space. In our enthusiasm to get started in spring, we've over-planted one type of veggie, and/or, planted something that takes LOTS of space and/or has a long growing season. What to do?

In general, those veggies suitable for planting in early spring can be re-planted in August/September [weather dependent] for early fall/winter harvesting. Some examples are:

• Peas - plant in March/April and then again in late August. At that time, plant only 'snowpeas' - the type where one eats the pod itself.
• Carrots and Beets - plant a fall crop from seed in late August. With a light mulching they'll last well into fall and maybe even early winter.
• Radishes - plant every 10 days til too hot; begin again in September
• Spinach - Plant in late September; let grow rather than harvesting. After frost, mulch with either straw or finely mulched leaves. You'll be rewarded with fabulous and long growing spinach in early spring.
• Yellow Squash - plant a second crop in mid-July
• Swiss chard - re-plant in August, as the days stay warm but/and the nights are cooler.
• Collards and Kale - plant by seed in late August. You'll be harvesting in late November.
• Turnips and Parsnips - plant fall crop in early September.

If you have planted BUSH Snap Beans [we used to call them 'string beans; the strings have been bred out of them], plant a small crop every ten days.

Bottom line, be sure to buy sufficient seed NOW for fall planting; get out your gardening shoehorn; think fall crops and let's see how late into the fall we can garden successfully.