How Much To Plant For A Family Of 4 To Be Self Sufficient (7 Factors That WILL Impact Garden Size) 

I am a 72 year old woman, who used to plant a garden every year to feed my family of 5. I used the store to supplement my canned and frozen vegetables and fruits. I haven't done much gardening since my kids all grew up. However I am going to build a tiny house on my youngest daughters farm, and I know they garden, and it's pretty big, although I am not sure of the square footage. She told me I would have a nice sized garden by my little cabin too. So here we go, wish me a blessed retirement, please. I am excited to start this new period of life, after 32 years in God's service both here and on foreign soil. Thank you so very much for all of the great information. I will need it, even it my kids do know what they're doing!👵😇

People really underestimate the amount of land they need. They also underestimate the amount of work it takes.

People under estimate how much land and work and potential failures. Growing is much harder than it appears. My Grandfather made it look so easy.

It’s a reason the indigenous planted corn, beans and squash (3 sisters). High calorie easy to store foods. Amaranth would sometimes be added as a 4th sister. The entire plant is edible. Also, sweet potatoes, squash/pumpkin, okra & black eyed pea leaves are edible, and maximize the edible space. For example: growing squash over cucumber or growing sweet potatoes over white potatoes can definitely add more food to the garden without taking up more space.

Good information. It's now 2022 and there are a LOT of folks that are starting to garden, more than in 2020. I was reading comments about taxes and land size. One other thing to consider. Your county rules! We are on 3/4 of an acre. We live outside of town- ruralish. But, AFTER buying this place- and not thinking homework was needed, we found out- We may NOT put any permanent structure past 11 feet from the front door. We may have 5 chickens- no roosters. They MUST be kept in the back yard, but 20 feet from the property line. Well, guess what? My back yard is 30 feet from the neighbors. 90 % of our property is the front and side yards. We may not compost outside of one of those small H.D. turning compost bens. So- what's the problem? You don't need permanent structures to garden! Use the front yard!?! Oh, then there is is septic system- which MUST be in the front yards of this area. And you may NOT garden within 25 feet from the septic system. People are running for the hills. Just make sure you get to use that hill you want to buy!

Check out the WWII recommendations, they gave good advice on maximising the variety, nutrition and space. Booklets with detailed guidance suggested options to use a space min two but sometimes three times. A note regarding the cucumbers, you need to rotate plants which are from the same family - knowledge from granny which I always keep. Therefore, you can mislead pests.

I"m a positive person, so I keep thinking that my one seed will grow into the one plant that makes an insane amount of fruit... I"m learning! This year I tripled the amount of seeds I planted last year, and yes, there were one or two plants that failed. But luckily I have the others that made it :)

I am young still in my teen yrs from Trinidad and Tobago with a very long growing season and I decide when I get a house and land I will grow staples like peppers tomatoes seasoning (herbs) lots of fruit trees, things that I have success planting now. Growing in pots is the best I can do right now.

Our garden is 4500 actual growing sq foot ( NOT including walk paths..does not include all fruit trees and vines).. does it supply us? Yes..yes it does.. Looks like this- 40x220 victory garden 30x 75 raised bed garden, 15x 40 raised bed garden 24 fruit trees , Peaches, apple ,pear, plums, apricot trees-Various fruit and Vine. **Grapes, raspberry,black berry, kiwi , strawberry, gooseberry.

Thank you for sharing! I’ve been aiming towards self sufficiency in garden yields and have been appalled by the lies on the internet. I grew 180lbs of potatoes last year and my family of two will run out before I harvest again. It also depends on how often you like to eat certain veggies.

Grow what you can, where you are. I like the information. I wish I had the room to expand, but, only have a small backyard. Love gardening and canning and preserving my food. 🤲👍🤗thank you.

