Garden size ?

[sonjab314]

I am definately going to at least double my garden this year. There are 5 of us all togehter; me, DH, twins that are 6 and my son is 9. Here is what I intend on putting in my garden.

Spinach-Bloomsdale long standing
Brussel Sprouts-Royal Marvel
Broccoli-Premium Crop
Leeaf Lettuce-Black Seeded Simpson
Onion-Sweet Spanish (seeds)
Summer Squash-Early Golden Summer Crookneck
Cucumber-Miss Pickler (I am putting these on my fence this year not in the garden)
Watermelon-Crimson Sweet
Corn-Kandy Korn
Garden Pea-Little Marvel
Bush Bean-Topcrop
Potatoes-Yulon Gold
Strawberries-Ozerk Beauty
Tomatoes- Dont know yet....thinking something heirloom

I am open to ideas on what size I need to make my garden to sustain us as far as we can go without getting veggies from the store. I have a bazillion canning jars and a deep freeze and plan on putting up all that I can. The garden spot I have now is not all that large. It's about a 15'x20' with by 6x8 greehouse in one corner of the garden. I am also open as to what to plant next to what to get better yields. Please help me plan my garden. This is only my 3rd one and I want to make the most of it. Thank you very much in advance.

 

[Llama Gardener]

Well "The Vegetable Gardener's Bible" by Edward C. Smith has the best overview of companion planting plus "extra's" about almost any vegetable I can think of. It is worth buying the book just for that info even if you don't follow his "WORD" method.

My garden is around 1000 square feet and it feeds my mom and I througout the year, but we only do spring and summer crops. And even with those we don't grow quite as intensely as we could. Plus we built it so that it could be pushed harder than we do now as we don't need it. As one day our farm will be passed on to me and will have to feed me and my future spouse and children....

But others who have different gardens/lifes might be able to help you better...

P.S. I use Plangarden.com to plan my garden, it is great in my opinon and highly recomend it! It is $20 for 1 year or $36 for 3 years. They also offer a 45 day free trial if you would like to test it out first. (this sounds like a commercial, sorry )

 

[dickiebird]

You will need a lot larger area than the 15X20 ft you have now.
My guess would be 1/4 acre.

THANX RICH

 

[lesa]

My actual veggie garden is about 50x125. I grow and process a lot of our food from that space. We are two adults. There are many to factor into your decision. For instance, your spinach, peas and lettuces are going to be an early spring crop- so chances are you can plant something in their spot, after harvest. Something fast- like your bush beans would be perfect.

Do you have other garden areas? For instance, I have herbs mixed in with my flower gardens...I tried growing corn- but have decided it takes up too much room for the yield. I have a farmer friend who grows organic corn by the acre. Makes more sense for me to buy and process hers...

Are your strawberries already planted? If not, perhaps a separate small bed, just for them... The melons can be grown on the outside edges of the garden, so they can spread out into lawn area. You won't need a huge space, but increasing your garden size is a good idea. How much were you able to grow in your existing space?

Good luck! Let us know your plans...

 

[old fashioned]

Our veggie garden is about 25x50, plus a 4x20 'berry bed' with raspberries, strawberries, blueberries & grape starts. Not to mention several fruit trees on the other side of the yard. I can grow quite a bit for the 4 of us by companion planting & planting closer than recommended.
This will feed us quite well thru the growing season & provide plenty for canning/freezing but I still end up at the store because not everything will give bumper crops or any harvest at all. Like last season the corn never did show up & the tomatoes didn't ripen. But I had plenty of green & dry beans and squash for us & the neighborhood & the food bank

I'm not sure about your strawberry variety, but most will produce runners (baby plants) & are best if grown in it's own area. BUT you can also pop in tomatoes & onions right along with strawberries to save space. Or even put tomatoes, onions &/or garlic next to roses in your flower beds if you have them. Onions can also be planted with members of the cabbage family like Broccoli & Brussel Sprouts. Just keep the onions away from beans or peas.

It is possible to get alot out of your amount of space, but I'd still recommend expanding it. Just make sure you can keep up with the extra work needed for a larger area, like fertilizing, digging, tilling, weeding, etc

Best of luck to ya!

 

[sonjab314]

Thanks everybody that responded. There is no doubt in my mind that the garden will have to be expanded. I intend on putting the strawberries next to my greenhouse on the side where my greenhouse isn't. Then I intend on taking the space infront of the greenhouse/strawberry patch and flip it so that it goes longways like this, if that makes any sense. I think I'm gonna plant the early crops like spinich, lettuce, brussel sprouts and bbroccoli in front of the greenhouse in the open area. Then as Lesa suggested, after the ground warms too much for them, I can plant my peas and bush beans.


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[lesa]

I plant my Brussels sprouts in spring and don't harvest until fall... Check your seed packs for days to harvest. I think of them as a cool weather crop on the fall end. That might not be the case for zone 5. I plant my broccoli early and harvest right through till post frost. Again, maybe you are that much warmer- but just a thought. Sounds like a good plan, you've got going... 50 days till spring!!!