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How to plan a garden that produces food
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all year round. Welcome to Gardening
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with Ben. And today we're going to talk
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about planning your crop rotation and
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planning what crops you should grow in
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your garden. Now, the best way to do
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this is to write down a list of
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vegetables, what are early, mid, and
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late crops so that you know when the
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planting season is. And usually write
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down as well how long it takes from
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planting to harvesting as well cuz
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that'll help you in the long run. It's a
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case of writing down and planning what
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can be ready at certain times. So that
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once you've harvested it, you can plant
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something in its place. And as well,
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it's great to do successional growing,
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which means that like when you're sewing
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your lettuce, sew some and then wait
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about four weeks and sew some more. so
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that you're getting crops all the time
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and keeping producing crops all year
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round. So I do that with like spring
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onions, beetroot, lettuce, spinach. It's
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great for successional growing and I do
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it with peas as well. Absolutely amazing
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growing peas. So start some off one week
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and then wait about four weeks and start
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another set off and then you'll keep
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getting pee harvests all the way through
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because once all the peas are ready then
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they'll all be finished and yeah, you
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won't get no more peas. So grow some in
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individual stages so that you get crops
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all the time and it will be a great
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reward. Like runner beans, they will
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keep producing, but peas won't. They'll
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produce them all and then they'll all be
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done. So that's a great tip as well. Use
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every space possible. Now I've just
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transformed my poly tunnel into a
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massive indoor growing area and I'm
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using it to its full potential this
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year. I'm going to be growing crops
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throughout the winter as well. So, I'm
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going to be learning about what to grow
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through the winter period to keep those
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crops growing and to keep harvests
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growing throughout the winter period as
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well, which I've never done in the 20
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years that I've had my plot. So, I'm
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looking forward to learning that. So, we
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need to look at what winter vegetables
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we can grow. So, we'll be starting those
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off around autumn time and then planting
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them and hopefully growing them through
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the winter period in the a lotment.
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And obviously, I've mentioned about
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planting after harvesting as well. As
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soon as you've harvested your lettuce or
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your beetroot, plant something in its
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place straight away. But obviously you
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you will need to feed the ground because
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it may have taken the nutrients out of
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the ground what helped produce that
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produce in the first place. So once
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you've harvested it, throw some like
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slow release fertilizer down like
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chicken pellets and that will help feed
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the ground and hopefully it produce you
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some great food as well. So yeah, have a
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look around. Write a list of what
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vegetables are best growing at certain
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periods. Like you can grow your
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Christmas potatoes in your poly tunnel
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as well. I plant all those in August.
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And we're getting a Christmas potato
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harvest at Christmas, which is
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absolutely fantastic. Obviously, you
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can't grow them outdoors because the
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frost will kill them and the cold, but
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you can grow them in the poly tunnel and
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get a late harvest as well. So, it's you
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it's about making space and making a
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good plan and drawing a plan of what you
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plan to produce and where to produce it
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as well. And then you'll get a good
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harvest all year round down at the a
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lotment. I hope you found these tips
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useful. Make sure you drop us a follow
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to stay up to date. Until next time
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everyone, remember keep smiling, keep
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shining and keep guarding a bed