Assuming you expanded your 1300sqft garden (current size I think you said?) to 2600sqft and doubling the space, you'd only be using 0.06 of an acre of land. That's awesome and really puts things into perspective for me as I look for land. I've been hoping to find at least 5.5 acres (to ensure I have the possibility of agricultural use tax valuation), but if I don't worry to much about ag valuation I can rest assured that 2 acres would be enough space to have bees, chickens, and enough garden space (plus the house).

I've checked out that chart as well but I think it *vastly* underestimates the amount of food you need. For example, it says 8 lbs of onions are needed for one adult, when I've probably eaten that much in two weeks. But even conservatively, let's say you eat only a pound of onions a week; that's 50 lbs over the year, a far cry from 8lbs! I think the best way to figure this out is to weigh all the veggies you buy at the grocery store for a week (or a month, for more accuracy), and then multiply out to figure your needs for the year.

We had bacterial wilt last year on our cucs, zucchini and melons. It was awful! Lost every one of them 😢 This video is spot on. I'm going into my 7th year of gardening with roughly 6,000 square feet. We've enlarged it each year. Every year has been different and brought different challenges. This video is full of so much truth. Thanks for sharing.

I got a good chuckled out of, " if you're way in the north, say, Idaho". Meanwhile in northern QC it freezes in June 😂

I grew up gardening, I say 1/4 - 1/3 acre for a family of 4-5. You also need to factor in the space needed to save seed and putting food away for winter use. We grew all our basic food minus say wheat for flower. Milked our own goats, raised chickens for eggs and meat, a few hogs for meat, rabbits for meat, some fruit trees. For the rest we foraged what grew wild, try not to neglect your bitter fruiting plants like the Oregon Berry, wild herbs ect.

This was articulate, informative, and very well thought out. Thanks so much, this was the best 10 minutes of content I've viewed this year

Live over in Grapeland, neighbor.... put in a 200x200’ garden every few years. Only because I was an airl8ne pilot, it was tough. I’m retired now, so we are getting serious about it. Love your channel. Thanks

We have a kitchen garden, as you called it in the video. We supplement our veggies all through summer and this last few years we've been doing good with maybe three different types of vegetables we've eaten off of all winter. The problem is that we last all winter but not through the spring until our first crop. And we're not yet consistent in growing things to the yield we want, and of course, may never be. But I've been grateful for the successes we have had. String beans, squash, tomatoes, strawberries... I personally have a lot to learn since I'm trying to take over the hard work from my grandma. So I'll be happy with just a little more consistency!

Let me just right now I work from home on a computer screen all day and my goal is to get to the point where I have enough money such that I can garden/tend animals as much as I want, so glad I found your channel!

10:01 was an adorable background surprise. God bless you and your family!

Thank you for sharing what you have learned. 🙏 It’s good that people get a realistic view about self-sufficiency.

This really complicates garden planning, but it is still better to learn it from here rather than the hard way. Great video, Thanks for all the work you put in it!

Thank you for sharing like you do☺. Im a mom of 4 and they're all adults now and 4 grandchildren and im learning so much about permiculture and gardening. My goal is to teach my kids and grandchildren how to be self-sufficient so they will know how to survive when im gone. Im 52 now and its now time for me to live my life and im so blessed to have my family. Honestly I really appreciate you💐☺. God bless you and your family🙏,, sincerely Lisa

Location, Nebraska.... As a young person, the family got most of its food from a garden that was about 7,700 sq ft. That garden fed my family of 4, and also fed a family of 5 for my grandparents.

Great Table of production, thanks

This is really great....your channel is one of the best for having done your homework and giving accurate information. Jesus bless you guys a double portion for all your help.

very good points to consider ahead of time!

I also live in Texas near Nacogdoches. I also grow in the ground but I like planting in cattle tubs. Great video’s.

Yeah, found someone gardening in zone 8B, too. Following!

Thanks for sharing, excellent information 👍🏼

Very informative. Thanks for this.

Great video. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for this video

Great info. Thanks!

I use to say I wanted a 365 quarts of whole tomatoes, green beans, greens and 365 of corn and field peas with snaps and less of like beets, carrots and other vegetables. I always wanted more so if extra people came over. We ate fresh as long as possible and then went to canned.

