Does size matter?

[Holly]

How big is your growing space, and what difference does it make?

I recently read about a man who was able to grow £669 worth of fruit and veg on his balcony that measures 9x6ft, in just one year! It made me think that you don't need acres of land to feed a family for 12 months.

However large or small your veg patch, I'd love to know whether you think that size really matters. Do you yearn for more space, or struggle to keep up with big beds?





Your comments may be edited and printed in the February edition of Grow Your Own.

[Nicos]

NB....A standard old fashioned lottie is 10 square rods
....a square rod (in which allotments are measured is 30.25 sq yards) thus a standard 10 rod plot is 302.5 sq yards = 2722.5 sq ft (that's approximately 250 square metres)

( still awake????)

so.... One standard lottie is 250 square metres

Hope that helps!

[binley100]

.......or about a 1/16th of an acre . Which is what I have and yes I would love more space.

[chris]

I'd love an allotment.

I've 6 raised beds in my garden, which range from 12' x 3' (roughly) down to 5' x 3'. I do plant a lot closer than recommended (for example, I planted my sweetcorn 7.5" apart this year, and still got a great crop.. however some of the lower cobs were only partially pollinated-which I put down to the planting distance. However, that said there's no reason why I couldn't have hand polinated them).

In my two fruit beds, I've planted closer together, just by dividing the length by the number of canes/plants I had - it's worked well but picking the fruit was a bit tedious having to move canes/branches to get to hidden fruit).

I'm not sure how much value I got from our garden this season, but I do plan to keep track this next growing season.. we have had a lot of meals completely from the garden though. We're not aiming to be self-sufficient, I'd love to be partially self-sufficient (in fruit/veg - say in summer) though, that's the aim!

[jackie j]

Whatever size a half plot is. I had one half plot and increased it to two half plots at the begining of this year as I didnt have enough space for everything I wanted to grow. I have also been able to add a greenhouse to the second plot thus extending the early sowing. The first plot is nearly full even though its winter.

[Alison]

A full sized plot plus a greenhouse and a bit more fruit in the garden. This enables me to be totally self sufficient in veggies and partially in fruit (need more apple trees though ). I'd find large lottie beds a nightmare so have split it up into small edged beds (4' by 10' max) which I can weed etc pretty quickly and finish rather than if I had a whole plot to do I'd get demoralised pretty quickly. With regards space, am happy with my veg space but would ideally love an orchard with room for pigs and goats but I can't see that happening and the extra work would probably kill me.

[jacob]

Tough question. Various bits of the garden dug into roughly four plots. Plus greenhouse, a fruit cage, a small strawberry patch, herbs mixed into the flowerbeds, a few random fruit trees, plus whatever pots I scatter about the place. Must plant out that bay tree at some point...

I reckon about 50 square metres, plus some stuff dotted about.

[Snadger]

I have two allotments side by side giving me roughly 500 square metres.
About 1/4 of this space is taken up with chook runs and coops and 1/8 with greenhouses and compost bins.
If OH (and myself for that matter) were content to eat whatever was available and in season, rather than what she/I fancied,I could probably be self sufficient in Fruit and veg, eggs and chicken meat. I would still need to buy maincrop spuds.

If I had been living by myself I would probably have went along the self sufficiency route for at least a year, just to say I'd done it!

[Florence Fennel]

I don't have an allotment, but my garden is beginning to look like one. The flower beds and the lawn are diminishing and the raised beds and open ground for veg is increasing year by year! Less grass to cut and more veg to eat.

[northepaul]

I currently have a raised bed of 2x4M and a side bed of 2 x 15m (which is collapsing into next door's garden so cant use atleast 5m of it.) I use as much of it as possible, as I realise how precious the space to grow your own is. Not having much space, compared to those with an allotment, for example, does make you quite inventive. I do tend to plant things amongst the flower beds - strawberries, shallots and chives, and any pot I can find.
I have been on the waiting list for an allotment for 3 years, and am currently around the 120 mark. (The council keeps trying to 're-develope' our allotments which doesnt help!! )

[solway cropper]

Like northepaul I have a fairly small vegetable space to work with (approx. 350 sq. ft.) which means I also need to be inventive. I use block planting for most veg and grow lots in containers as well as using successional sowing and intercropping. Climbing beans and peas crawl up wigwams in the border where the fruit trees grow and I tend to stick cabbages and clumps of spring onions in among the flowers. A large south facing 'sun room' allows me to get things started early and is the home to toms, cukes and peppers in summer. All this means that we are self-sufficient in most fresh fruit and veg for about 6 months but still manage to get fresh stuff in the depths of winter and have the frozen/stored stuff to fall back on. If I had more space and the health to work it I'd grow maincrop spuds, the one thing I don't bother with.

[ladylottie]

I have a half plot of just over 125 sq feet. At certain times of the year I just don't have space left for all I want to grow! And I still grow cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries at home on the patio. Next year there'll be grape vines as well (thanks to Glutton4 for the cuttings - 4 out of 5 rooted). This year I grew carrots in a big pot to try and outwit the root fly (managed it, but not enough carrots!). Next year will try again up at the lottie.

I use block planting a lot now and also grow loads of peas and beans which I love. Two years now of growing Climbing French beans - they've been so prolific I've decided to grow more of them next year and less Runner Beans.

I keep asking for another half plot (well, it's worth a try!) so that I can grow more soft fruit. I have a 16 foot row of raspberries at the moment, together with a redcurrant, a blackcurrant and a gooseberry bush. I love soft fruit so with another half plot I could grow a lot more and have "overflow" growing space to try out new varieties of veg as well.

Still, I'm not complaining - I have a lovely productive plot which has saved me LOADS of money - can't believe the price of veg in the supermarkets

Fresh veg straight from the plot - can't beat it.

[planetologist]

I have a 850 m2 garden, about 2/3 of which supplies all my fruit and veg. Next year I hope to become self sufficient in dinner carbohydrates and honey as well. After that I think I'll still have space but the question is whether I'll have the time to extend further, though the walnut and chestnut trees should eventually start producing some protein. With a full time job, I could never manage this on an allotment (I tried for a year three years ago). Not to mention that I am self-sufficient in compost as well, and get most of the water from my roof, which wouldn't work with an allotment.

I find there is a big difference between growing some of your veg, or growing all. In the former case, I tended to miss the right time to eat things, because I was busy and ended up going to the shop. Now if I don't get home from work before dark, the options are harvest before heading off in the morning, finding dinner by groping around in the dark, or eating my own preserves.

[Brengirl]

Size never ever matters. It's all down to how you use it.

[annacruachan]

I grow in pots and fishboxes - couldn't tell you what that is in metres but I'm currently using about 15 fishboxes plus 3 troughs and 15 or so pots of various size and description.
Tomatoes, chillies, peppers and, next year, cucumbers thrive on the windowsill from January/February and are transferred into the conservatory when warm enough. These produce a good harvest in this perfect growing spot, so I'm lucky.
Like Chrismarks I plant crops closer together than recommended and sow successionally to maximise the space.
We don't need to buy veggies from June to September - other than onions and potatoes which I don't have the room, or energy, to grow - and the leeks and psb fill in the winter gap.
I could not manage more. Even this amount is a struggle when health problems reign, and I am always glad when autumn comes and I can shut down the greenhouse and mulch everything with seaweed.