Seasonal kitchen gardening
Vegetable Garden Through the Seasons
Sowing, planting, and harvest steps arranged by season, so you know what to do next in your kitchen garden.
Three phases
What to do, and when
Each phase follows the temperature and the plants already in the bed.
Early spring
Nursery starts
Sow hardy brassicas and salads indoors or under cover once soil begins to warm. Harden seedlings before planting them out.
Midsummer
Maintenance
Water deeply in the early morning, mulch to hold moisture, and pick beans and courgettes often to keep plants producing.
Autumn
Root harvests
Lift carrots, beetroot, and leeks as they mature, and sow overwintering greens where a bed is cleared.
Bed layout
Rotate, pair, and save seed
Move brassicas, legumes, and roots to a different bed each year to limit soil-borne problems. Plant fast salads between slower brassicas to make use of the space while they grow. Save seed from your strongest, healthiest plants to adapt varieties to your own garden.
Staggered sowing across the season keeps a steady supply coming from late spring through autumn.
