Topic: which crops do you stagger sowing?

[rdak]

Does anyone stagger sowing of a crop to extend the harvesting season?
If so, which crops is it worth doing for and which not (i.e. those that tend to keep well)?
thanks

[cleo]

I stagger peas,beans cucumbers,florence fennel, all salad crops, beetroot-in fact most things apart from spuds and parsnips.

Stephan.

[Mrs Ava]

Well, I stagger most things really - more due to time than anything else - with two young kids, time at the lottie can be short and sweet so sowings are made in fits and starts!  Salad crops are best staggered, you can't possibly want 30 lettuce all in one weekend!  I found that staggering beans made no difference, they all started cropping at the same time, and I am still picking the last now!  I would probably say root crops aren't so bad as you can use the first picking - the thinnings - as babies and then pick as you need, the remaining getting larger and larger.  What do the rest of you think?  ;D

[jethro]

Same as Cleo plus onions, although i don't like beetroot, that might have something to do with the way the wife cooks it :-X .

EJ wish i had time, tooooooo much work on at the moment what with the house, work  >:( and the wife  ::), not enough hours in the day for me  :-X .

[jethro]

rdak where's your picture gone?

[tim]

I stagger, they are staggered.

In many cases it's a matter of choosing the right variety for the time of harvest - ie leeks, sprouting, winter lettuce. I agree that beans tend to do their own thing, no matter what. With such things, and the long term things like toms, aubs, peppers etc, early sowing and then protection is the order of the day. Surprised at the need to 'stagger' onions - two plantings - autumn and spring - usually give continuity? 'Spring' onions - yes.

The BIG thing, I think, is to allow progressively much more time beween sowings than you would think - as the year goes on, things 'come in' more and more quickly, and you wonder why you bothered! - Tim

[cleo]

I must add a bit more-I find that French beans are worth multi sowing and so are Mange-Tout. As Tim rightly says-it`s about varieties-the early broad beans are in now whereas the `main crop` will go in in the spring, same applies to peas.

Stephan.

[gavin]

Hi there - I stagger very little few.  But I actually want as much ready during the school holidays as possible.  More time for me, and kids are free to help be bullied!

All best gavin

[Doris_Pinks]

I always have every good intention to stagger my crops.but life seems to get in the way and I end up thinking oh I wish I had planted them with a few weeks apart! So I just enjoy what I have when I can crop it! ;D