I did redundancy in planting this year and I'm so thankful!!! Have hand over fist cucumbers.

I added 400sq ft. Of greenhouse space this year. Last year I lost so much to wind and rain.. Im planting in beds and putting grow bags where ever I can find a sunny spot. I also planned for a spring fall planting of my cold weather crops. People dont realize its a full time job just to take care of that much garden and putting it up with each harvest.

Another great vid brother!

I planted emerald green okra the first week in April and the plants stalled until close to the end of May. On the plus side, I was picking okra until Oct when I pulled the plants. On topic; I can feed myself on 100 sq ft if all I eat is turnips and their green and I keep it all on succession planting. I wouldn't stave, but I wouldn't be very happy either. :P

We are in SW Arizona so we can repeat sow and this year we got 6 cattle panels so we can do vertical gardening to make more room for those plants that do not climb. Oh, we also got 2 Birdie beds - Strawberries are in 1 & Sweet & White Potatoes in the other. Plus our 2 old well water tanks which were replaced (of course) my Husband cut them in half for me so we now have 4 large planters that are tall enough so the Bunnies & Ground Squirrels cannot eat our plants. We did have to surround our garden area with a metal garden shed that blew over in extreme winds - we took all the pieces & surrounded the garden - were even able to make 2 gates into the garden. Out here there are TOO MANY hungry critters who think we just grow gardens for them. Judi

Thank you. I'm in zone 8B too.

I find this interesting being an urban grower in the North. We have many people with much smaller gardens that have to hand out what they grow because their yield is to much for one family. We as rely on each other for variety do to small space. Community is hey up here.

Great video 👍

Solid advice

I used to do gardens but it was too much work. I still garden but the majority of the stuff i now grow is on bushes and trees. I have a 1 acre back yard with around 60 small trees in total and hundreds of bushes. I grow thousands of pounds of fruit and nuts a year and we have to give 90% of it away. With little to know maintenance. I do air layering instead of pruning on all my trees and usually end up with a thousand baby trees to sell a year. Now they is supposed to be a huge food shortage coming. I might have to make room for a garden again.

Merci beaucoup pour vos conseils. (Thanks a lot for your wise advices.)

I think the age of your kids is really important and people always underestimate it. I have 2 boys aged 10 and 8, both are going through growth spurts and starting to eat like teenagers. When they hit their teens, they'll eat more than me and my husband but on food storage or gardening calculators they're still classed as 'children'.

Goid info..thanks much

That opener made me sub

My grandad taught me a lot about growing. If i may share. He told me that potatoes,tomatoes and another veg?are all from the nightshade family. That we cannot grow the same veg in the same plot the next year. An example is if you grew potatoes in plot one,don't grow tomatoes or potatoes in that plot for at least a year,because it will help cut down on blight and disease. Any leaves with blight on have to be burnt.Apple cider vinegar sprayed on a diseases plant or with bugs on will get rid of them. Also try to pick up really old gardening books. They are a mine of Information. Ask the Amish for gardening tips. And check out the native American gardening site called three sisters. They grow corn, tomatoes and squash together,as each of these plants supports the other.

My dad always had 3 big gardens and a salad patch. Some things need more space like watermelon or cantaloupe

I had a 10x10 garden and grew all kinds of things all year around here in Florida. But I wouldn't even try to live off of it. I would have had to grow that plot by a factor of ten.

I’m just getting into this, researching and planning for my homestead/Ecovillage project. Can anyone cite me a good guide to Texas growing and sustenance that also includes proper nutrition considerations? I’m looking to gradually increase my usage of the garden/farm from supplementing (~40-50%) to near full dependency.

A plus of growing in zone 4..I have only slugs as a pest...beer traps help alot....lily Beatles strip the lilies but better than my tomatoes

Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see the article you were going to post.

