Vegetable Garden Plans for 3-Season Bounty

Planning a vegetable garden and successfully harvesting your own produce is easy with this three-season raised bed plan. The layout of a vegetable garden can make or break its success, so it's important to get it right. Follow these planting plans and checklists for each season, and you'll enjoy a productive vegetable gardening from early spring through fall.

1. Plant for a spring harvest

Start in early spring to grow your own produce. Find the last spring frost date of the previous season for your area. You can leave part of the garden unplanted so it's ready for warm weather vegetables later.

Early Spring: Plant four weeks before the last frost date. Sow vegetable seeds directly into the soil in early spring, but for an earlier harvest, we recommend starting with some transplants. When planting seeds, sow more densely than recommended and then, using shears, thin the seedlings to the recommended number once they are two inches tall.

A. 8 butterhead lettuce

B. 8 leaf lettuce

C. 16 carrot

D. 6 cilantro or dill

E. 2 broccoli

F. 1 cabbage

G. 2 cauliflower

H. 12 snow peas (planted in a circle around a tall tomato cage or trellis)

I. 4 spinach

J. 2 parsley

K. 8 onion

L. 16 radish

M. 4 Swiss chard or kale

Spring Checklist

Keep the seedbed moist (but not muddy) so the little plants don't dry out after they sprout. Water with a gentle spray.

Support your snow peas with a tomato cage or trellis.

Pull weeds as soon as you find them.

Use clean straw, last fall's chopped leaves, grass clippings, or other types of organic mulch in your garden. Apply a two-inch layer of mulch around the young plants, but don't cover the seeds you've planted, or they won't germinate.

2. Plant for a summer harvest

After the last frost date, when the days and soil are warm, plant summer-harvesting, warm-weather vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and green beans. The herbs are also growing well now.

Late Spring: Plant these vegetables in late spring, two weeks after the last frost date.

Alternative tips: Some vegetables need space, and indeterminate tomatoes need a larger cage. Summer squash, cucumbers, and pole beans can all be grown on a 6-foot trellis at the edge of the garden. Make sure they don't shade other plants.

A. 8 bush green beans

B. 8 carrots

C. 1 cherry tomato (try 'Husky Cherry Red' or 'Patio')

D. 1 cabbage (not yet harvested from early spring)

E. 1 salad tomato (try 'Rutgers' or 'Better Bush')

F. 12 snow peas (not yet harvested from early spring)

G. 1 sweet pepper (try 'Gypsy Hybrid,' 'California Wonder,' 'Albino,' or 'Bell Boy')

H. 2 parsley

I. 8 onion

J. 4 basil

K. 4 Swiss chard or kale

Summer Checklist

Use mulch around your vegetables, especially tomatoes, to keep the soil moist and reduce weed problems.

Stock or cage tomatoes, regardless of whether you've chosen a smaller one, decide on varieties that will produce at the same time. Place stakes or cages immediately after planting so the plants will be supported as they grow. Peppers often require support.

Visit your garden for a few minutes each day. The soil may be dry on the surface, but do not let the plants dry out.

3. Plant for a fall harvest

As the days cool, cool-weather crops will once again become part of your garden. Keep harvesting tomatoes, peppers and beans. Late Summer: Plant these vegetables in mid to late summer, about eight weeks before the first average fall frost date. Garden Planning: Fall gardens are often overlooked by gardeners who have planted a large spring garden that is difficult to maintain through the season. With a manageable plan like this, you have the time and energy to continue planting and extend your harvest into the fall.

A. 1 Cabbage

B. 12 bushels of green beans

C. 16 carats

D. 4 broccoli

E. 2 Cauliflower

F. 1 cherry tomato

G. 1 salad tomato

H. 4 Lettuce

I. 1 sweet pepper

J. 2 parsley

K. 2 Dill

L. 4 cilantro

M. 4 Basil

N. 4 Swiss chard or gal

Fall Checklist

Renew the mulch around your plants as needed. Continue daily visits to your garden to harvest and weed. Even if it's fall, look for warm, windy days that will dry out the vegetable patch quickly. Watering may be required twice a day if windy.

Watch out for harmful insects. Since your garden is small enough, it's easy to pick and crush most of them if you find them.

After the first frost, remove dead plants and spread an inch of compost or compost over the bed. Then, your garden will be ready for you again in the spring.