How many plants to feed me?

Right, big post. I am knuckling down and getting going with veg this year, at long last!

There's only me here, so although I can share some veg with friends, I'm working on a how-much-to-feed-only-me basis, with the aim of feeding myself from one harvest through to the next, next year. I dare say that can't be done with every veg, but it's my aim as far as it's possible. These are my veg-to-be:

Potato
Courgette
Cucumber
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Onion
Butternut squash
Carrot
Pea
Corn
Sweet potato (maybe)

I have been looking these up but I'm getting different answers as to how many of each to plant, how much space they need and I'm now discovering that some sites are quoting numbers for one planting, and others for a whole year with successive planting so I'm more confuddled that when I started!

So, how many should I be planting out of these and if anyone can suggest ideal spacings for the plants too that would be brilliant, as I'm getting some conflicting answers for that too!

One last thing: I eat a lot :P

 

@nikirushka
Difficult one this. Can you preserve or freeze anything? How big is your plot.
Courgettes, cucumber 1 maybe two plants.
Onions a bit late for this year I plant about 80 to 100 sets and hope they will last me until May time and provide enough for making chutney.
Broad Beans, runner beans/french beans 20 odd plants give me enough to eat,freeze and give away. Peas probably 3 15ft long double rows enough to eat, freeze and give.
Sprouting broccoli, kale 6 of each. Sweet corn about 10 plants but I don't get many cobs to the plant and eat straight away. Butternut squash a couple. Leeks 40 plus plants, they keep well in the ground.
All dependent on the weather of course and the effort put in.
Potatoes not worth it for me apart from maybe some salad ones or autumn sown ones, they take up too much space for the crop. so I grow things that are harder/more expensive to buy fresh.

 

I have a hefty chest freezer so yes, plenty of space for freezing and the shed it's in is very cool too.

The plot is as big as it needs to be - so far I've dug 7x7 but I will be expanding it. I've a big garden and can use whatever I need to for veg.

 

Ok courgettes and cucumbers do not freeze well.
If you put all your 7*7 plot down to potatoes or carrots and look after them well you may get about 400lbs of potatoes or carrots or about 7*25kg sacks.

 

Bit of a loaded question really, you'd need a book to reply to it

Nigel's done well so far but we can't really give an answer without a complete essay.

Best bet is to get John Seymore's self sufficiency book, available on Amazon.

It's fantastic

 

All good advice so far, best I can offer in a short post is a suck it and see approach, grow a few plants of everything you want to grow.

Learn how to plant, grow, protect, stake, harvest, store/preserve your goods, over winter adjust your amounts to suit you for next year. Learning this way avoids gluts and gives you breathing space to take it all in.

Steve...

 

Back in World War 2, the government ran a campaign called "Dig for Victory." As part of this, "experts" produced an information leaflet that explained amongst other things exactly how much land, and what should be planted on it to supply a family with food for the whole year. I do have a copy of it, but its years since I looked at it.

If memory serves, the patch of land required was 30' x 90'. That gave rise in some parts of the country to the size of allotments. Some of which still existed until recently, and may even still exist.

Perhaps it is possible to get hold of one of these information leaflets, or even find one to read at a library or somewhere? I know that there are inaccuracies in the information, but it should give the best possible start in this.

 

Quite correct. People were still being issued with food ration books in the early '50's. I still have one of mine, probably worth a pretty penny nowadays!

 

@nikirushka I don't want too teach you to suck eggs so to speak but just in case you don't know don't put manure in your carrot bed, your carrots will fork!
I agree with the others it's a bit late for onions now, but they are still available in my local B&Q so you could still give them a try.
Two/three courgette plants will be plenty, they like a nice helping of well rotted manure, if you have surplus courgettes I'm sure your friends will be delighted tohelp you eat them! I've made courgette chutney which was lovely, I also made courgette loaf that wasn't so nice! As already said they do not freeze well.
I'm going to try to get a second sowing of peas this year, they freeze really well & are delicious, you can nip the top out of the pea plants, they are delicious in a salad.
Cucumbers are again delicious from the garden, I grow mine in grow bags, my neighbour is always on the look out for a free cucumber!
Give your potato ground a good dig & add plenty of well rotted manure, watch out for the ruddy slugs!
I cannot grow a broccoli or cauliflower to save my life

Could you grow some apple trees, pear trees, fig trees etc, maybe some rhubarb, strawberries etc? You could store the apples & pears in your cool shed & cook up the rhubarb & freeze it? Just a thought.

Now I'm waffling....my friends parents live near Bristol they grow everything & grow it very well, they only buy potatoes/veg from the supermarket 6 weeks of the year, the rest of the time they eat what they have grown, they also have chickens for eggs, chickens for meat, sheep for meat & pigs...am I'm envious?? YES very! So it can be done & I very much look forward to hearing about your veg throughout the year. Best of luck

 

Brilliant, thanks guys I know it's a hefty question!

My current plot is 7x7 feet, sorry, thought I'd put that in. But as I said, I will be expanding that as needed - plenty of space to do so.

Beckie76 - that's the one thing I already know, because it came up on GQT a few weeks back The carrots will have their own bed for that reason. Everything else I am still learning so all tips welcome!