This is the third year of the same roughly twelve-by-eighteen-foot plot behind the house, and the first year I've actually written down what I planted and when instead of trying to remember it the following spring. Future me will thank present me, assuming present me finishes the log before the frost.
The Plot So Far
| Crop | Sown | Method | Harvest Window | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snap peas | Mar 5 | Direct sow | May–Jun | Up the trellis fast, done before the heat arrived |
| Tomatoes | Mar 20 | Started indoors | Jul–Sep | Four plants, staked late and regretted it |
| Carrots | Apr 2 | Direct sow | Aug | Thinned too late, half came out stubby |
| Basil | Apr 15 | Started indoors | Jun–Sep | Planted between the tomatoes, seems happy there |
| Zucchini | May 10 | Direct sow | Jul–Aug | Two plants. Should have been one. Maybe none. |
The Early Wins
The snap peas were the easiest thing in the whole plot — direct-sown in early March while there was still a real chance of frost, and up the trellis within three weeks. They were done and pulled before the tomatoes even needed their first stake, which meant the pea bed got a second, later planting of carrots once the peas came out. That kind of succession planting is obvious in every gardening guide and still felt like a small revelation the first time I actually did it on purpose instead of by accident.
The Staking Mistake
I waited too long to stake the tomatoes, on the theory that staking early looks silly when the plants are eight inches tall. By the time I actually drove the stakes in, the plants had already sprawled sideways and two of the main stems had a permanent kink from where they'd been resting on the ground. They're producing fine, just at an angle that makes the whole bed look slightly drunk. Staking on day one next year, regardless of how silly it looks for the first month.
The Zucchini Problem
Two zucchini plants sounded reasonable in May. By late July they had annexed roughly a third of the carrot bed and were shading out the basil on one side badly enough that I moved three basil plants to pots just to give them light. I've been giving away zucchini to anyone who'll take it since the second week of harvest, and I'm fairly sure one plant next year would have been the correct number, possibly zero, possibly a container on the other side of the yard entirely.
What I'd Change Next Season
Beyond the obvious zucchini correction, the carrots need earlier, more aggressive thinning — I know this every year and do it late every year regardless. The peas-then-carrots succession worked well enough that I want to try a second round somewhere else in the plot, maybe peas into a fall crop of something once the tomatoes finally come out in September. The log itself is the real change, though: three years of "I think I planted the tomatoes kind of late" replaced by an actual date I can look up.