Hi there just want to know what area are you in. I heard you said 8b. I am in Jacksonville Fl 8b-9a zone and trying to learn more about gardening. I have about 1000 sq ft area of vegetable garden. I love watching and learning from co gardeners.

I use 1400 square feet for myself and my wife. I'm retired so I have the time to make this garden successful. Time required for a successful garden is not mentioned by many channels. Time is also needed to can or freeze what you have grown.

Guys the absolute easiest way to start a garden! Get a 40x50 foot tarp, put it over a pretty level area that you mowed. Add compost and wood chip mulch or straw. You can cover crop half the section. Work on broad-forking the other section. Make your rows about 3 feet wide. There you are growing food on a pretty good scale there. That whole bed with paths is about 1000 square feet growing area. Use the tarp to make new areas as you will need several but that’s how you get started and the rest is just keeping up a repetitive pattern. Water, add organic mater, compost, fertilize, keep the ground covered, work in perennials, plant things for the bees!

Wow and I thought i was doing well this year lol I need more land

Great information! Never understood how the videos and tv shows think they can grow everything in such small spaces. I would say you may need even more garden space when it comes down to 100% depending on it. Some years just don’t yield as well even when all the conditions are right

Think vertical people. 💜

suggestions, worms, variety of composting, mixtures

I appreciate your videos, they're very helpful. I know those seven factors will change the answer for everyone, and that even the answer will change from year to year as the factors also change, but can you estimate (maybe in percentages) of how close you were to being self sufficient with the 1200-1300 sq. feet garden? I've been doing research and I think around 3000 sq. feet should be in the ballpark for our family of 5 in growing season 8/9 (we're right on the line between both zones).

Where I live we have a lot of wild berries on our land as well and I’ve utilized boxed beds where I can use them where I can put netting or a plastic top or trellises depending on time of year and what I’m growing to protect and maximize my crop each box is homemade under $200 easily so I build them a little at a time and I incorporate green houses, railroad ties raised beds for larger gardens and utilize different wild plants that will distract or act as a natural repellent to bugs. Worm tea and farming in a shed helps with the soil as I have excess run off from a retainer pond slowly trickle to my gardens and utilize an orchid on the top of the hill and edges to prevent erosion . I raise meat and eggs as well and plan on using aquaculture in ponds and in aquaponic greenhouses to raise more fish. I think I’ll raise black soldier fly larvae as a compost maker and as a feed so I can attempt to raise blue gill as they like live moving prey making it hard to raise for aquaculture.

Thank you very much for your advice. I have about 3500 squarefoot with about a 650 squarefoot poly tunnel for my family, two adults, 3 children under 5. This will be my first serious attempt to produce a lot of food for us.

Try planting cucamelons. They don’t attract as many pests and will produce until a hard frost kills them. They make great pickles, too.

It also depends on your growing seasons. We have 3 seasons here in zone 9.

I have a pool, big waste and 4 dogs that don't respect garden space... I would add those as factors as well

I agree your numbers are totally right. I also know at the age of 69 was a horrible arthritis I’m not gonna be able to get that kind of garden. It’s rather discouraging.

We are focused on succession planting of fast growing high yield varieties and also on vertical gardening. We have 2 acers and can grow year round. We also utilize hydroponics inside. It was expensive but we bought two 3 tiered attractive ones. We are self-sufficient for a family of 4 in several foods. Green beans, greens, herbs, some fruits, hot and bell peppers, sunflower seeds and squash. We still have to buy some canned tomatoes because we use so many. Same with potatoes and sweet potatoes, garlic and onions. We planted a hedge of tea bushes and will transition off coffee when those are ready to start harvesting from. Corn, wheat, oats, dried beans and rice are impractical to try and grow here. Sugar beets are a waste of space. I do have a few olive and nut trees that should start to produce when my as of yet unborn grandkids retire. I feel the same about my fruit trees. I got 1 apple last year. We have edible ornamental plants in the front yard that gives us tea, vitamins and an overlooked food source by foragers. I feel like I've reached all I can do here. It's a lot of work, there is no more space and I couldn't take proper care of more anyway.

