What is the area of your annual vegetable garden in square feet?

What is the area of your annual vegetable garden in square feet?

Mine is 1300 square feet. This is for annual vegetables.

Interesting question. Here in Aus we measure things in square metres, BUT most people who were using imperial before the metric system came in, easily lapse back into pounds, shillings and inches. 3M = roughly 10ft, 9sq M = roughly 100sq ft, so your 1300 sq ft is roughly 13 x 9 = 127sqM

That is a lot of veg garden! What do you grow, and how many people does that support? Do you aim at self sufficiency? Do you include those parts of your garden where you grow fruit, or just veg? Do you have ample water?

Here, I would have a hard time measuring the total area, because I tend to grow bits here and there. We have a small farmlet a short distance from home, where the soil is rich red volcanic loam. There is bore water and the frosts are few, so I like to grow potatoes, corn and tomatoes there, and the leeks also do well. I suppose I would have to count that as about 10 to 15 sq M, but it varies. If I grow pumpkins there, they spread themselves over a much larger ares.

At home I have dedicated veg beds this year measuring a total of around 20 sq metres. I have also prepared 6sqM of no dig garden and about 7 sq metre of water wicking beds - a new concept for me, but we are on a total water ban with the town supply, and only have tank water for veggies. I also have a large round raised bed which was originally intended for my bulb collection, but I have found most suitable as a salad garden, being close to the house. I imagine it would measure around 10sq M, and I have started planting it out for summer salads, in small mixed beds, with sequential plantings.

I have a considerably area of my garden dedicated to fruit trees, vines and berries, and also tend to plant veggies here and there. Silver beet and globe artichokes are the main offenders. I tend to pop the extra plants into garden beds where I find a bit of room.

There are 2 of us to feed, but a large extended family of 6 adult children, their partners and children. I also bottle and dry fruit for use during the year.

Cheers, Jan

Mine's about 250 sq ft, but spread over two beds. At the moment, one is full of garlic, onions, a few lettuce and some mustard greens and the other is full of weeds and some rocket that went to seed.

That is a large area to keep going Durgan. I don't have a lot of beds here yet as injury has put hard yakka on hold. My old vegetable gardens though would have been around the size of a tennis court - mostly no dig or raised beds - fenced off in much the same way as a tennis court and covered with shadecloth - in the tropics there. Possible because I had access to a lot of organic material - manure and hay - made my own compost - and had lots of water in tanks and dams except during drought.

Mostly what I'm growing now is in among the flower beds or in pots to make it easier for me while I recover from a broken ankle. Next autumn when the heat has gone out of the sun and all going well I'll be back into it - lost without a garden. My husband meanwhile has planted a few melons, pumpkins and so on to keep us going - they are planted off by themselves near the chook pen - and we have tomatoes, cos and other salad vegetables, herbs, capsicums etc coming on - enough to keep both of us going with the basics - no family to feed. Will plant more fruit trees - plenty of room here so can make a garden bed big as I like - my only restriction is the availability of water.

Jan - appreciate a thread on your wicking gardens

Hi Fran,
There was one here a while back. I've never done these before, so I'm pretty green. Here's a link to Scarecrows blog page which has more details too:
http://scarecrowsgarden.blogspot.com/

Cheers, Jan

https://cosmicconnection.forumotion.net/general-gardening-stuff-f4/wicking-beds-t217.htm?highlight=water+wicking

To save you hunting as i had to :-)

Yes I've been keeping my eye on all the various wicking beds looking for ideas - just wondered what materials you used.

Love Scarecrow's blog - has it all

I have to hand - chicken manure scratched into the ground with straw and food scraps - well rotted - all scraped out of the old chook yard.
Compost - a huge mountain of it. Pea straw - bales sitting in the garden going very soggy and rotten. I figured I would just make a casserole of the whole lot :-) Maybe add some lime for the worms. Then put maybe a mix of compost and soil in the spots where I am planting, like I would do with a no dig garden.
What do you think.
Sorry - I think I have hijacked this thread and turned it into something else.
Shhh! - Blossom is on holidays :-)

Cheers, Jan

Chooks are just the best helpers for a vegie gardener aren't they I've been putting fresh straw under the roosts every few weeks - rake it all up - best way I know to fertilize citrus.

