How to Have a Productive Year-Round Garden

As you know from a previous post, one of my homesteading goals is to have a productive year-round garden.  This goal is important to me so I can keep my family healthy and have good food to nourish them. I want to have enough products from the garden so that I can preserve them by freezing, canning, dehydrating, and obviously eaten fresh. 

Productive Year-Round Garden

There are several strategies you can use to have a productive year-round garden:

1. Use a variety of growing techniques: You can use a combination of techniques such as greenhouses, cold frames, and row covers to extend the growing season and protect your plants from extreme weather.

2. Choose the right plants: Some plants are more suitable for year-round growing than others. Consider planting cold-hardy vegetables such as kale, spinach, and root crops, as well as warm-season crops that can be grown in the spring and fall.

3. Plan your plantings carefully: Pay attention to the timing of your plantings to make sure you have a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the year. For example, you can plant a fall crop of greens to harvest in the winter, or start seedlings indoors in the winter to plant out in the spring.

4. Use successional planting: Instead of planting all of your crops at once, consider planting small quantities of different crops on a rolling basis. This will allow you to have a continuous supply of fresh produce throughout the season.

5. Use crop rotation: Crop rotation is a technique that involves planting different types of crops in different areas of the garden from one year to the next. This helps to prevent soil depletion and pest and disease problems.

By following these five strategies, you can have a productive year-round garden that provides you with a continuous supply of fresh produce. 

Okay, so here we go on my 2023 goal of having a productive year-round garden adventure.  I will be following my own advice. May we all have a successful garden this year!