How many plants?

[womble]

I'm just working out my bean amounts. I think for the three of us, one small child and two adults, I am going to do 2 x 8 types of french climbing and then 8 yin yan for drying. Also some pinto beans that zarzen sent me.
I was also going sow some climbing berlotto beans that frostyfreckle sent me, but I seem to have misplaced them and can't find them anywhere sorry frosty.

I grow them in 8 cane wigwams, one plant per cane.

[hamsterqueen]

I planted about 10 runner bean plants last year ( to allow for some slug munched), they all grew and at one point I was handing out handfuls to the neighbours. I kept picking tehm even if I didn't need them myself and teh yield was amazing, I have 8 new plants grown from the dried up beans from last years plants and they are looking strong.

[Topcat36]

I have about 10 beans , peas etc but will sow some more this weekend, think i have overdone it with the courgettes tho never grown them before but have been told you get a lot from each plant, good job i'm a vegan and all i eat is veg then i guess. certainly have an abundance of lettuce and raddish and only on 2nd sowing have more to sow, think i will run out of room soon, oh forgot about 100 purple sprouting broc, don't ask .

[FROSTYFRECKLE]

Shame on you Womble May have some spare, if I do I'll PM you.

[BarleySugar]

Last year I made surplus veg (courgette, broad, french, runner beans) into veg curry. During the winter months I've cooked swede, parsnip and butternut squash (bought from shops), and added the frozen stuff. Unfortunatly I've just run out. Its mainly for me as the rest of the family isn't into veg, but I was pleased I planted 4 courgettes, 16 runners, 8 broad and 8 french beans.
I haven't got much space, but it's worth it.

[novice16]

i grow peas and broad beans not all for eating but to add nitrogen to the for things like cabbage the following year

[coreopsis]

you'll keep me straight then.I planted:
20 alderman peas
20 meteor peas
20 cobra french
20 blue lake french
5 painted lady runner
? mangetout

Painted lady and meteor are from Jackie J-a big thanks

It's my first year of growing this stuff so if I have any surplus veg I'll share it with my neighbours.From your posts it doesn't look like I'm not growing enough

[DaveInBraknell]

Hi,

If you want to know family quanity of food to grow my recommendation get a copy of the old 1930-1945 The ABC of Cloche Gardening Book, with the dust cover (Publisher the A.B.C Gardening Series), inside here they list all the plants and row sizes et al you need to feed a family of 4. It is also an excellent resource for general growing and intercroping. W.E.Sherwell-Cooper, it's relatively cheap on Amazon.

As people say it depends on how much you like them but also remember couple of things:
1)Successional Sowing over a 4-6 week period means it won't all come at once..
2)Storage, with large quanities of plants and produce you'll have to develop storage strategies.

So with those points I draw on the wisdom of the ancients

Broad Beans: 1/2 pint of seed 1 Row 30ft Long Produces 22lbs
Peas (MainCrop)1 Pint of Seed 2 rows 30ft long produces 65lbs
French Beans:1/4 Pint of seed 1 row 30ft long produces 75lbs.

That is of course industrial growing so you can scale it back I suppose and is for a yearly amount so just for summer 3months divide by 3 for example



Enjoy
Dave

[Alison]

I never seem to get enough peas for the amount I want to eat. So far I have 2 double rows, each 4' long and will be planting another pair in the next few days and so on until I've filled a 10' bed. Beans, I have already put out 6 canes of runner beans (bit early but they were given to me so worth the risk) and have just sown 3 different types of French beans, and will have them up separate wigwams, 2 per cane, with 6 canes each in total. Had a similar number of French beans last year and ate loads of them, freezing a few and puttinig them in curries or whatever as I went.