The Front-Yard Farmer

Timing is important when planting your vegetable garden

There are several things that contribute to a successful vegetable garden in north Florida but perhaps none is more important than timing.

Plant your spring garden too early and it could be set back by a late killing frost. Plant it too late and the warmer weather will wither away your yields.

If you prefer to prolong your harvest by planting in succession, timing could not be more critical. With such short planting windows for most crops, gardeners planting in succession need to get their seeds or seedlings in the garden as early as the weather will allow.

I use the succession planting method for cool weather crops like lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots, and warm weather crops such as beans, sweet corn and cantaloupes. Every two or three weeks I plant a row or two of crops. In that manner we have fresh vegetables coming out of the garden over an extended period of time instead of all at once.

Making the most of that planting window means I’m out in the garden preparing beds in the cold of January and February, and then again in the heat of August and September for the fall garden. I order my seeds for the year just after the new seed catalogues arrive in the mail around the first of the year.

It’s all a bit of extra effort but it’s well worth the results.

Another good reason to get your garden started in a timely fashion is too avoid the pests and disease that thrive in the hot and humid weather that comes later in the season. Few vegetables do well in the heat of summertime in northwest Florida.

For a complete list of vegetable planting dates for north Florida and recommended varieties of vegetables for the home garden, see our Vegetable Planting Guide.

Front-Yard Farmer Dennis Gilson grows a great variety of fruits and vegetables at his home in Niceville, Fla.