How Much To Grow?

[annsplot]

I know this is a 'piece of string' type question, but I'm hoping someone can help.

I'm new to having an allotment and growing my own veg and fruit. I would like to provide enough food to keep me and my partner going throughout the year, so how much do I plant?

The plot is 20m X 10m.

We like most veg potatos, carrots and cabbage etc, all the normal stuff!

So can someone give me some idea of how much I need to plant please?

Many thanks
Richard

[annsplot]

[manicscousers]

hiya, richard,welcome to the site.. hope someone knowledgeable comes along soon to answer your question  ;D

[Trevor_D]

That sounds like a decent-size plot to me. You can fit masses in. Start with a number of different potato varieties (earlies, salad, maincrop, etc). And you should be able to get a good range of brassicas and roots. And look for stuff you can freeze (either as they come, or made into soups, sauces & purees) or make into chutneys. So beans, courgettes, squash, tomatoes, etc.

How many? For the two of us, it's about 15-20 rows (20 feet long) of potatoes, 7 or 8 wigwams of climbing beans, 70 or 80 tomato plants, a dozen each of courgettes & squashes, a couple of dozen each of sprouts, calabrese, cauliflowers, PSB & kale, a hundred or so leeks.

And don't forget to actually sow at least double what you need.

And if it's new to you, take it easy for the first year or so and stick to the simple stuff. And keep detailed notes, so that you can adjust in future years. Nobody ever gets it right, even the "experts".

So basically, grow as much as you can, be prepared to run out of some things and give other stuff away. (Little old ladies are always happy to receive a carrier bag of runner beans or a few leeks!)

[Tee Gee]

My two are a similar size and this is what I will be putting in this year. http://tinyurl.com/ynk86d each line denotes a row on each bed.

This list covers 1½ plots the other ½ is permanent fruit beds & greenhouses as you can see here;http://tinyurl.com/39hocg

[Barnowl]

Welcome Richard,

A few general points:

Probably the most important factor is whether you are happy preserving / freezing surplus produce (and have the space to store it  :)

If you want to focus on fresh veg, Spring to Autumn isn't really a problem but you'll need to plan ahead for some winter hardy vegetables like cabbage, kales, sprouts  spinach, chard, winter lettuces / mizuna etc and root crops.

For the Spring - Autumn period my suggestion is not to plant too much of anything at the same time.  It may be a bit obvious, but just because you have successfully grown 40 climbing French bean  seedlings doesn't mean you should plant them all.  It may seem wasteful to throw away seedlings (if you can't give them away) but it's a lot less wasteful than a) having more beans than you can eat and b) using space in which you could have grown something else.

Include small patches of 'cut and come again' vegetables and reserve some space for soft fruits and fruit trees - most of which have early and late varieties.

I think 80 tomato plants and 12 courgette plants is an awful lot  unless you're heavily into preserves and sauces.  I reckon about six courgettes and thirty odd tomato plants for two people but would be interested to hear other opinions.

Hi TeeGee - how long are your rows?

[Tee Gee]

Hi TeeGee - how long are your rows?

I always plant / sow across the bed never along the length of the bed.

My beds are roughly 5'-6' wide (1.5-1.8metres)

[Barnowl]

Thanks TeeGee,

If I've added up right that's about 160-190ft of spuds...one each of first early (35-42ft), second early (45-54ft), early main (60-72ft) and late main (20-24ft)

[annsplot]

Thanks Folks!

Think I'll enjoy this site  ;)

Happy Gardening
Richard

[annsplot]

Hi Tee Gee
I have just looked at the plan you gave a link for, thanks for that!

Looking at the plants you have there, is each bed about 2.5m x 4m / 8' x 13' ?

Many thanks for your time
Richard

[Jeannine]

Hi annslpot, grow the things you like  and grow also a few things that cost the earth in shops like squash(I am biased cos I collect them ) but seriously shops want a stupid price for a winter  squash. Oh and if you like asparagus, don't put it off because it takes 2 or 3 years, cos every year you will wish you did it. Thise couple of years will pass quickly.

Squash store for several  months so no need to freeze etc.


You can plant beans that will dry and use them all winter too.

XX Jeannine

[saddad]

Welcome Annsplot/Richard....
Tee Gee gives good advice but you can never grow the right amount of everything...
;D

[Lauren S]

Welcome to A4A Richard from me too  :)

[Tee Gee]

Looking at the plants you have there, is each bed about 2.5m x 4m / 8' x 13' ?

The plan is not to scale, a line is a row which can be any distance apart and a column is a bed which can be any length.

My main beds are actually 9m x 1.5 m approx (29ft long and 5'-6" wide.)