Grow a Sustainable Diet: Planning and Growing to Feed Ourselves and the Earth (14 page)

Figure 7.2. Plant/Harvest Schedule

Download this worksheet at
http://tinyurl.com/mf4a33r

Once this worksheet is complete, you can look at it and know what and when you should be planting and what you should expect to be harvesting each week. Granted, not all 52 weeks fit here, but it will suffice for most folks. The last crop shown in the fall will be either a cover crop or garlic and onions, which will grow through the winter; or crops such as collards, kale, carrots, and beets; which will be harvested through the winter. By that time, the planting is over. If you are planting through the winter, you can use this idea to make a worksheet specific to your needs.

Now that all your crops are shown, you might notice a time when there is not much to harvest. You could rework your plan to make sure you have food when you want it. Often it is just a matter of adjusting your planting times.

Plan for Special Events

If you know that you will be away on vacation, you could highlight that week. It is really disappointing to watch your vegetables growing and then miss the optimal harvest time. If your green beans, or other such crop, show up with harvest at a time when you will be away, adjust your planting time. One of the best things about staple crops, such as the potatoes and grains, is that you have some leeway as to when to harvest. You do have to pay attention, and more than a week’s delay might pose a
problem, but it’s not like green beans, cucumbers, and zucchini, which quickly grow past their prime.

On the other hand, you might want to highlight a week when you will be home and planning a party. What better way to celebrate than with food from the garden? It could be your birthday or some other occasion. When our daughter, Betsy, got married in 2010, I grew some of the food and used this worksheet to make sure we had the timing right. It was a big help. Sometimes I use this to work out a schedule for just a few crops. It has any number of uses. It is invaluable to use if you are growing for the markets. Highlight when the market season begins and ends and make sure you have something ready to harvest each week.

This is your
proposed
plan and, no doubt, you will want to know how it all works out. To know your
actual
plant and harvest times, you could record right on your original schedule when all these actions occurred, or make another schedule with all your crops and record it there.

Garden in early March.

Same garden in June.

Rye shedding pollen in early May.

Rye cut for mulch-in-place at pollen shed.

Garden map and Plant / Harvest Schedules.

Ladybug eating an aphid on a cowpea plant.

Sunfield Farm Permaculture Plan.

Spade, garden fork, mattock.

Cultivator and collinear hoe.

Sickle and machete.