How many sqft then are you adding, minus the garlic space?

This year, I only had about 170 sqft (larger now) and I had enough for fresh eating and freezing. Plant more of what you really like with the sole intent of freezing. Make sure if you're not trellising the vines of those plants don't encroach on your driveway or you'll be running over them.

You can forego some of the SQFT spacings that don't work for you for larger plants like broccoli and checkerboard them for larger growth instead. 224sqft is going to be plenty if you're just looking to eat and put up for your family. If you're looking to sell, you'll either need to concentrate on one/two items or go larger.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Corner Yard

32 sf for garlic is a LOT. I have maybe 12 and tucked in here and there, will end up with ~ 50-60 bulbs. At any rate, I have 200 sf and containers, and our fam is 4 and we're giving away extras to food closets this year.

Dan

After taking out the space for the garlic and my strawberry bed, I will have a total of usable 192sqf, All my pathway's around each bed and between the fence and beds will be 2ft wide. I'm actually gonna have a total of beds, 4 4'x12' beds and 1 4'x8' bed to use. So the 224sqf minus the 32sqf for my yearly garlic. Plus my 4'x6' strawberry bed off to the side I'm not counting and those 4 growbox's. I will be attaching a trellis system to the cucumber box and cantalope box. The pepper's should be fine with some simple stakes and the zucchini and summer squash, will just start to trail over halfway through the summer, it shouldn't be to bad considering I have a short season.

The garden is just going to be for my family of 4, 2 adults, 2 kids. Not selling at all. I'm hoping to get as much variety as I can from the garden. Some stuff I won't be holding strict to the sqf idea, like the tomatoes, I'm giving each plant a 2sqf space and slightly pruning. I'm sure there are other's I will have to give a bit more room too also.

I was just wondering if it would even be worth devoting the space to veggies( if I would get enough from it to feed us during the growing season), it was gonna be my large front yard flower bed (It's already halfway prepared to plant), but since I really should be growing veggies over flowers (to feed us) and I still do have somes spaces for flowers, I thought I'd ask peoples opinion's on what they thought I could get from this space.

Oh also the large middle of the garden get's about 10 hours direct light and say a small portion of each end get's about 5-6 hours direct light. So I would think I would be fine growing everything. I have very limited direct sun on my property due to all the tree's.
Melissa1977

Dan, does that really seem like alot? I have right now 45 heads I will be pulling soon. I LOVE garlic. I could eat a whole roasted head to myself with dinner. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

Melissa1977

45 heads in 32 sf is a lot. You can get easily 6-9 in 1 sf; a little closer than big red onions. I have 12sf dedicated solely to garlic, wide spacing of 6/sf, with some ornamental peppers scattered in there. The rest go wherever in the fall. I have rows along the back of the bed, behind the trellises, which only take 4-6". They don't need to be in the same spot, just where they get enough sun until about 2 weeks ago. Just make sure they don't impede where your cold frame will go.

Dan

Oh no, this past fall I only did 24SQF (a 4'x6' bed) of garlic and actually spaced them wider at 8inches apart each way, not the sqf way. After seeing how they came up I feel completely fine doing 4 cloves per sqf or every 6inches.

Melissa1977

I have approx 300 square feet for a family of 5, three of those teenagers, one of those a boy teenager:) I took this year to experiment on what will give us the biggest bang for our buck.

I originally planted 4 SF of lettuce with an additional 6 succesion plantings in ohter beds, this was a huge amount of lettuce for us, even with the family loving salads.

I have 8 SF of Zuchs, 8 SF of yellow squash, 16 SF of yellow onions, 16 SF of broccoli, 6 SF of cauliflower, 22 SF of tomatoes, 22 SF of herbs, 16 SF for strawberries, 8 SF cukes, 8 SF peppers, 18 SF swiss chard, 12 SF beets, 5 SF of carrots, 2 SF radishes 4 SF of fennel,12 sf green cabbage, 4 SF red cabbage, 6 SF green beans, 8 SF peas, 32 sf melons, at least 24 sf of marigolds mixed in, along with various little experiments like my habanero peppers.

I can tell you this:

not anywhere near enough green beans or peas. I had never grown them before, so I just wanted enough to try:)

Too much lettuce, but neighbors like it.

Probably too much room devoted to melons, as they don't grow too well here, but I had to try in my first SFG.

I am happy with everything else. I have to tell you though, I don't follow exact planting instructions for the SFG method. My carrots are planted in rows along a few squares, I like to plant them a little thicker and thin as I go. We like to eat the thinnings;) Weird huh??

I love the versatility of the greens from the beets and chard for salad, which is why the lettuce was too much. The swiss chard is a favorite steamed, but I wasn't expecting to be using the greens in the salad bowl - slipped my brain.

Also, I used one bed as a little greenhouse, so I could plant in April then transplant to other beds, that worked really, really well.

I don't know if this helps, but I can share any other info if you need it. Also, we too have a local food distribution center I was fortunate enough to be able to serve at. They give grocery type foods to the needy. They have a section just for those of us who can donate fresh garden veggies and fruits. The people were so grateful, I figured any extra will be well used:)

My garden is set up in a big square space, but my husband used the space really well. I love my corner boxes, they are very original. I will put in a pic at the bottom. Just to the left in the picture is the area we will add rows of corn and lots of pumpkins next year. I also have some blacklace and some American Elderberry bushes just starting. The blacklace ones are in the front of the pic outside the squash box. This year putting in beds was enough of a project;) We will also be adding to our two apple and one apricot tree. Two peach and two pear trees, along with raspberries, grapes and blueberries (if I can get them to grow in Idaho). Someday, maybe more.....

Have a great day, and happy gardening!!!!

g

Sorry this was so long, I like to gab - hence the name:):) ...

Gabby, thanks for breaking it down for me of what you grew, that's what I was looking for. I clippped your post and will use it for future reference.

Dan, you said you do 6-9 per sqf for garlic? Maybe I'll try 4" spacing and plant the cloves diagonal instead of in a block pattern?

Also has anybody grown beans in thier SQF garden for the purpose of drying and using in soups? I would love to try 1 or 2 varities for the fall and winter cooking, but am unsure what the average amount is you would get from each plant in the end?

Melissa1977

You'll learn what grows well in your area, and what give you the most "return on investment." For example, tomatoes typically are great in a garden, because they are relatively expensive to buy and the home grown ones taste MUCH better that what you can get at the store.

Many people find that dry beans are not the best use of space in the garden - it takes a lot of space to grow what you can buy very cheaply at the store. Now you may disagree, if you really like beans and can appreciate the taste difference between home grown and store bought. I didn't have much luck with fava beans this spring - they took up a lot of space and only yielded a few beans. Am growing black-eyed peas now - will see how they do. If this is your first year growing dry beans, you might like to try just a small area with a couple of varieties this year to see what kind of yield you get, and you can always grow more next year if you really like them. I wouldn't devote a lot of space to them until you evaluate this - would rather use the space for other reliable yielders.

I'm devoting relatively more space this year to okra because I know it is a reliable yielder in my area. Am still experimenting with other vegetables in the hope of finding other things that grow well here, but in the meantime I know I can enjoy the okra. I would likewise recommend that you devote part of your garden space to reliable plants for your area, and then experiment with the rest of the space with plants that are more finicky or that you have not tried before.