Just measured my garden

[Silverleaf]

I know my garden's pretty big, but I was wondering how it compares to a standard allotment plot - I'm always thinking that I don't have enough growing space, but I'm restricted to my raised beds because of horrible clay soil and Him Indoors isn't terribly keen on the idea of my veggies expanding out much further.

I used this site http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-area-calculator-tool.htm to roughly measure the area of the whole garden and the individual bits, and I was very surprised.

Standard 10 rod allotment ~ 250 sq m
My whole garden ~ 800 sq m
The orchard (3 apple, 2 pear, 1 cherry, 1 plum, 1 greengage, raspberries, currants) ~ 200 sq m
The veggie area (about half used right now with a lot of grass, two 1.2 x 6m raised beds, shed, greenhouse, rhubarb, loganberry) ~ 150 sq m

Really? 3 allotments worth of garden? I didn't realise that we had that much land.

Not that I'm going to dig it all up for food production. I'm going to make another raised bed for perennial kale and extra beans and peas in the veggie area, and add some soft fruit there too, and eventually a small bed for herbs. Courgettes and experimental peas and beans for seed saving will remain in pots on a small paved area, with possibly occasional pots of edibles dotted around other places, like the runner beans currently at the front of the house. I can fit a fig tree at some point in the area which is currently a bit brambly and overgrown but will hopefully be a gravelled seating area at some point.

It's given me some perspective, anyway!

[Silverleaf]

[Palustris]

Just done ours, about 4000 m2.

[Silverleaf]

Just done ours, about 4000 m2.

Wow, that makes mine look like a postage stamp!

[Tee Gee]

You could try planning it with this bit of software;

http://gardenplanner.dtbrownseeds.co.uk