Here is what I have noticed so far on a few of those things, but is by no means perfect information.

My radishes took less than a month, but not all 16 grew. I would plant 2 seeds per hole next time because I only did the one per hole thing. I only got between 3-6 and they didn't grow very well. I will keep trying though!

My corn was planted on 7/27 and it has ears coming up already. Should be ready in a few weeks so it is about 2 months for the type I bought. So far only one ear per stalk, but I planted 4 per square so I have at least 4 ears per square. That's assuming the critters don't get them.

My peppers didn't survive the FL heat enough for me to know, but I just planted more.

The beans were planted 7/27 and they are flowering right now. I'll let you know how much I end up harvesting once they start really producing and how long it took.

I've had mixed results, but my SFG is strictly organic and low maintenance. 2 years running, I'm pushing the limit on carrots to 25. They are Danver's half longs planted in 7 inches of soil in an 8 inch box. Happy and healthy. Everything else I have not grown with the exception of Tomatoes. My yield is 0. Chipmunks are evil little cuties. Darn things pull the tomatos down or climb up and chow into the sides.

I hope your success is great.

Squirrel Girl

Any other thoughts regarding Mel's yield projections?

IMHO: You can do MUCH better if you pick the right tomatoes. I understand that bloody butchers and stupice are 50 days, so, if you have an amazing climate, you could get three harvests a year. I'm working on my fall tomatoes with stupice. Will let you know more in October.

Pulpo,
I did not keep as close track of all harvests that I probably should have but I believe the book to be accurate in some things and off in others....another thing to keep in mind is the book assumes 100% germination. Read your seed packets, I find most will have listed germination rates of only 85-95%.

Lettuce
Book says 4 per sq. ft. Depending on the kind of lettuce this is possible, however my experience with butterhead types is that it is simply to close. I did not grow crisphead (often what is called iceberg) types so I cannot speak for that, however I assume it would be close for that also. Romaine seems to do ok planted this close. I needed to transplant in order to get 4 per sq especially when the weather started to warm up. In warmer weather lettuce simply does not germinate well.

BTW....Mel's suggestion of starting seeds in a container of vermiculite in water works very well. We started our lettuce in 72 cell cell packs filled with vermiculite. We took the humidity domes, turned them upside down and filled them with water, then set the cell packs into them. Worked very well with almost 100% germination.

Cherry
Books says 6 lbs. I did not weigh my harvest of tomatoes per plant, however I believe this would be less what we experienced. This might be a good average number depending on variety.

Cucumbers
We had lots, however per plant I would not know. The only cukes we plan on plating next year is Mexican Sour Gherkins. They are great on salads and most people have never seen them, creates quite a conversation piece. "Normal" cukes only get used in small amounts in most restaurants it seems (orders would be for about a dozen a week)

Swiss Chard
Did not grow.

Radishes
Book says 16, for us yields ran about 8. I believe my nitrogen was a little to high which makes a nice top but not much radish. Hope to improve that a little till next year, but I would not expect to ever get 16. Again that assumes 100% germination and 100% harvest.

Snap Beans
Book says 2 lbs which is very close to what we experienced. Our beds are 4' wide and 32' feet long. We planted some at 9 to a square like the book says and others simply three rows per bed. Yields were about the same and the three row beds were easier to harvest. The 9 per sq. beds were quite a tangle!

Tomatoes
Books says 9. We planted many varieties and found yields to vary quite a bit. I did not keep track of total yield in lbs, however I do know commercial green house growers in the area expect about 16lbs per plant using similar methods of growing, pruning etc.

Carrots
Books says 16. For us the germination rates were poor for carrots, however the ones that did come up produced very nicely. I would say we probably ran about 8 per sq.ft total harvest.

Peppers
I did not keep track of yields in lbs, however I would say the book is a little high on this one, maybe not in TX though with your longer growing season.

Eggplant
Did not grow, hope to till next year however

Corn
Did not grow.

Overall I would say to expect about 90% germination of your seeds and about 80% of that would be number 1 quality harvest.

Good luck!

Snap beans, 35 pints canned from 2 foot by 25 foot container garden. Maine

mel numbers are based in relation to standard USDA expected production. If want another source I suggest John Jeavons book how to more vegetables. Mel's number are quite reasonable for when book was written in 1985. I my opinion his estimates are bit low so not be over optimistic.

I find Nantes carrots work out best at 25 per for me. German Giant and Icicle Radish at 9 per also seems best as they are big plants The rest of the chart looks good, but I do not keep close watch on harvest weight or count. Some of my spacing varies due to cultivator needs. I do no corn and am taking out the tomatoes for good. My Big Garlic also goes at 4 per instead of 9 per.

Curt

homeend....that was a good answer. I will probably pick up one of Jeavons's books this week at the library.

While this is an old thread, and this particular comment was written a long time ago, I thought it pertinent to point out what should be the obvious.

"Lettuce
Book says 4 per sq. ft. Depending on the kind of lettuce this is possible, however my experience with butterhead types is that it is simply to close. I did not grow crisphead (often what is called iceberg) types so I cannot speak for that, however I assume it would be close for that also. Romaine seems to do ok planted this close. I needed to transplant in order to get 4 per sq especially when the weather started to warm up. In warmer weather lettuce simply does not germinate well. "

Except, no one eats four lettuces at the same time, so yes you can indeed grow 4 quite easily; just don't seed all four together!

hmmm....I think I can say with pretty good confidence that the numbers from the old SFG Cash book are a little lighter than what I have been able to get. I dont do anything fancy and try to basically stick to the rules. For those who might have had some challenges with SFG or have other questions, I have something that may interest you...maybe not. I am also working on building my photo gallery and it should be pretty full in the next couple of months...but take a look if your intersted....