Two Crops From One Bed?

All gardeners share two big problems - finite space and finite time. Growing two successive crops in a single bed is a great way to solve that problem!

All gardeners share two big problems - finite space and finite time. One only has access to a certain amount of land, and only some of that land can be cultivated. It is also the case, as it is so well stated in that famous poem¹, that to every thing there is a season. Gardening is governed by seasons, and this problem is exasperated the further one gets from the equator with shorter and shorter growing seasons, so only have so much time to grow our crops.

My ultimate goal each year, as a gardener, is to have an awesome garden with as little work, time and money invested in achieving that goal as possible. Part of having an awesome garden is maximizing the yield of my cultivated land. One great way to make that happen is to find clever ways to time the planting of certain crops such that two separate crops can be grown in a single bed. Since it is now what I call “garden planning season - I thought I would share a few pairings that have worked well for me over the years².

Peas then whatever

Peas can be planted very early in the season. As a general rule, I plant them as soon as I see dandelions turning yellow on my lawn, which is usually some time in late April or early May. I plant climbing peas on a trellis down the middle of the length of the bed (10 feet). Once the peas are about 12” (30cm) high, I plant something on either side of them. The peas cast some shade, but if the bed is oriented lengthwise from north to south, then whatever is on the East side gets the morning sun, and whatever is on the West side gets the afternoon sun. This allows the second crop to germinate and grow.

Here you can see the peas growing high on the trellis, and the potatoes growing along the sides. The potatoes get full sun in August, September and October when the peas are removed.

By August the stems and leaves of the peas start to die, and the pea harvest dramatically shuts down. At this point, the peas can be cut down, at which point the second crop gets full sun for the remainder of August, September and October while there is still enough heat and sun for things to grow well. My favorite thing to grow with peas is potatoes.