For some gardeners, the ultimate goal is to grow as much of their own produce as possible. If that’s your goal, it can often be tough to plan a garden. How do you decide whether to plant three pepper plants or 20?

The go-to first advice is only to plant what you already eat.

The first step is to take a look at your grocery list or receipts. Look at how often you buy what. How many onions does your family purchase each week? How many cans of tomato sauce? With this information, you can then find out how many your family eats per year.

Unfortunately, even with this information, exactly how much to plant can be tough to nail down. You’ll be facing uncertainties in yields based on different varieties, weather, pest pressure, and much more. It may take a few years of experience before you achieve a plan that works for your family, which brings us to my next piece of advice.

Start a Garden Journal

Keep track of how much you plant this year and how it does! This information will make planning for next year a little easier.

Planting Recommendations

Here are a few planting recommendations for some common crops. These are just starting points! Feel free to alter these depending on your family’s needs. You may find they work perfectly, or you might have different numbers based on a wide range of factors.

Snap Beans

Planting anywhere from 10-50 plants per person is probably a good place to start. If you love beans or plan to freeze or can beans for winter, you’ll want to be on the higher end of this spectrum.

Broccoli/Cauliflower

It may not seem like a lot, but 5-15 plants per person may be all you need. This will allow you several fresh meals during the summer with some to freeze.

Cucumbers 

Cucumbers are heavy producers, so you probably need fewer plants than you’d think. Planting 2-5 plants per person should be enough even if you want to preserve pickles.

Sweet Corn

Depending on if you want to can or freeze corn, you’ll probably want to plant between 20-100 row feet per person. Sweet corn is an excellent crop to succession plant to avoid getting your harvest all at once.

Cabbage

Unless you eat a lot of sauerkraut, cabbage may not be one of your family’s staples. It can, however, be an excellent crop for those looking to be more self-reliant. It’s easy to store fresh or ferment and can be grown during cool seasons. Plant 5-15 plants per person.

Check out the variety “January King” for a good winter cabbage.

Carrots

Like cabbage, carrots can be an excellent storage crop. They also take up relatively little garden space. Try growing 30-60 plants per person. It’s also a good idea to succession plant carrots.

A great storage variety is “Oxheart.”

Garlic

If you like garlic, you may want to plant quite a bit. It stores well alone and is also great for flavoring other preservation recipes. 25-50 plants per person would be a good range to start in.

Greens

Many greens like chard, collards, and kale will continue to provide harvests for weeks. It’s probably safe to start with around 5-10 plants per person, which should give you plenty to dry, freeze, or ferment.

Lettuce

Lettuce grows fast but doesn’t keep long. Start with around 10 plants per person and plan on multiple successions throughout the cool seasons. You can also use shade cloth to help keep lettuce from bolting.

Onions

Unless you dislike onions, you’ll probably want to plant a lot. They take up little space. You may also use more of them than you’re accustomed to if you decide to add them to other preservation recipes like pickles or spaghetti sauce. Depending on your family, 50-100 onions per person should get you through a year.

Adding perennial onions to your garden can also help supplement this.

Peas

Peas are an easy, early crop that takes up relatively little space. Consider growing 20-100 plants per person, especially if you can freeze some.

Peppers

Peppers are quite productive so you probably only need 3-5 plants per person. You’ll want to explore different varieties depending on your goals. Some are excellent for pickling, others are great for stuffing, while some make excellent hot sauce or paprika.

Squash & Pumpkins

Summer squash, winter squash, and pumpkins are generally very productive. Unless your family loves eating tons of squash, you probably only need 1-3 plants per person.

Tomatoes

How many tomatoes you grow will largely depend on how much preservation you intend to do and what varieties you select. If you want to account for all your family’s produce, it’s probably a good idea to grow at least three varieties. Select a slicing tomato for fresh eating, a cherry tomato for snacking (especially if you have kids), and a paste tomato for preserving.

One Last Piece of Advice

Especially if you’re trying to produce as much of your own food as possible, plan to succession plant! This will help you keep fresh food on the table longer. Check out:

• Tomato Successions: why to sow multiple tomato crops
• Summer Succession Crop Planting: Avoid Gluts and Shortages
• Succession Planting 101

Many folks make new year’s resolutions to live healthier lifestyles. Thankfully, gardening is a great way to improve your health. You’ll get exercise and eat better. For folks planning a garden in 2021, these resolutions can make your garden healthier too!

Never leave the soil bare.

Bare soil is unhealthy soil. Leaving soil exposed contributes to erosion and nutrient loss. Having cover crops or mulch covering your soil helps to create habitat for beneficial fungi and insects. Mulch can even help prevent the transmission of soil-borne fungal diseases like late blight in tomatoes.

Save seed.

Saving seed is easier than you think. Many crops like corn, beans, and squash require only simple seed processing. Isolation distances may be less important than you’d think too. Check out our post, Easy Seed Saving with Promiscuous Pollination.

Seed saving helps preserve incredible varieties, adapt them to your climate, and save you money.

Start composting.

Compost is excellent for improving your soil. It adds organic matter, which helps improve soil structure, allowing sandy soils to hold moisture and clay soils to drain better. It also provides plants with nutrients.

Composting also keeps waste like kitchen scraps from ending up in the landfill where it would produce greenhouse gases.

You can find detailed instructions for making compost here.

Plant something native.

Growing native plants is a great way to provide food and habitat for native wildlife, from birds and small mammals to bees, butterflies, and other beneficial insects. Native plants are also typically low maintenance because they’re hardy and adapted to your climate.

Here’s a list of drought-tolerant perennials native to the eastern United States.

Start a garden journal.

This season, take notes on the weather, planting dates, your garden design, and what varieties did well. This process will help you connect with nature and improve your garden each year.

Install a rain barrel.

Put the water off your roof to good use with a rain barrel. They can be purchased or made cheaply with some gutter and a clean trash can.

Test your soil.

Knowing what your soil lacks is the first step to improving your yields. Have your soil tested and learn more about plant nutrients and amendments.

Rotate your crops.

Rotating your crops can help you avoid pest and disease issues and improve your yields. This season keep track of where you plant things and have a plan for rotating them.

Check out Planning Crop Rotation by Plant Family for advice.

Build an insect hotel.

An insect hotel is another excellent way to support beneficial insects. They provide nesting spots for solitary bees, which in turn help pollinate your crops. Learn how to build an insect hotel here.

Learn about your local birds.

One of the best parts of gardening is building a connection with the land. A great way to take this further is by learning about birds and other local wildlife. Some species may be helping your garden grow!

Share.

Share something with a friend, relative, or community member. Share your knowledge and teach them to grow some of their own food. Share seeds so they can grow great varieties. Share a bit of your harvest and cultivate a love for good food.

What are your new year’s resolutions?