[lfcevans]

while waiting for an allotment, I have slowly but surely been adding fruit  to the flowering plants in my postage stamp sized garden. What I would really like to know is,
  1.How much space is needed to grow the veg (with the exception of spuds) to feed a family of 5.
  2. are allotment holders self sufficient in fruit and veg they grow through the year
  3. Or are you only eating what is "in season" at the time and only keep certain veg/fruit (spuds/onions) all year round
The reason I ask is I remember my Nan using her whole council house garden, which was quite large, for growimg fruit and veg, and that she was always giving loads of stuff away to neighbours because she had lots of surplus, even after giving her family plenty of stuff aswel.

I have dug a small 4foot by 6 foot slightly raised bed to practice growing some turnips, onions, carrots, peas, lettuce and beetroot. I have left some room to grow some sweet corn and need to find space somewhere to grow some Toms(3 varietys).
Now i`ve written it down, it seems a lot, but I havent sown a great deal of the veg because they are only trials at the moment.
I dont think I`ll be getting an allotment in the very near future, so I think I`ll end up digging into my lawn to grow what I can. I dont hink I`ll be totally self sufficient by a long way, but it`ll all help....and organic aswel.

I know it may sound stupid to some, but I`m only just starting out and I am keen to understand about it all.

Any help gratefully received

[compostqueen]

Joy Larkcom's Vegetable Growers Handbook is a good one to read in bed of an evening when you're scheming and planning. You can get it from the Library. In it she covers growing for a family of four and goes into great detail about the beds, their size and what you could put in them say if you were on a budget, not on a budget ,and a gourmet plan for folks who only want to grow the veggies that are expensive in the shops, things like asparagus, purple sprouting broc, pak choi sorta thing.

You can grow veg which you can store, eg spuds and winter squashes, beans for drying, chillies which can be dried. Tomatoes can be turned into sauces or bottled, all sorts of veg can be frozen as can fruit. Folks make wine too, so lots of ways of preserving veg. Pickles too are a pleasure to make.  Some folks grow far too much and end up giving it away. Some blokes on our plots grow veg they don't even like to eat, can't understand that myself but each to their own. You can grow your toms in containers don't forget  

[Ruby Red]

while waiting for an allotment, I have slowly but surely been adding fruit  to the flowering plants in my postage stamp sized garden. What I would really like to know is,
  1.How much space is needed to grow the veg (with the exception of spuds) to feed a family of 5.
  2. are allotment holders self sufficient in fruit and veg they grow through the year
  3. Or are you only eating what is "in season" at the time and only keep certain veg/fruit (spuds/onions) all year round
The reason I ask is I remember my Nan using her whole council house garden, which was quite large, for growimg fruit and veg, and that she was always giving loads of stuff away to neighbours because she had lots of surplus, even after giving her family plenty of stuff aswel.

I have dug a small 4foot by 6 foot slightly raised bed to practice growing some turnips, onions, carrots, peas, lettuce and beetroot. I have left some room to grow some sweet corn and need to find space somewhere to grow some Toms(3 varietys).
Now i`ve written it down, it seems a lot, but I havent sown a great deal of the veg because they are only trials at the moment.
I dont think I`ll be getting an allotment in the very near future, so I think I`ll end up digging into my lawn to grow what I can. I dont hink I`ll be totally self sufficient by a long way, but it`ll all help....and organic aswel.

I know it may sound stupid to some, but I`m only just starting out and I am keen to understand about it all.

Any help gratefully received

    Have a look at square foot gardening. Put it in your search engine. You will be surprised how much you can grow in such a small space. Dont forget tubs and growbags.

[crowndale]

If I didn't have small children who need the space or large trees that leave the ground littered with enormous roots i'd probably have dug my lawn too!  but am fortunate in that my garden is probably the size of my allotment anyway, but its not as useful!  My great grandad was a market gardener so his entire back 'garden' was a vege and fruit patch, but then he probably had a few acres rather than a few feet.

Nothing useful to add to your query though!

[kezlou]

Hi lfcevans i am attempting to do the same thing. Except i'm growing everything in pots and containers.

What has really helped me is one of those cheap, flimsy mini greenhouses ive attached mine to the wall to stop it falling.

I'm using grow bags  turn on they side to grow potatoes in. Also old bins and such like can be used as containers.

Old plastic cases like the ones you get mushrooms and strawberries are quite useful as propagators. Also using hanging baskets to grow tomatoes and strawberries in.

No idea if it will work, but i how you feel im trying to feed a family of four. No chance of an allotment and the price of food rising all the time. I'll let you know how my attempt is coming along.

Good luck

[lfcevans]

Thanks for the replies everyone

This year I think will be a trial and error year, and the winter will be a time for preparation of the soil.
I have bought seeds that I can collect new seeds from the plants that grow, so not having to buy seed every year hopefully....I`ll see how that goes.

The sq foot gardening looks a good idea, but I will go with rows at the moment, as its easier to see the weeds. I have nurtured a good healthy weed in a pot before now without knowing till it was to late.

[poultrygeist]

I would guess one of the main things is staggering the planting/harvesting so you have as constant a supply as poss. ie. Not 30 lettuces all in the same week !

We rarely manage this, even on a small scale. With such an unpredictable growing season, I would think this is the biggest challenge.
And storing must be an issue to cover too. Trying to keep food into Autumn/Winter.

Good luck with it.

Rob

[lfcevans]

I was thinking along the same lines of planting a few seeds a week to save a glut of produce in one go

 I`ll have to sow 2 lettuce seeds 8 carrot seeds etc a week....that`ll take some doing correctly

[woodburner]

Carrots are a bit iffy about germinating so it's better just sowing a short length of row every few weeks than trying to get exact numbers germinating.