Make a list of your family's favorite vegetables, ranked in order of preference. This will make a useful guide in deciding how much to plant of each. Successive plantings of certain crops, such as beans, will give a longer harvest period and increase your yield. List recommended varieties and planting dates. If you plan to can, freeze, dry, or store part of the produce, this will be a factor not only in planning the size of the garden but also in selecting the varieties grown.
Some varieties have much better keeping quality than others.
Care should be used in choosing the seeds, making sure the varieties you select are adapted to your area and intended use. That is, how much area can be converted into usable garden space, not simply how much empty ground is available. This site was developed for the Arizona Cooperative Extension , College of Agriculture , The University of Arizona . The University of Arizona. All contents copyrighted.