A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Vegetable Gardening Newbie here, can someone explain succession planting?

Hi! My name is Lisa and I have been on here reading just about all day! The seed catalogs have got me humming and I think I am going to give this vegetable thing another try. In 2002 I built 3 raised beds (4x12, 4x12, and 12 x 12) but they were too far from the house and too close to the woods and well...things happened. Unfortunately neglect was towards the top of the list! I am determined to make a go of this. I am in Northeast PA and so far haven't had any snow. We are closer to the Philadelphia type weather than the Pocono weather and needless to say my kids are not happy. Anyway, what does it mean when you use succession planting for early producing crops? I know you plant more seeds later, but how? Close to the other plants? Paint me a detailed picture please!

Bump!

This is a question I've been mulling over in my head all winter, mrsr11. Do you wait for the other plants to die and replace? Place close by? Or leave space during the first time you seed to add more?

From what I understand, I'll be able to do successive plantings of lettuce, carrots, and maybe broccoli?

well 'succesion' planting, I thought, meant you plant the fast producing ones in between plants that will soon die off. Like, if there is only one more month of production for tomatoe plants you go ahead and plant your lettuce seeds in between the tomato plants so by the time the lettuce needs more sun the tomatoes would have died off.
Now, theres also another kind of planting.....is it called 'succession' planting too, or is there a diff word??? ....you plant so many seeds, then wait a couple of weeks and plant more of that same kind so you will have a few radishs this week and a few radishs next week. I think the word for that kind of planting is 'consecutive' planting?
Where's the dictionary?