Hi I am new here and a member of the BYC. My question is how big of a garden should I plant to feed our family of 6 {we now have 5 acres} and what are good plants for keeping canning ect. We are building a root cellar this year too. Thanks
We need size and planting advice!
- Thread starter Citychick
- Start date
digitS'
Garden Master
Citychick, the extension people often tell us that a 30' by 30' garden is adequate for a family of 4. So, that would mean that they are suggesting 225 square feet per person and a 30' by 45' (1,350 sq. ft.) garden for your family.
Here's a 4-page pdf from Montana State University Extension where the expected yield from a 10' row is given for many vegetables. Since pages 2 & 3 are sideways, it would probably make sense to print this out so that you can comfortably read it
.
Lots of gardeners make tomato sauce, salsa, pickles, and relish. Some even use their cabbage for saurkraut. Potatoes, onions and carrots can be easily stored - even outdoors. Corn, peas, green beans, tomatoes, and broccoli can be frozen. We allow sweet peppers to ripen and dry hanging in our kitchen. Then these peppers are rehydrated, run thru a food processor, put in bags, and frozen. I had pasta with a sauce made from our onions, sweet peppers, and tomatoes for dinner.
Steve
Here's a 4-page pdf from Montana State University Extension where the expected yield from a 10' row is given for many vegetables. Since pages 2 & 3 are sideways, it would probably make sense to print this out so that you can comfortably read it
.Lots of gardeners make tomato sauce, salsa, pickles, and relish. Some even use their cabbage for saurkraut. Potatoes, onions and carrots can be easily stored - even outdoors. Corn, peas, green beans, tomatoes, and broccoli can be frozen. We allow sweet peppers to ripen and dry hanging in our kitchen. Then these peppers are rehydrated, run thru a food processor, put in bags, and frozen. I had pasta with a sauce made from our onions, sweet peppers, and tomatoes for dinner
.Steve
patandchickens
Deeply Rooted
If you are new to serious-scale veg gardening, it is a lot better to err on the side of too small than too large. If what you plant turns out to be hard to keep up with (weeding, watering, and other sorts of plant-tending) then you may lose virtually the entire thing, whereas the worst that can happen with too small is you gots to buy some extra veggies at the farmers market this year
Pat
Pat
Rosalind
Deeply Rooted
Depends on what you mean by "feed," how many vegetarians live in your house, whether you are also trying to feed chickens/pets, what all you are trying to grow....
My 60'x60" garden could not hope to feed the two adults, 15 chickens, 4 cats, 1 turtle, 1 dog in my household year-round, in the sense that we would never have to go to the grocery store for anything. Beer, bread and DH's meat would be in very short supply, and the dog & cats would starve. I am hoping to cut my grocery bill in half, if I'm lucky.
If I had five acres available to cultivate, I would put at least 1 1/2 into grains, possibly 2, and buy a grain mill. Then put another acre into fruit trees, 1/2 acre into veggies and build a fishpond. And put the rest into woodlot, maybe coppiced hardwoods, for the woodstove, because believe me it is far easier to cut and work with coppice-sized wood than giant trees. You can grow mushrooms in a coppice--I would try truffles, personally, and sell them to the local Whole Foods for a small fortune.
My 60'x60" garden could not hope to feed the two adults, 15 chickens, 4 cats, 1 turtle, 1 dog in my household year-round, in the sense that we would never have to go to the grocery store for anything. Beer, bread and DH's meat would be in very short supply, and the dog & cats would starve. I am hoping to cut my grocery bill in half, if I'm lucky.
If I had five acres available to cultivate, I would put at least 1 1/2 into grains, possibly 2, and buy a grain mill. Then put another acre into fruit trees, 1/2 acre into veggies and build a fishpond. And put the rest into woodlot, maybe coppiced hardwoods, for the woodstove, because believe me it is far easier to cut and work with coppice-sized wood than giant trees. You can grow mushrooms in a coppice--I would try truffles, personally, and sell them to the local Whole Foods for a small fortune.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks alot for all of the advice! We just got a load of cinder blocks to use on our root cellar. So the taters, carrots and the like will go down there. I have a list of veggies I want to try and we are looking for some fruit trees. Any suggestions for apple trees?
