Feeding a family of four from the garden.

With good soil, good weather, and some experience, a space about the size of a two-car garage will feed a family for a year.

With any type of intensive planting and well-built-up soil fertility, a half-acre or less should suffice for most families of four. Under ideal conditions, and with experience, much less. John Jeavons, in How to Grow More Vegetables (than you ever thought possible on less land than you can imagine) (Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, first edition, 1974) claims you can feed a family of four with a garden of 1,302 square feet--including paths! (An acre is 43,560 square feet, or almost 35 times as much.) This, of course, requires some very intensive gardening, and enough experience to make it work.

We might also point out, once again, that small gardens frequently produce more than large ones. The reason is simple: Smaller gardens are likely to get better care, while large ones, especially those planted by beginners, often become overwhelming and by July are lost in weeds and neglect.

But these variables suggest already--even before getting into the more difficult part of your question--why we have always disliked presenting such information even as "guidelines." How fertile is your soil? What are you going to plant (or what do you like to eat)? What varieties? What is your climate like? How much do you know about intensive planting?

And when we get into things like weather that varies from year-to-year, pests and diseases that also vary, timing of plantings (another big variable in our gardens, depending on weather and other projects and priorities) ... that's why we always say asking a question like this is like asking "How long is a piece of string?"

Really. The only substitute for experience is beginner's luck. And experience alone is no guarantee. When we moved 250 miles north it took three years to learn how to garden all over again.

With these disclaimers (and many others we could add), here are some of the "guidelines" so many people are asking for.

What, when, and how much to plant for a family of four with a six-month growing season 

Not all seeds germinate and you'll thin out weaker plants.

Six weeks before the last frost, plant:

Vegetable          #Seeds
Cabbage              32
Broccoli             16
Brussels sprouts      8
Cauliflower           8
Head lettuce         96
Leaf lettuce         56
Celery               96
Parsley              16

About four weeks later these will be thinned by half and transplanted. At that time plant directly in the garden:

Spinach       234
Bush peas   1,370
Carrots     1,414
Beets         100
Onions        380 sets
Radishes       60
Garlic         32 cloves
Chard          12

At the same time start in flats:

Tomatoes       56
Bell peppers   48
Eggplant        8
Dill            8

On the last frost date plant potatoes (68.25 lbs. should be 546 starts) and start in flats:

Cantaloupe     40
Honeydew       40
Watermelon    160
Cucumbers      48
Sweet basil    8

Two-to-four weeks later transplant what's in the flats and plant early corn, 168 seeds; pumpkins, 8; and sunflowers for seeds, 8.

As the peas and carrots are harvested, plant the melons in their place. Replace the early brassicas and lettuce with bush green beans, 752 seeds, and bush lima beans, 224.

As the first corn comes out replace with 31 lbs. of sprouted potatoes, or 248 pieces with one or two eyes each.

About 14 weeks after the last frost dig the first potatoes and replace with corn, 168 seeds. Start another 16 broccoli seeds, 32 cabbage, and more lettuce.

A good and experienced gardener using intensive methods in good soil can far outproduce the average backyarder ... or commercial farmer. But some of their "tricks" can be used by anyone with time, patience, desire and ambition.

For example, a seed packet might suggest planting seeds four inches apart, in rows 36 inches apart. If a plant only needs four inches, why not make the rows four inches apart too? Plant four rows together and then leave the wider space for walking, and you'll get much more from the same area.

Succession planting--harvesting one crop and immediately using the space for another--increases the yield per square foot, as does growing viney crops on trellises rather than sprawling over way more real estate than their root systems require.

And something as simple as a mounded raised bed (as opposed to a flat topped one) can add growing space.

The payoff: Less time, less effort, and more food.

This is a COUNTRYSIDE reprint.

JD Belanger

Editor Emeritus