How much to plant/sow to supply a family of 4?

[Hector]

I know there is no absolute formulae and a lot of this knowledge is based on experience BUT I want to try and plant enough to syupply our family with sufficient veg to eat and exra to store :)

Any rough ideas of your experiences of how many of the following I need to plant?




• summer squash
• winter squash


• asparagus
• potatoes (salad and main)


• peas
• dwarf beans


• climbing beans
• lettuce


• sprouting broccoli
• perpetual spinach


• tomatoes
• carrots


• cabbage
• rocket


• peppers
• chard

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[Hector]

[saddad]

It's a proper can of worms this one..
We do about 30kg of seed potatoes and haven't finished them yet (from store)
We have 20 Asparagus plants in the 4th year
can't do too many toms...
Prp Spinach about twenty foot...
Lettuce it depends on the season..

Four of us BTW..

;D

[Eristic]

Before you work out how many plants are required of each type you have to list the tonnage per year the family is consuming. Surely you don't get to be a family of 4 without knowing how many spuds you eat etc.

[Hector]

Before you work out how many plants are required of each type you have to list the tonnage per year the family is consuming. Surely you don't get to be a family of 4 without knowing how many spuds you eat etc.

That's what I mean, is there a guage for average output/yield from each type of vegetable named...like you have done with your Oca (good article!)

As for getting to be a family of four...neither my husband or I were thinking of spuds during the process that led to us having our two children  :) ( or at least I hope he wasn't!!)
Seriously, no idea re consumption/tonnage.
ps we are vegetarian, so eat loads of veg
Jackie

[Eristic]

Yes there are lots of gauges and if you can tell us how much you wish to eat there are lots of folks here who will estimate the number of plants required.

No two families eat the same quantity and I all by myself probably eat as much as average family.

[Hector]

It's a proper can of worms this one..
We do about 30kg of seed potatoes and haven't finished them yet (from store)
We have 20 Asparagus plants in the 4th year
can't do too many toms...
Prp Spinach about twenty foot...
Lettuce it depends on the season..

Four of us BTW..

;D

Thanks Saddad. That gives me a starting point for what to aim for withAsparagus/spuds/{Perp Spinache.

Eristic,  apreciate your point and I know what you mean but I wouldn't know the figures offhand, we vary what veg we get and some of my list are ones we don't have often and would want to eat more of/more regularly so was asking others experience re quantities to get a rough rule of thumb. Once we get going we would keep records and adjust.

edit:spelling/grammar

[Eristic]

The biggest point that anyone new to allotment life must come to terms with is that although it is open 24 hrs a day, most crops are seasonal and the shelves may be full of unready produce even though your bellies are empty. Many things will not keep once they reach maturity so do not plant too many courgettes.

[kt.]

Choose varieties with the shortest growing time from seed to harvest,  maximum yields and good storage ability.  Salad stuff is usually quickest to grow but also has the shortest shelf life.  Sown in succession should see you through most of the year.

[PurpleHeather]

As you are planning to feed the family it is also a good idea to check shop prices. With the things you know they like.

Often when allotment food is ready to harvest, the same stuff in the shops is cheap too.

So, I concentrate a little towards growing things  for early in the year when the prices are high.

Also consider what will freeze and bottle, make jam with or pickle.

Depending on the space you have to grow on, what takes up a lot of room for one harvest and what will grow to make one piece of land give you two harvests in the year.

For example, I grow asparagus and strawberries because we like them, but there is a short harvest and they consume space. I could use the same land and get early potatoes, then leeks to give greater food volume.

[Hector]

Thanks for this. 

[grannyjanny]

If you have a look at another site called Garden World Discussions & have a look at the home-grown greengrocer thread someone has done a list of approx yields from lots of veg. It,s quite a long way down but there is lots of info on the whole thread.
There are only 2 of us  with 3 daughters & 4 granddaughters  & we have put up 40 bean poles. We want to try loads & see which we like best & which suits our plot best.
Janet

[grannyjanny]

SORRY. Forgot to say that the thread is within the growing fruit & veg thread.
Janet.

[tim]

Must re-emphasise succession rather than quantity.

[Deb P]

Must re-emphasise succession rather than quantity.

Now that is a lesson I struggle to learn, and every year fall into the 'must do better' category......... :-\

[pippy]

Oh what a difficult question to answer!  One point to bear in mind is: how much land have you got and what condition is it in?

I think I read somewhere that to be completely self sufficient in veg you need 3 or 4 allotments in total so thats a lot of dedication and hard work!

With just the one, and limited to 4-8 hours there a week I don't grow all my veg there, especially the spuds and onions for the winter months.

One of the important things is to make sure you have something that will provide a crop of sorts in every season:  e.g. cabbages, brussels, spinnach and leeks for the winter months.  Then for storage you probably need a good sized freezer and a well sealed, frost free store for roots packed in sand, potatoes etc.

I would start by working out what you eat most of, how much land you have and how much time you have.  Best of luck!

[greenfists]

My take on this is a general one. I would rather grow a bit too much and give it away than not have enough.
The price of seeds compared with the price of buying fruit and veg bears no comparison.
We all end up with gluts of things (we picked between 80 and 90 pounds of strawberries last year).
That's what freezers, jam and chutney are for.