How many sq m to grow veggies for one adult and 2 LOs

Fruball

Hi all

I have grown veggies before on a very hit and miss basis but am going to have a proper go next year and wondered how many sqm I should allow to grow a reasonable amount of our own salad and veg for one adult and 2 little ones (who don't eat a lot).

I will be growing...

mixed leaves (babyleaf)
sweetcorn
courgettes
purple sprouting brocolli
french beans (climbing and dwarf)
runner beans
tomatoes (some will be in pots/hanging baskets)
cucumbers
carrots

Some of these will be grown amongst my flower borders in spaces but I will have a dedicated patch... Garden not huge so want to grow as much as poss in smallest space poss IYKWIM.

Would love to hear what small spaces others grow in, and how much they manage to grow in their little plots

Cheers :beer:

wssla00

There are loads of different ways to do it. I am trying Square foot (Or square meter) gardening this winter and the coming year. Basically it involves using good quality soil with drainage if it needs it plus some food. There are lots of information on it in the internet. You can see this thread here where I speak about how I am going about it, and there are some links to spacing requirements etc. It's a good way of utilising space but you do need to be pretty vigilant if you live somewhere warm as the beds can dry out. Bacisally you block out each square meter/foot and use that square for a different veg. If you google square foot garden forum there is loads of information on people who have done it before.

lizzyb1812

Hi

Try this link

http://organicgarden.org.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/sqft_step_by_step.pdf

I've done some of this this year - didn't dig as put raised beds in instead. works quite well and I'll be doing more from now on.

Not quite sure where I read this - may have been RHS site - but apparently you can raise enough fruit and veg for a family of 4 in a 3 metre sqare plot - ie 9 square metres. You'd need to be pretty well on top of it all the time though.

Lizzyb

Poosmate

Hanging baskets are good (as you are already planning). You could also do window boxes too so you have the ground room underneath for grow bags or pots. I'm a noob here so someone correct me if I'm wrong, maybe you could grow some little stuff like herbs in small troughs on the windowsills (?). I have no idea how big stuff grows so you might be able to.

Poo

Lotus-eater

Frugal wrote: »

How many sq m to grow veggies for one adult and 2 LOs

The answer is as much space as you have got.
It all depends on what you grow and how much you eat of each thing. I would say 14 square metres for the lot you want to grow. That's going through what you want to grow and saying, about a metre sq for carrots etc.

Orange_King

It will very much depend on how many different things you are tempted to plant and then the quantity of each. Take it easy on the courgettes and brocolli unless anyone can suggest some crafty ways of doubling up on the space being used - I will be trying beans and peas along one side of the new strawberry patch next year.

Also, I plant spuds in the bags that are available for a couple of quid so that leaves more space in the patches. As well as that, I do a bit of vertical gardening using part of the fence and having some shelving where the herbs and smaller things can be planted.

Once you have used up the space you have set aside initially, once it is fully crammed with stuff you'll be wanting another patch if it ca be slotted in somewhere!

wssla00

Yep! That totally happens I am always looking at ways of growing more in less space. I am trying a patiogrow from lakeland's sale. It looks pretty good for my flowers I want to grow.