how do you know how many ?

My veggie garden will need to be big enough to accomodate a family of 5 with plenty left over for freezing and canning. How do you know how many of each thing to plant?

I have started my bell pepper seeds (yellow, red and orange) and the lil boogers have ALL sprouted! Do I really need 30 of each color?

Also I am planning on growing 5 varieties of tomatoes, jalapenos, cabbage, peas, beans, cukes, squashes and more! I'm afraid I will not have any yard left at the end of the garden!

Tammy - So glad you asked this question, I've been struggling with this question since I started my first garden a couple of months ago. At this point I'm not going to take on freezing or canning, but my family of four is primarily vegetarian and we snack on lots of veggies throughout the day.

I'm also trying to figure out how to stagger the plantings so everything isn't ready at the same time. Margaret

to grow enough food to feed and entire family of seven for a year (including canning and freezing) my parents gardened an entire acre. There are more intensive methods by growing things up and I am experimenting with that.
you don't indicate how old the garden you tend is. My experience indicates that most gardens will really start kicking about year three

I am working with square foot gardening to try to grow enough for my DH and myself for a year. Just got a copy of Five Acres and Independence a 1930 small farm management guide I read as a child. I hope it gives me some enlightenment on growing a lot of food in a small area. If it has any info on how to size I will pass it along but encourage you to read it. I bought it used for 3.25

I too hope I am gardening enough space to reach my goals but until I bring what I have under cultivation into full production then getting bigger really isn't going to help.

Hang on to them till time to transplant out....something may happen to a few and you may need replacements...yoy never know.

After that, friends and co-workers are always happy to get 'extras'.

Thanks guys! I remember hearing to count on two ears of corn per plant, you usually get more but two is all you are supposed to count on... so that helps on the corn

it is a trick - to get enough to process for the freezer at the same time so time is optimized
and still have some for the table - not lose anything because you didn't get it picked or processed fast enough and not get overwhelmed. Sort of like getting the entire dinner on the table at the same time - hot - on time - and expertly prepared - without accidently leaving something in the oven like my great-grandmother used to do.

Well, for what it's worth....
Last year I was faced with the same dilema. I got all the information I could and then guessed. I had a 500 square ft. garden for my family of 5. I had wide beds instead of rows (supposed to get more for your space that way).
We had tomatoes, peppers, squash, melons, radishes, basil, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, onions, strawberries and beets. My family loves (well, maybe not anymore after last summer) tomatoes...so I planted 18 plants....way too many (unless you're going to make salsa, sauce or can them). We had about 14 pepper plants (all different varieties) and that was about right for us. We had way too many cucumbers and I only planted a few plants...I think 4-6?. I was happy with everything else..it was about right for our needs. If I can remember.....12 strawberry plants, 6 basil, 6 beans, 5 squash ( 3 different kinds), 14 potatoe plants, 50-60 radishes, onions and beets, 6 melons(they didn't do very good). This year we plan to increase our peppers and try selling at the local farmers market.
I'm also planning to make salsa to put up.

Good luck! Every year you learn a little more.
Becky

If you are a new gardener, pace yourself. If you overdo it, it could become overwhelming. It's unlikely your family would need 30 pepper plants,IMO, but keep them going, there is always the problem of some not making it, cut worms nipping those you just planted when Spring finally gets here and then any others can be given away or composted. Good luck.

Good luck Tammy, I raised and canned for 6 kids and my husb. We had a kitchen garden and a truck patch. Keep your seedlings and plant them. If you have extra peppers for instance, you can stuff them, cook them and freeze them for winter meals. (Can also use extra tomatoes in the stuffed peppers). Green beans are one of the most healthful foods you can grow for the family. Low in carbs and high in roughage and protein.

Try making a winter storage unit outside for a "Root" type cellar for red beets, carrots, etc. Will save you a lot of work.

Winter squash are great - they are a needed yellow veggie.(Helps to protect your throat and lungs from cold, etc) Can store them under the bed if necessary. I am still slicing them down, dip them in egg and crumbs and frying them. Sprinkle with a little honey or syrup and they are good.

I know what it's like doing veggies for a family - good luck and godspeed!

Those are good books, roxroe. I have them too :-)

Yes, Square Foot Gardening is great! I am going to start that this year. I remember on a video tape I watched, Mel specifically said how many squares to grow per family member. Try checking the videos out from your library. I got mine on interlibrary loan for $2.50 shipping costs. Beats 39.95 for the set of three. I am watching the third one today.

Good luck on your garden Tammy!

Tamara

roxroe if you have a scanner see if the chart in 5 arces for the garden can be scaned it might help folks to get an ideali don't know where mine is right now think packed with some other books or i would
Dave 719

This is a very interesting thread, because I too have been trying to figure out how much of everything to grow to provide for my family. With limited space it's difficult to figure out how much of any one thing to plant.

BecksterCa - you said "I had a 500 square ft. garden for my family of 5." - well, that's about the size of my garden (mine is 520 sq ft), and I am going crazy trying to figure out how to cram in everything I want to grow. I use Sq. Ft Gardening (except for tomatoes) and still never seem to have enough room. If you don't mind sharing, can you tell me your basic layout? Sounds like you may have some space-saving tips and tricks that would be beneficial!

I used the book..."How to grow more vegetables, fruits,berries(something like that) than you ever imagined in less space than you'd expect" I'm sure I butchered the title but it's something long like that! John Jevons is the author.

I planted using the biointensive method of using wide beds instead of rows.
Basically you plant in triangles using the recommended space between plants as the guide. The thing about growing this way is that it really depletes your soil fast unless you add compost, etc to rebuild it.

The other problem I had was walking through the garden at it's peak growing time. I'm setting it up differently this year so I will hopefully have easier access later in the year.