Replanting for a second harvest

Denver has a pretty long growing season compared to some regions. So, every year, around this time, I start planting for a second harvest. Pretty cool, right? You see, soon it'll be time to pull the old plants that have stopped producing. But if I plant anew, beside them, it'll be as if they never died.

Now, there are some fast growing veggies, such as lettuce and radishes that I continually stagger throughout the season. With these, I plant leaving extra space between rows. About two weeks after the first planting, I use the space to plant another row. I continue this process through the growing season, planting as I pick. This is an awesome technique for quick growing vegetables such as lettuce and radishes.

With the larger plants, that doesn't work as well. Instead, I wait until they're about two or three weeks from being pulled to start new seeds next to them.

Want to try it? Here's more replanting tips:

Mix it up:

Use different varieties of vegetables for each planting. For instance, you might start with spinach for your salad, then switch to lettuce, kale or other greens each time you plant a new row.

Plant onion seeds between bulbs.

Here's a tricky way to keep the onions going with less replanting. Simply alternate rows of onion seeds with rows of onion bulbs. The bulbs will grow faster for your first harvest, while the seeds will provide your second harvest.

Plant where you pick.

Here's another technique you can use. Each time you remove a fast grower from your garden, replace it with a new seed or bulb. This keeps your Denver garden producing all season.

Even slow growing plants can be staggered for multiple harvests.

You can get at least two harvests out of tomatoes, peppers and other slow growers. Simply buy different size plants or start your seeds two weeks apart. When other gardeners are through with the harvest, you'll be picking and canning your second harvest from the younger plants.

Choose carefully.

Be sure your second harvest plants are cold tolerant or will mature prior to cold weather. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time.

If you like the break, skip the second harvest.

Sometimes it feels good when the garden starts dying off for the winter. I totally get it. Maybe you're glad for the break when gardening season ends. It gives you time to plan for next year and take care of other responsibilities, right? In that case, you might want to stick with replanting just the fast growers.