The wicking beds seem to require worms and I don't know the first thing about looking after worms - puts me off a little. In my world worms are supposed to evolve and look after themselves if I provide the organics and do a bit of watering LOL

Do you mean to make a container bed of some sort and line with the plastic? I like to use what I have to hand - wish I'd brought the old corrugated iron tanks that I had cut down with me.

siri wrote:Interesting question. That is a lot of veg garden! What do you grow, and how many people does that support? Do you aim at self sufficiency? Do you include those parts of your garden where you grow fruit, or just veg? Do you have ample water?
Cheers, Jan

The area mentioned is just for vegetables, my bush fruits and trees are scattered throughout the yard. I have city water and have about 200 gallon drum containers connected to the downspouts, which water I prefer. I feed the neighborhood, plus play around mostly growing plants that are not really for my climate-with great success. Being surrounded by the Great Lakes, usually I have ample rainfall, except for some situations, when I water. I am heavy with mulch, which is wood chips, which I get for free simply by picking them up from a City Park.

Vegetable gardening is almost a lost art in Canada. I live in one of the best growing areas of the country and there are almost no gardens, and some of the properties are huge by most standards. People grow grass. Old time Canadians have gone soft, and the only gardeners are old country immigrants in general.

Wow - that's great - you are making more productive use of your garden than I am - even with a short growing season - my hat's off to you. I do sometimes have a surplus and love to share with neighbours but that's as far as it goes. I am teaching my grandsons what I know though.

Afraid gardening is a lost art in this country too. Recently visited one of the most beautiful and fertile valleys in Australia and wondered why everyone's yard looked so barren and unloved. Was imagining what I could do with their soil in that climate. And then there was the new beach estate going up - virgin vegetation razed so developers could make money out of our environment. All homes looked the same, colour matched, wall to wall rendered brick in the latest style for mcmansions - not a tree in sight - no room for green space to even skirt a house - a definite no-gardening zone - big homes that take up valuable space and resources - criminal really. Better get off my soapbox

Will enjoy hearing more about your garden Durgan

Wow!

Wish I could prpare more space :-(

I have just 20 sq m (7 beds 2.4m x 1.2m) plus pots (approx 20x 15L) . Plus 2 geenhouses (8 sq m each).

Curently planted

1. Cabbage
2. Beetroot
3. Lettuce
4. Cauliflower
5. Spinach
6. Black kale
7. Peas
8. Onion
9. Garlic
10. Broad beans
11. Spring onions
12. Herbs
13. Celery
14. Chilis
15. Eggplant


Soon to plant

1. Tomatoes
2. Potatoes
3. Squash etc

.................Vegetable gardening is almost a lost art in Canada. I live in one of the best growing areas of the country and there are almost no gardens, and some of the properties are huge by most standards.................

Let's see if they take action when the petrol prices start to go sky high, and the food prices with them. I think the whole world has to sit up and take notice. There certainly seems to be a lot more demand for vegetable seeds in this country. I see groups of people standing around the seed rack in K-mart and big W these days, deciding what they will grow this Spring.

Your garden sounds wonderful, and so different to ours Durgan, with your plentiful water supply. Would love to see photos.

Cheers, Jan

siri wrote:.................Vegetable gardening is almost a lost art in Canada. I live in one of the best growing areas of the country and there are almost no gardens, and some of the properties are huge by most standards.................

Let's see if they take action when the petrol prices start to go sky high, and the food prices with them. I think the whole world has to sit up and take notice. There certainly seems to be a lot more demand for vegetable seeds in this country. I see groups of people standing around the seed rack in K-mart and big W these days, deciding what they will grow this Spring.

Your garden sounds wonderful, and so different to ours Durgan, with your plentiful water supply. Would love to see photos.

Cheers, Jan

This is the beginning of our growing season. The snow has just left the ground, and no more frosts are expected until September. We had a frost 16 September 2008 last night. Pictures are annotated. Now I would like to see similar from Australia. 2008 was not a good year due to cold weather, and too many showers almost all of August. The produce was reasonable but not exceptional.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?ZBOXV 24 May 2008 Vegetable and Fruit Garden.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?FEJPO Flowering plants growing in Zone 5 on 24 May 2008.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?RXPMF 28 June 2008 Food Garden Zone 5b.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?CDXBO 17 August 2008 Garden views.

The individual plants are in my Garden Journal.
http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?VEGVW Garden Journal

Looks vast. I got tired just looking at it. Fantastic to have so much space.

http://www.durgan.org/ShortURL/?NLAES 27 June 2007 A real Garden

My best year in five years 2007.