Everytime I harvest, I wish I had planted more

Also factor in perennial plants and trees. Nuts and berries and fruits all add to your calories. They take some time to produce but it is well worth the wait for the effort.

I'm growing 3 Acers of veggies!! 5th year, Michigander here so kinda limited on grow season! Organic no pesticides!! Study study study! I use plants and flowers to control the pest! Control not eliminate

800 sqft garden zone 6b, I had dreams of giving away pickles and tomato suace, the kids eat everything faster then it grows, I planted 130 tomato plants last year, the only thing that makes it to winter is pumpkins and sweet potatoes and they're gone before Christmas

Where is the link to the paper at the Agricultural Institute - have looked all over for it and would really like to find it.

I think those 100 feet estimates are taking in compacting methods like going vertical or extremely intentional interplanting

Could you please provide the link to the article showing the amounts of veggies needed for an individual or family? Thanks!

I like to cover my soil with dry grass make it a semi deep mulch garden. Keeps weeds out reduces pest because it promotes predatory organisms. And I make it so birds are heavily in my garden. So far I am 99% pest free

Crop rotation helps with pests.

Thank you so much. we are at 4500 square feet for a family and that is not enough.

I have a 3000 square foot gardens and I can assure you it ain't enough to feed just the 2 of us. Granted I have red clay soil am really looking at the soil and making it better but I figure where I live it takes 3000 square feet per person

Hi there, I came across this video by accident but watched it completely - and am so thankful for your informations you shared ! I want to move to Bosnia and start a self sufficent garden combined with food forest and permaculture garden and these factors came the right time over my way! But I still have a question and hope you can answer it: in a lot of videos everyone talks about the growing zones - how can I find out mine? Where can I get this information? Thanks for your answer in advance ! Regards from your new subscriber from Germany

I had problems with okra last yr.. zone 6a/6b

I don’t remember where I read it, but I read a paper many years ago, where a professor of some sort (I think it was biology) estimated that each person needs around 1000 m2 (~1200 sq. yards) in a temperate climate to safely be able to feed themselves. Here he included 1 goat for each person, for milk and meat, as well as a few chickens for each person as well, for eggs and meat. The animals also would provide fertilizer.

Lol thought it was funny you say way up north idaho. We live 12-18 hrs north of that. And honestly have only one growing season may- sept. Grow everything. My greenhouse is 600 sq ft and garden is actually 5 x that size. Still no where’s near enough tongrow enough.

Do a geodesic dome and be done.

'Depends on the place where you are living' Me: cries in German alps :') These are some great points! thanks for making this video ^.^ I Still have troubles with our season timing here xD especially if it comes to grow seeds -_- Last year I was too late because the snow melted earlier and this year I'm too early because we still have 50cm Snow and my Plants are ready to go outside xD... Sometimes I feel like growing stuff here is like the ultimate hardcore thing >_< Especially if the weather decides to be Sunny till May and on May 1st you wakeup look outside and everything is covered in snow. -_- We are also a 4 Person household and our garden just helps us out over some months, nowhere near a full year, especially with these unstable weather conditions x.x I Mean, it would be a dream to be self sufficient, but I guess for that i would need to move to another place q.q''

We grow and dry tomatoes and about 40 kgs fresh will last the season until spring. My advice is check out what you normally eat and only grow those and use disease resistant varieties.

How can you garden and feed your soil without any box stores? How did people garden for years without commercial fertilizer? I just started thinking about this with supply chain issues and financial issues. What if there were no stores to go too? Also that would apply to pest control.

