Sucession Planting

If you plant everything at the end of May you'll be eating in August and not much outside of that. To really get the most out of local food you need to start early, end late, and stagger your plantings. I start planting in covered beds in March/April and plant continually through the spring and summer. Seed packets say to plant a new crop every three weeks, but sometimes that's a little bogus in Juneau.  Here are some sucessions that have worked for me:




Peas:  You can never have too many peas!
March 15 (or whenever hoop house soil is workable),
April 15,
May 15.
My June 25 Cascadia peas started flowering Sept 1st--we'll see if there's time for a crop!
My July 15 Early Frosty and Dwarf Grey Snap peas are about 2 feet tall and have just started flowering. Maybe chicken fodder, but hopefully peas for me. 

Lettuce: It's very easy to over-plant lettuce. If you pick only the outside leaves of each plant you probably don't need more than a dozen (or two) plants for two people. I find that the more you harvest the lettuce, the better it gets, so fewer plants is better. 
April 11
May 11
June 11 (probably not needed)

Spinach:
March 15
April 1,
bolts in May plantings and beyond.
Fall?? Forgot to plant in late July...Sept plants sprouted quickly but are still in cotyledons.

Kale:
April 15 (earlier if you start transplants inside)
June 1 - for your over-wintering crop

Carrots: They take forever here, so I plant them all in April.

Endive

escarole, dwarf grey snap peas

red-veined sorrel

At the end of July I started oregano, red veined sorrel, escarole, endive, Italian dandelion, and radicchio in my greenhouse.  I transplanted them outside August 8, and all are doing well. All are in hoop houses and some sorrel is also out in the weather. They are ready to harvest, but I am eating modestly to hold out and just see how long they can go into the winter weather. They are all recommended crops for season extension.


The key to having food to eat in fall and winter is not in the weather--it's in your summer numbers. If you plant kale in September you probably won't be eating kale in November, as it won't have time to mature. But if you plant lots of extra kale in May or June and throw some hoop houses over them in September, you'll still be munching on your mature kale until April, or whenever it runs out. The weather won't get it if it's healthy and protected by a sheet of plastic. The plants won't actually grow, but they will survive the dark and cold. The key is to plan ahead in the spring and have enough space. I have beds set aside for wintering things over, but things don't necessarily start off there. I transplant stuff from various spots in the garden into their over-wintering grounds. This way I can just worry about keeping a few hoops up year-round and close the other beds down for the winter.

Eating something fresh from the garden every single month of the year is possible, EVEN IN JUNEAU!

Get some seeds, make a map, and get to work!