Early Harvests and Succession Planting: Optimise Your Garden Space

Late June is a wonderful time in your garden. This is when you can enjoy your first harvests. These early harvests also let you clear out garden beds and create empty spaces. It’s the perfect opportunity to start your first succession plantings in your organic garden.

Here my two favorite spring harvests and tips for quick successions.

My Two Favorite Crops for Early Harvests

Radishes: The Ultimate Crunchy Early Treat

There is nothing quite like that first crisp bite after eating grocery store carrots all winter! The trick with radishes is to harvest them the second they are mature. Don't wait too long, or they’ll become woody, fibrous, and overwhelmingly spicy.

The quality and exact timing of your harvest depend heavily on the variety you choose, but in my experience,'Raxe' is one of the most reliable varieties out there. 

Pro-Tip: To clear out your garden bed as quickly as possible, use the "clear-cut" harvest method. Even if a few radishes are still a bit small, pull everything up all at once. This completely clears the bed so you can prep it and replant immediately.

Lettuce and Leafy Greens: Two Harvest Methods

A second rewarding early crop to harvest is head lettuce or salad greens for mesclun.

• Harvesting Full Heads: You can transplant your seedlings (spacing them about 6 to 12 inches apart) and let them grow into tight, beautiful heads of lettuce. When they're ready, harvest by cutting the entire plant right at the base. Don't bother trying to let it regrow once you've cut a full head; it's time for something new.

• Harvesting Baby Greens (Mesclun Mix): The other option is to sow seeds directly into the ground in close rows and harvest them while they are still young and tender. This method is much faster to grow and pick, and it allows you to create your own custom mesclun blends. You can also add other greens like arugula, mizuna, mustard, or tatsoi (such as rainbow tatsoi) to add shapes, textures, and flavors to your mix.

For harvesting mixed lettuces, two techniques are possible:

• Cut as you eat: Harvest what you plan on eating in your next salad, then come back the next day to harvest the next part of the row. When you get to the end of the row, start back at the beginning. This technique maximizes leaf growth and can give you a little more overall yield.

• Cut the whole row at once: Harvest the whole row and store it in the fridge for your next week of salad greens.  Let the row regrow and harvest it again in 1 to 2 weeks. After 2 or 3 harvests your lettuce will start to get fibrous and bitter. Pull out the plants and seed something new!

Starting Succession: Preparing the Soil Quickly

Now, let’s talk about getting organized so you can quickly flip your beds and launch a second growing cycle.

You don't need to completely till or turn over the soil. Keep it quick and light! However, itis important to feed the soil so your second crop has plenty of nutrients.

Quick Steps to Prepare the Soil:

1. Spread a light layer of compost.

2. Run a wheel hoe lightly over the surface to scratch it up, removing any weeds and leftover debris from the previous crop.

3. Smooth it all out with a rake.

Just like that, you’re ready to replant!

Three Succession Crop Suggestions for Late June

Here are three suggestions for crops you can sow at this time of year for your second succession:

• Carrots: These are a fantastic crop to plant right now for a fall harvest. Carrots love freshly cleaned soil with fewer weeds because they aren't great at competing for space. This gives them a great head start. For a bit of fun with the kids, try ourWitches' Fingers carrots for a colorful harvest of yellow, purple, and orange carrots.

• Beans (Bush or Pole): My favorite is'Maxibel' bush green bean. It’s a French filet style, meaning it's slender and incredibly delicious. Bush beans are convenient: you can plant them, harvest them, and move on without having to deal with trellises.

• Fun Salad Greens: You can sow all kinds of beautiful greens from the brassica family to jazz up your salad mixes, like arugula,bok choy,mustard, ortatsoi. Try planting them in short

I hope your garden is starting to show signs of those delicious early treats! Get out there, pull up those radishes, snip your salad greens, and replant those spaces quickly with some new favorites. Make the most of your space and keep the cycle going!

Happy Gardening! 

🪏 Frédéric