Plant Grow Harvest Repeat: Grow a Bounty of Vegetables, Fruits, and Flowers by Mastering the Art of Succession Planting

by Meg Cowden

“Wonderfully written, beautifully illustrated, and everything you need to know to get more productivity out of your food garden.” —Joe Lamp’l, creator and executive producer, Growing a Greener World Discover how to get more out of your growing space with succession planting—carefully planned, continuous seed sowing—and provide a steady stream of fresh food from early spring through late fall.   Drawing inspiration from succession in natural landscapes, Meg McAndrews Cowden teaches you how to implement lessons from these dynamic systems in your home garden. You’ll learn how to layer succession across your perennial and annual crops; maximize the early growing season; determine the sequence to plant and replant in summer; and incorporate annual and perennial flowers to benefit wildlife and ensure efficient pollination. You’ll also find detailed, seasonal sowing charts to inform your garden planning, so you can grow more anywhere, regardless of your climate.  Plant Grow Harvest Repeat will inspire you to create an even more productive, beautiful, and enjoyable garden across the seasons—every vegetable gardener’s dream.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Food

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 15, 2022

Reviews

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice volume from a Zone 4 MN gardener who explains how/what/when succession planting. Vegetables, flowers, fruits, and fruit trees. Nice photos and graphics.

[Misti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated that Meg put in the work to talk about ecology and native systems and how an edible garden correlates. This is an incredibly detailed book about succession growing. I've always marveled at Meg's wonderful garden and the work she puts into it and she shows up in the same manner for this book.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book for extending garden season and succession planting in MN or other cold climates.

[Patti Pitcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read a lot of garden books in my day. This is a good one. Lots of useful information about getting the most out of your garden by succession planting and proper planning. She also has a lot of tidbit on ancillary subjects that help you maximize the space you have (trellising ideas etc.) I learned a lot about the mindset of getting into continuous planting. I have done succession planting for years but Cowden inspired me to get more serious. It is June 2 and I have already replanted three areas in my garden because we have eaten up what was planted. The only negative thing I have to say about the book is I feel like it needed better editing. She repeats herself quite a bit and sometimes when terms are introduced they aren't explained until later in the book. But that said, this is a great book that inspired me to do much more.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, if a bit limited, book on extending your harvest by succession planting. I say limited because Cowden lives in a cold climate and she mostly focuses on how to garden in that zone. Also, she talks incessantly about her brassicas. Everything else, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, etc., gets short shrift although I did appreciate her chapter on no-mow lawns.

Still, this is a good book for people looking to make full use of their garden plots during the year.

Recommended.

[Tracy Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live in a warmer zone so some of this book doesn’t quite apply in the specific details but it’s easy enough for me to shift dates for specific plants. The tables are helpful and I’m sure I’ll reference those often. I don’t think collards are mentioned once in the book which is shocking to me, but I’m also a Southerner, so there’s that.

[Becky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I expected. I was looking for more information on how to rotate crops to feed soil and maximize nutrients. Feel like it should have been titled "Extend Your Growing Season"

[Lynn Bonelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Firstly, this is a fantastic book that deserves a place on your gardening shelf...or better yet, deserves to be read and reviewed often (and not collecting dust). It immediately inspired me to create several new beds in my garden and plant them in the middle of July with short succession veggies. I also started fall seedlings indoors and prepped a few beds for late-season crops. Overall, I feel like I understand these concepts better and am inspired to experiment and make them work for me. I'm also very happy to have a reference that aligns better with my growing season and zone.

As stated in another review, the only negatives were the redundancy (although the book is very "readable" unlike many gardening guides that can be quite dry) and a few concepts and terms used that I had never heard of and weren't explained further. It doesn't claim to be a beginning gardener book and I wouldn't recommend it as one but it is still a pleasant read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone hoping to dial in their fall or four-season gardening.

A small annoyance was the overuse of the phrase "lean into". I wish her editor(s) had caught how often it was used and how distracting it became. Personally, I feel it's such a clichéd idiom that I cringe when I read it and you'll read it many, many, many times in this book. Even still, I would recommend this book as an inspiration and guide to connect with your garden in all seasons.