Growing a substantial amount of food is not an endeavor for the inexperienced person. Gardening takes time, energy, money, and experience. I shake my head at those who buy the 'survival seeds' with their dreams of actually living off the land. One point: Colder zones can actually extend their growing season by using grow tunnels, or even growing in high tunnels. Refer to Eliot Coleman for eye-opening cold-weather growing. Soil health is a huge factor in garden productivity. There are a number of ways to improve soil health and it starts by remembering that soil is a living entity that must be 'fed' well. The healthier the soil, the more productive the garden and the more closely/intensively you can plant veggies. Trying to grow heat-loving veggies in cooler weather is difficult, at best. Consider using black plastic to cover soil so it will heat up quicker and 'fool' seeds/seedlings. There are other tricks to provide heat to those veggies too -- using temporary plastic jugs or walls around each plant, or planting this type of veggie next to a stone wall (see how some gardeners in the UK do this). One caution on soil -- remember that some mulches contain herbicides (ie Grazon) and it can seriously alter the garden's soil and productivity. Be as picky about your soil's food as you are your own food. And don't forget that you might add coldframes, high tunnels, or a greenhouse to extend the growing season. We're in Zone 6b/7a and the only veggie we have successfully been able to grow in our greenhouse during cold Winter (when we turn the greenhouse heater off) is our wintered-over Kale. It does grow for us to harvest, and we've had to learn the tricks of when to water or not. This year, we will fall-plant some cabbages and we'll hopefully have success with them. We are seasoned organic gardeners, feeding just the 2 of us now. We have 3 large gardens, 40 18-gal containers for growing, a small fruit and nut orchard, several berry bushes, 1 polycarb greenhouse, and a large rainwater cachement system (1,300 gal). We do very well but still not 100% self-sufficient -- we don't grow grains, or any sugar-product, nor do we process seeds for oils.

I was a farmer! And the answer to how much is a hell of a lot. The only way it works is if you get enough water, sun, avoid pests, can store massive amounts, concentrate on high volume produce and have sufficient help in planting, picking and storing food. Sounds like a lot and it is - which is why it's are and why we purchase crackers, peanut butter, eggs, cheese, concentrates, fruit, sugar, salt, pepper, ice cream, flour, butter, oil, etc Division of labor is extremely efficient compared to doing it all yourself. It's the difference between modern society and those where folks had to do it all. Those who grow apples, oranges, corn, flour or make wine, bread or cheese or build houses do it far cheaper and better.

I agree with you but it is more than even tripling. Insects, disease, animals, theft in difficult times, and the unknowns will take more than you think. My 2000 square foot garden in zone 8b is a full time job. Jars to can what you raise are a huge cost. Availability of seeds and amendments must also be considered. Assuming the worst will inevitably happen you must plant and store beyond next season. Double your most conservative estimate then add 10 percent. I also have 33 fruit trees and 7 grape vines plus 10 berry plants. Still go to the store for meat and things that we cannot grow. It has taken years to get to this level but still have many failures. Consider doing it without electricity and the collapse of everything. It is overwhelming to think on those terms. Keep up the good work. We all need to get closer to God and pray for His favor.

please show us how to plant and harvest a garden around 30 ft. by 80 ft, for just meaty vegetables for this world that is colapsing fast, I need to can can and more canning for all winter storage for 5 people I know its probably not a big enough lot, but please show us how grow plant and fertilize just meaty veggies row after row ive got 300 mason jars and still buying I want to preserve. thank you your great shows , 👍 love your methods desperately waiting Vincent A. 🇺🇸 👍

We live in north central WA state so our growing season is short.

Cannot find the link you were going to share .

How does growing Hydroponically or Aquaponically? For example, duck pond to tilapia to water beds?

Have you looked at the pdf version of "The Pyramid" by Les Brown? He boosted yields alot

Just starting out with a garden in California. Should I buy netting to cover vulnerable crops?

So years ago I was tasked with cleaning up an old farm house that was built in the early 1900s. They had 2 massive gardens. I would estimate each harden to be about 2500 square feet. One garden was dedicated to nothing but potatoes and the other was everything else. This was Canada so only one crop per year. They literally had to live off what they grew back then. So we are talking about 5000 square feet of garden to support 5 people.