[The Happy Hippy]

Hi.

As a newcomer I am struggling with the concepts of percentages.
What proportion of the plot should be given over to each family of crops. And what sort of yeald per sq m is realistic. I know it sounds daft but I just cannot get my head round these.

Thanks.

[peapod]

We need a question answering first 

What are you thinking of growing?

[r2d2]

personally, i wouldn't worry about it and grow what you like to eat!
this year i was pleased with my french beans, they seemed to give a high return for space used

[michellela]

I found this page to be very helpful and interesting when it came to planning what I'm growing next year.  Personally I found the second rotation plan a little bit too fussy so I used the first plan instead.

[mumofstig]

Have a look here for 3 part/year crop rotation
http://www.allotment-garden.org/vegetable/crop-rotation/three-part-crop-rotation.php

It is very difficult to give yields as this depends on which veg you are growing, variety grown and fertility of the soil..........so..... a lot of variables to consider :blink:
This may help
http://organicgarden.org.uk/gardening/vegetables/how-much-veg-to-plant

[The Happy Hippy]

Thanks for the brilliant replies. 

What do we want to grow, Peapod?  - apart from no parsnips or turnips just about anything.

What I suppose I'm think about is planting at the right times to get a sucession rather than a glut and what amounts for how many people.

Those links are fab Michellela and Mumofstig.

R2d2 - I shall definitely be adding french beans to the list of seeds.

[peapod]

No snips?

Its a travesty 

[Trikidiki]

I tend to plan carefully then end up planting what I fancy on a whim.

As you're a newcomer just plant what you think you'll eat, keep a few notes then next year you can tailor it better to what you will use.

'Quantity-wise', its difficult to get it right. You'll plant what you think will be enough, have a bad year and won't have enough. Next year you'll plant more, have a bumper year and yield too much. Anything you really like you will never have enough of, I'm sure my wife would be happy if I put the whole allotment down to strawberries.

Any surplus this year will be gratefully received by friends and family. Or get some chickens, they'll certainly accept your surplus. There's usualy a way to store some of your surplus as well, almost as much fun as growing it.