I paced out the backyard and worked up this little plan this morning. I am not exactly sure if I can fit 11 boxes but I think it's possible. The boxes are a bit large (4x8') but the paths are 2 feet wide so they can be accessed from both sides. If I can truly get 325 square feet of garden space, plus the 100 or so square feet in the front yard for miscellaneous herbs, it still leaves the other half for the kids and possibly a tiny greenhouse. I don't think I'd do the pumpkins or potatoes there either... probably I'll make some hills somewhere else. Plus all the containers I can put around.
The Dervaes family garden (check out PathtoFreedom) is 3900 square feet and produces 50-90% of their food (depending on the time of year). Also, they are vegetarian which also helps them. Since our garden is about 10% the size of their garden (400 vs. 4000), it's only going to supplement what we get from local farmers through Spud. I'm hoping I can get 10% of our food from the garden this year, and more during the summer. Mostly I am interested in building up our food security and I will be able to get more efficient with the space as time goes on. It's hard to estimate a percentage because during one part of the year all of our veggies will come from it, and all of our herbs since I can dry most of them, but the rest of the year I just can't grow enough squash and potatoes. Besides I don't really want to eat just squash and potatoes. But if I can get 10% for the winter that would be pretty good.
Coming Next Year!
I like your plans a lot. I'm planning on putting in some 4X8' beds myself. I'm doing four this year and then hopefully getting up to about 15 if I can squeeze them all in. Keep us updated on how the size works for you and materials that you use.
Having all that space looks like a luxury to me! I've only got about 100 sqft of vegie garden, although I'm sneaking things in elsewhere as much as I can.
I yearn for acreage...
:-)
Can I ask what program you used for your design? It looks great!
Looks beautiful! I started my first seeds today.
Oh, and I have something for you over at my blog!
Hope all's well, and the lack of blogging is because you're too busy tackling the backyard.
If not, and life's gotten in some way tricky, our thoughts (from sunny Whitley Bay, UK) are with you.
Love the plan. Would also love to know which program you used to design it (mine's all on graph paper, not as pretty :).
Keep in mind the Dervaes also sell a large amount of their produce. And they do a lot of high-density planting and vertical growing to save space, not to mention they tore up their driveway for more space. You may not be able to do it all in one year but a system will unfold, I'm sure. Or at least that's what I'm hoping for in my own garden plan. Need to get it prettified so I can post it up on my blog.
~Tara
I love garden planning at this time of year too. Yours looks great; what a fun way to plan it out. Some of my garden beds are 4 feet wide (although most are a little narrower) and as long as I can easily reach across past mid-point from either side I find that they work well.
I also like reading about the Devraes and the things that they are up to. I was pleased to see an article about them in the latest Mother Earth News. Isn't it amazing what can be done with such little space.