Now that we’re past 10 hours of daylight, gardening season has begun. 

I’ll be starting several cool-season crops this month (February 1-9 and February 24-28 are ideal planting windows), but it’s always hard to know how much to grow. I tend to overseed, which uses up potting soil, space and extra seeds that are getting more expensive. The extra seedlings take up real estate in the garden because I can’t bear to compost them, which can leave me with more produce than I can use. It’s also frustrating to have productive cool-season crops growing in May just as warm-season crops are ready to go in, and suddenly I’m squeezed for space.

Step 1: Decide what to grow and when

The first step in making a garden plan is deciding which crops to grow in each season. Spinach, kale, broccoli and radishes are always on my list for spring and fall, but I also need room for tomatoes, peppers, corn and melons in summer.

It helps to create a monthly calendar and start penciling in when each crop will mature. That makes it easier to plan around vacations so I’m not scheduled to be harvesting and canning green beans while I’m out of town. It also creates a simple production schedule. Things to consider:

• Which crops will be harvested early to free up space, like radishes and carrots?

• Which crops should be planted in succession to keep a steady supply coming, like peas and lettuce?

• Which crops make sense to grow in larger batches for canning or dehydrating, like cucumbers and beets?

Step 2: Figure out how much to grow

This step can be tricky, especially with crops that feel exciting at the start of the season.

Zucchini is the classic example. We crave zucchini for dinner, then decide we’ll stuff squash blossoms this year, so we plant a handful. A few weeks later, we’re scrambling to bake zucchini bread just to keep up. In most gardens, one zucchini plant is plenty.

JohnnySeeds.com is a treasure trove of information, including crop yield charts. There’s one for direct-seeded crops and another for crops that are traditionally transplanted. The charts lean toward production growing, with yields listed by the acre and by 100-foot rows. 

As a home gardener, I use the 100-foot row yield and divide by 10 to estimate a 10-foot row, which fits my garden much better. That can help you estimate how many plants you’ll need to match your household’s consumption habits.

Step 3: Decide where to plant

Once you know what you’re growing and roughly how much, the next step is deciding where it all goes.

Start by calculating how much space each plant needs, then multiply by the number of plants you plan to grow. You’ll find plenty of spacing charts online, but recommendations vary.

If you’re only a year or two into a new garden space, be generous with spacing or follow the seed packet. If you’ve been amending your soil with compost and organic matter and you’re seeing strong biology in the soil, you may be able to tighten spacing using square foot gardening or biointensive gardening charts.

For example, hot peppers are often spaced 18 inches apart. With improved soil in my garden, I push that spacing to 12 inches, which gives me room for more plants. An offset grid pattern can also help you fit more plants into a bed, especially in well-established soil.

Don’t skip crop rotation

Crop rotation is the long game, but it pays off.

Some crops, like tomatoes, can harbor diseases if planted in the same location year after year. Moving them to a new spot reduces that risk. Other crops, like squash and lettuce, can encourage insects that lay eggs in the soil. If you plant the same crop in the same place next year, those insects hatch and immediately find their preferred host.

Plant families also tend to mine certain nutrients. Tomatoes rely heavily on micronutrients like boron, and brassicas pull a lot of sulfur. Rotating crops spreads out nutrient demand so compost and amendments can replenish those trace nutrients over time.

Rotation helps with rooting depth, too. Deep-rooted plants can pull nutrients from lower soil layers. When you cut them at the base and let the roots break down in place, those nutrients cycle higher in the soil profile, where shallow-rooted crops can use them later.

And don’t forget legumes. Last year, I scattered vining beans throughout one garden bed to boost biodiversity while fixing nitrogen. The vines also acted as a living mulch, shading the soil and conserving moisture. Next year, I’ll plant vining peas in a different bed for the same benefit. I make a map for this season, then pencil in the next two years so I don’t plant myself into a corner.

Bring it together with a garden calendar

Finally, update your garden calendar so you know when things need to happen.

Add everything: seeding dates, transplant dates, harvest windows and projects like installing a trellis or building a cold frame. 

It’s easy to mark May 9 as the date to plant tomatoes outdoors, but that means backing up to April 4 to start seeds indoors. Then you’ll want to overlay your cool-season plan to be sure the tomato space is actually available by May 9. I also like to add a note on March 24 to work compost into that area so nutrients have time to break down and become available once tomatoes go in. 

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