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Innisfil Garden Club gets lesson in succession planting

Timing is everything when it comes to maximizing the harvest in your vegetable garden, says Julia Dimakos

For most gardeners, planting a vegetable garden is a matter of waiting until the last frost, then planting seeds in neat rows and hoping the crops aren’t devoured by pests or don’t all ripen at the same time.

But gardener Julia Dimakos has mastered a technique that not only ensures a harvest that stretches from spring until late fall, but creates a rich variety of vegetables in the garden – a feast for the eyes, as well as the plate.

It’s called succession planting and Dimakos practises what she preaches in her 7,000-square-foot garden plot on the Niagara Escarpment in Mono.

Dimakos recently shared her understanding of succession planting with members of the Innisfil Garden Club, meeting in person at the Churchill Community Centre for the first time since COVID hit.

“It’s Gardening 202 – how to have a continuous harvest,” Dimakos said. “This allows you to grow more… planting more than one crop in one space, over the entire growing season.”

Gardeners should already be starting their early crops indoors, she said, and not waiting for the frost to leave the ground to begin planning their gardens. Giving seeds a chance to germinate indoors, protected from the weather and predators, ensures that hardier, stronger plants will be available and ready to set out in the garden.

That’s especially important in Ontario, which has a relatively short growing season, Dimakos noted.

“I start everything indoors. Why waste time?” she told the gardening group.

Dimakos pointed out there is a better success rate when planting “substantial plants,” instead of letting seeds germinate in the garden, where they serve up a tasty smorgasbord for slugs, rabbits and birds. The only exceptions: root crops like carrots and parsnips, which need to be in the ground to achieve their best growth.

Once a crop is ready to plant, “start the back-up right away,” Dimakos said.

One way to ensure a continuous harvest is to plant two rows of a crop, then wait another two weeks to plant another two rows – and another two weeks to plant again, until the bed is full.

By the time the last rows are planted, the first should be ready to harvest, especially if planted with fast-maturing crops like radish, spinach or leafy greens.

Once the first rows are harvested, “it opens up space for something else,” Dimakos said.

Replanting immediately not only prevents erosion and weed growth, by acting as a “living” mulch, “the great thing about it is it maximizes your productivity in your growing space.”

Choosing the right varieties and knowing how long a crop takes to mature also makes the planning easier.

Leeks, for example, take 10 months before they are ready to harvest – but their beds can be intermixed with fast-growing crops, like radishes and lettuce, ready in only three to five weeks.

Slow-growing rows of parsnips or carrots can share a bed with trellised cucumbers or pole beans, not only providing a continuous harvest but also shade during the hottest months. 

Planting tomatoes? Fill in the spaces with smaller plants, such as basil.

And plant in an offset pattern, rather than in rows, to maximize the use of space, and create a tapestry of growing plants.

“You can get creative with it,” she said, like the beautiful early French kitchen gardens, that created “beautiful carpets of vegetables. ... Carpets of colour everywhere.”

The techniques provide variety in the garden, ensures that there is always a supply of plants to replace any pest damage or fill the harvested spaces, and makes the harvest more manageable.

The key?

“Timing is everything,” said Dimakos.

Gardeners need to be aware of their last and first frost dates, and of the preferences and tolerances of their varieties, to get the most out of planning.

Cold-weather crops such as beets, kohlrabi, peas, spinach and radish can be set out four to six weeks before the final frost in spring; warm weather “mains” like squash, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes, which like the heat, need to wait until well after the last frost, while fall crops like Swiss chard, Asian turnip, lettuce, spinach and early potatoes can be planted after warm-weather crops have been harvested, in August.

There are other tricks that Dimakos shared  like feeding the soil with a top-dressing of two inches of compost, especially with heavy crops like potatoes; regularly raking out the weeds; and using cold frames, frost blankets and ‘cloches’ to extend the harvest by protecting from sudden frost and pests.

She summed it up: If you time things correctly, know your first and last frost dates, start plants indoors before transplanting, and plant intensively in the garden, the result will be a succession of harvests, providing the food for freezing, canning, drying, and just plain enjoyment throughout the growing season.

Dimakos, a regular contributor to Organic Gardening, can be viewed on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and at Juliadimakos.com, for more information on succession planting and planning a vegetable garden.

The Innisfil Garden Club meets at the Churchill Community Centre on the second Monday of every month, at 7:30 p.m. 

On May 9, the guest speaker will be Ken Brown, horticultural consultant, on the “Three Tenors + 1” – the perennials iris, peony, daylily and lilies, that form the backbone of any perennial garden.

Also coming up in May: The Lucy Valente Memorial Flower Show and Tea, on Saturday, May 14. Flower Show entries can be brought to the Churchill Community Centre from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., with judging to follow. Open to the public from noon to 1:30 p.m. for tea and a light lunch, for $7.


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Miriam King

About the Author: Miriam King

Miriam King is a journalist and photographer with Bradford Today, covering news and events in Bradford West Gwillimbury and Innisfil.
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