[Emily Erickson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and inspirational book, but I had two struggles with it. First, I somehow felt more stressed, overwhelmed and generally crappy about my gardening rather than empowered. I literally have no idea how they are able to achieve what they do, even after reading the book cover to cover. Second, I needed more specific, step-by-step instructions on how to grow these plants. I felt like the book was more of a big picture idea - grow more plants longer! - than it was a manual in how to do so. That said, it is very possible that I am not the audience. Perhaps this book was written more so for gardeners who have the basics down.

[Kali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of gardening books at this point and this immediately went on my favorites list. The writing is engaging, the pictures are beautiful and inviting, and it is packed full of useful information, charts and tips that will benefit gardeners of all experience levels. Even though I am working with a much longer growing season than the author, her tips and schedules for extending the season and maximizing food production are still applicable.

[Phyllis Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m determined to get the most out of my garden this season and this beautiful book is here to help me. I love that Meg McAndrews Cowden doesn’t try to make succession planting sound like a simple process…she admits it’s a lot of hard work so that I know what I’m getting into. The pictures are beautiful and they inspire me to have a beautiful garden

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Library test run to see if this is a reference book that I want to add to our collection. It definitely is. The photos are gorgeous, the charts are useful, and I genuinely enjoyed reading it. It makes me want to experiment more with cool weather planting to see just how much more food I can squeeze out of our tiny yard.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have gardening book for anyone growing in the upper Midwest. Succession growing helps those of us with long winters to having the most prosperous harvests from May to November. Follow Meg on Instagram @seedtofork for even more inspiration.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for all northern gardeners! Meg gives tons of useful and practical advice. The book is also beautifully written, and reads like a novel. I've already flagged a bunch of pages with useful charts to help keep my gardening growing through the typical season and beyond. Highly recommended!

[Leeja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Essential for any vegetable gardener in the northern Midwest interested in growing as much as possible for as long as possible. Also helped me stop and think about the role of nature and the seasons in the cultivation of food. Super inspired for my garden this year.

[Leanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've already had several seasons of succession planting without the aid of a book and I had some fails. I think this book helped me tremendously. The charts are great and even though we have totally different planting zones, there was much to be gleaned from her knowledge.

[Kate TerHaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information for us northern gardeners!

[Miles Foley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Expanded my vision of what is possible and was very inspirational about what I want to do in my garden

[Wendy Rader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this now if you are wanting to extend your harvesting season!

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear and simple writing but packed with information. Beautifully illustrated. This could easily become your go to book on succession planting.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need this book as a reference on my gardening shelf. Now to get things planted!

[Rev · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most in depth books on gardening I've read to date, and it was written in such an easy to understand way with pictures and charts throughout. Definitely recommend.

[Hess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not quite what I was looking for. As an urban gardener with limited time, I was particularly interested in detailed succession ideas for mainstream crops, along with intercropping ideas. Succession was discussed at length over several chapters, but specific recommendations for key crops were spread over the course of the text, as opposed as to being organised by crop. In addition, many of the crop stretching techniques relied on something that most urban gardeners don't have -- space.

The author mentions indoor sowing under lights, building a root cellar, growing under low tunnels and creating auxiliary flower gardens next to your main vegetable crop. These are all excellent discussions, and if you are in a position to explore these ideas, then I would recommend this book.

For urban gardeners, Karen Newcomb's work on postage stamp gardens and Mark Ridstill's work for UK growers remain my top recommendations.

[Karin Velez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos and a good guide to succession planting, intercropping, and season extension.

[Scott Riessen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good resource on how to extend the gardening season beyond the summer months. It’s a nice read, but the charts and tips are what make it worth having on the shelf.

[Jenn. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of information to take in. Useful addition to my gardening library.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has it ALL. Inspiring, thoughtful, with great graphs and plans to apply to my own garden. Can't wait to see more from Meg Cowden!

[Anita · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book to skim while looking for ways to get more garden out of your garden. I wish it had more explicit descriptions of good follow up crops.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be overwhelming for the true beginner, but for someone who has grown veggies before and wants to up their game, this book is excellent.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

A bit flowery, but a useful and pretty book that will help me be a better gardener, and produce vegetables more efficiently throughout the extended growing season.