Planning a garden can be both exciting and overwhelming, especially when deciding what to plant and when to achieve a continual harvest. With so many crop options and planting schedules to consider, it is easy to get lost in the details. Fortunately, tools like Excel can help streamline the garden planning process.

Here are three ways to utilize Excel for efficient garden planning:

1. Calculate Planting Dates for Succession Plantings
2. Determine When to Plant for a Specific Harvest Date
3. Calculate Expected Harvest Date Based on Planting Date

1. Calculate Planting Dates for Succession Plantings

Excel can be used to determine planting dates for continual harvest through succession planting. This technique ensures a steady supply of crops to harvest throughout the growing season by planting at regular intervals. Often-times, seed packets or growing guides will provide planting intervals for a continual harvest. This can vary depending on the crops and how often you need to harvest. By tracking this data in a spreadsheet, planting intervals can be easily managed, ensuring a consistent availability of fresh produce. Excel provides a visual layout of planting schedules, making it easier to plan and execute a successful succession planting strategy.

2. Determine When to Plant for a Specific Harvest Date

Excel is a useful tool for planning planting schedules around specific harvest dates. Many crop varieties have varying days to maturity, and understanding these timeframes is essential for timing planting to ensure crops are ready when needed. For example, if pumpkins are needed for a specific date, Excel can calculate the ideal planting dates for different pumpkin varieties, ensuring they mature around the same time. This helps with harvesting and selling crops just when demand is highest.

3. Calculate Expected Harvest Date Based on Planting Date

Excel can also be used to determine the expected harvest date based on the date seeds are planted. This is particularly helpful when planting multiple varieties of a crop with different days to maturity. For instance, when planting a mix of early, mid-season, and late-maturing broccoli varieties, Excel can track and compare the harvest dates for each variety.

Excel is a powerful tool for garden planning, offering a simple yet effective way to manage planting times, calculate harvest dates, and plan succession plantings. By inputting essential data such as variety maturity times, planting schedules, and harvest windows, garden productivity can be optimized, and the overall planning process can be kept organized and well-timed.

Downloadable Excel Templates

To assist with garden planning, downloadable Excel templates are available for the following purposes:

• Calculating succession planting schedules
• Tracking harvest dates
• Planning planting dates for specific harvest goals

These templates include examples from above that can guide the setup of a personalized garden planning system.

Garden Planning Tools

Calculate Expected Harvest Date Based on Planting Date

Calculate Planting Dates for Succession Plantings

Determine When to Plant for a Specific Harvest Date

Video Tutorial

A video tutorial is available to demonstrate how to use the provided Excel sheets for efficient garden planning:

Additional Resources

• Johnny’s Seed Growers Library A comprehensive resource for growers, offering planning tools and calculators to assist with garden organization. Planting Calculators, Charts & Spreadsheets | Johnny's Selected Seeds

• ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture Offers articles and resources on growing crops sustainably. The link below is a publication on scheduling vegetable plantings for continuous harvest, helping maximize crop yield throughout the season. Scheduling Vegetable Plantings for Continuous Harvest – ATTRA – Sustainable Agriculture

• Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide (LSU AgCenter) LSU AgCenter’s planting guide for when to plant various vegetable crops. These are average planting dates and may vary depending on the year. Check the weather and soil temperature to determine optimal planting times. Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide

• Sustainable Gardening for School and Home Gardens (LSU AgCenter) A sustainable gardening planting guide for schools and home gardens, focusing on eco-friendly practices. Sustainable Gardening Planting Guide

• Soil Temperature Conditions for Vegetable Seed Germination (OSU Extension Service) A guide for understanding germination rates based on soil temperature. This can help determine the right time to plant by using a soil thermometer. Soil temperature conditions for vegetable seed germination | OSU Extension Service

Visit our website: www.LSUAgCenter.com

The LSU AgCenter and LSU provide equal opportunities in programs and employment.