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Build a sowing and succession calendar

Plan when each crop is sown, transplanted and harvested, and what follows it in the same bed. Succession sowing gives a steady harvest rather than a glut.

How

1. Get your local average last and first frost dates (or, in the tropics, wet and dry season dates) from your national weather service or extension office.
2. For each crop, note days to maturity from the seed packet and work back to a sowing date.
3. Group crops by maturity in the same bed, as Texas A&M AgriLife suggests, so a bed of early crops such as lettuce or beets can be cleared and replanted in one go.
4. Sow small amounts of fast crops (salads, radish, beans) every 2 to 3 weeks instead of all at once, sized to what you will eat in that period.
5. Split crops like tomatoes between early and later-maturing varieties to spread the harvest, as Colorado State Extension suggests.
6. Put the calendar on one page by week or month and link it to the living module's routines.

Sources

1. Planning a Garden (E-289). Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, accessed 2026-11
2. Planning a Vegetable Garden (PlantTalk 1811). Colorado State University Extension, accessed 2026-11

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