How Much Food To Grow & Preserve For A Family Of 4

Diversity of the plant
How many different uses can you get out of one crop? For example, corn can not only be eaten on or off the cob, but can be ground into cornmeal, used as animal feed, or sold at market for extra income.

How much space do you have to grow?
While there is a lot of information out there that tells you how much space you need in your garden to feed a person, there are many variables involved like the space requirements for plants, how much each family consumes, just to name a few. This is where planning comes into play. Choose the crops you want to grow, determine the space requirements and the yield for those crops and make sure that you get enough harvest to feed the number of people in your family using the charts, calculators, and planners below.

How many people do you plan to feed?
Obviously taking into account the people in your household, you also need to factor in those outside of your family. Are you planning on using these crops in a recipe during a dinner party? Do you plan on giving away some of your preserved food away as gifts to neighbors? If so, you may need to plan on planting some extra crops to account for those factors.

Do you have anything left over from last year’s harvest?
Having a bountiful garden is surely a great feeling but not having the space to store the crops you’ve grown is the quickest path to food waste. As a good rule of thumb, it’s a good idea to keep records of everything that you have in the freezer and pantry so that you can have a better idea of what you should be planting.