Last week we defined our “why” for gardening as a way to help determine our goals. Part of that goal requires us to think about the types of things we want to grow in our garden and the number of people we’re feeding in our family or whomever we are growing for. This also helps determine how much space we need for the garden to meet those goals and whether or not our existing space is big enough, or even too big.
It’s very easy to overdo it, especially in the first few years because you don’t know how many plants you need in order to get the volume you want your garden to produce. It’s also very easy to plant too much of one thing and not enough of another and leave yourself overloaded or coming up short. I was guilty of not planting enough leafy greens the first few years but way overplanting the cucumbers and I very quickly had to learn how to make pickles, something my family still does not eat in abundance.
Today on Just Grow Something we’ll talk about how to determine the number of seeds or plants that you for your garden in order to achieve the harvest you want so you can more accurately plan your garden space and leave nothing behind. Let’s dig in!
References and Resources:
Plan Like a Pro Course: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro
MU Extension Vegetable Planting Calendar: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g6201 (click to download .pdf to the right of the page) Plan By Yield Chart: https://justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/yield
Just Grow Something: https://justgrowsomething.com
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Just Grow Something Gardening Friends Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/508637300354140/
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Last week, we defined our why for gardening as a way to help
00:00:04
determine our goals. Part of that goal requires us to
00:00:07
think about the types of things that we want to grow in our
00:00:10
garden and the number of people we're feeding in our family or
00:00:13
whomever we're growing for. This also helps us determine how
00:00:17
much space we need for the garden to meet those goals, and
00:00:20
whether or not our existing space is big enough or even too
00:00:24
big. It's very easy to overdo it,
00:00:27
especially in the first few years, because you don't know
00:00:29
how many plants you need in order to get the volume you want
00:00:33
your garden to produce. It's also very easy to plant too
00:00:36
much of one thing and not enough of another and leave yourself
00:00:39
overloaded or coming up short. I was guilty of not planting
00:00:44
enough leafy greens the first few years, but way over planting
00:00:48
the cucumbers and I very quickly had to learn how to make
00:00:51
Pickles, something my family still does not eat in abundance.
00:00:55
Today I'll just grow something. We'll talk about how to
00:00:57
determine the number of seeds or plants that you need for your
00:01:01
garden in order to achieve the harvest that you want so you can
00:01:05
more accurately plan your garden space and leave nothing behind.
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Let's dig in. Hey, I'm Karen, I started
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gardening in a small corner of my suburban backyard and now 18
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years later, I've got a degree in horticulture and operate a 40
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acre market farm. I believe there is power in food
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and that everyone should know how to grow at least a little
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bit of their own. On this podcast, I share
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evidence based techniques to help you plant, grow, harvest
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and store all your family's favorites.
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Consider me your friend in the garden.
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So grab your garden journal and a cup of coffee and get ready to
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just grow something. So the last time we covered this
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topic was way back in season 2, so I thought since garden
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planning season is upon us, it would be a good time to cover it
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again. If this is something that you
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have struggled with in the past, getting too much of one thing
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and not nearly enough of another, we're going to cover
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the basic concepts here today. But if you really want an in
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depth, step by step way to figure this out, there is a
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whole module dedicated to this in my plan like a Pro course,
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which is now open for registration for the 2025
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season. This is something I got really,
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really wrong the first few years I was gardening.
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Firstly, it was important to get this right so my family wouldn't
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be overwhelmed with one vegetable while not having
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enough of the others. I mean seriously, the cucumber
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situation was a little out of control.
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Like, oh, look, we have 20 lbs of cucumbers, but do we have any
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lettuce or tomatoes or anything else to make these into a salad
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or something? No.
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Oh, so just the cucumbers then. Great.
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And they got real tired real fast of cucumber salad and just
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dipping cucumbers in to dip when there were pounds of cucumbers
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coming into that kitchen every single day.
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I made so many jars of Pickles that year.
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We had Pickles in our cupboard for four years from that one
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garden season. So yeah, I needed to figure this
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out. And it was especially important
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for me to get it right once I turned my garden into a business
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where I was responsible for getting people a consistent
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volume of a variety of seasonal produce every single week.
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Now I think our CSA customers will say I've gotten that right
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over the past 17 years, but it's not where I started.
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Plan Like a Pro is a self-directed course so you can
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go at your own pace. It has 6 modules covering
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everything from the supplies that you need to create a garden
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plan, determining your goals, choosing your crops, what we're
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going to talk about today, determining the number of seeds
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and plants that you'll need, and then step by step how to fit it
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into your garden space. Along with a complete calendar
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for when to plant succession and companion plantings and seasonal
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changes. So you can go to
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justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/pro to get more information and see
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all the modules and the lessons. I will link to that in the show
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notes. I will also link to a reference
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document from the University of Missouri Extension Service
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because it is actually the planting chart that I referenced
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for probably the first ten years that I was growing, and I still
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go back to it every once in a while.
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It is really valuable for not just knowing how much of each
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plant you need to feed one person for a year, but also for
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plant spacing. Now, if you're in Missouri, it's
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also really good for telling you when to plant those crops, but
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for everybody else, that's really not going to be very
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accurate. So we're just going to focus on
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the section that talks about yield because that really is
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what we're trying to figure out, right?
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How many cucumber plants should I have planted to have a few
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fresh cucumbers each week for salads, and then enough for just
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a few jars of Pickles and not dozens of jars?
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This is essentially what we want to know for every single thing
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that we grow in our gardens. And of course, this resource
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from the University of Missouri is good too, because it's just
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compiled all of this information all in one place.
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You can absolutely look up the expected yield for each crop
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that you plan to grow and then do the math that way.
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We can plan our garden space either by figuring out the
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number of plants we need per person or the number of plants
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that we'll need based on pounds or volume of yield.
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So we'll talk about both methods because everybody thinks just a
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little differently and what works best for me may not work
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best for you. No matter which method we
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choose, we need to remember that the resource that we use is
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always going to be an estimate. OK, so This is why a garden
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journal is so important. If you keep track of how many
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plants or seeds you planted and what the yield was and compare
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that with the weather conditions and what you expected to get out
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of those plants, you are compiling all the important
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information from your garden into one place.
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You and I could plant the exact same variety of tomatoes at what
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would be the ideal time for our area and treat those plants
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exactly the same way and we will have totally different yields.
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I guarantee it. Because our soils are different,
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our weather is different, our pests are different, your
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diseases are different from mine.
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All of these factors matter. So if you keep track of all of
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that from year to year, and you track how much you harvested
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from your plants, and you're going to be able to determine if
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it was just a bad year because of pests or weather or whatever,
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or if maybe one variety just typically does not do well for
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you. And sometimes it helps you
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figure out that maybe that particular crop isn't one that
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yields well enough for you to even bother keeping in your
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garden, and you just abandon it for something else.
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I have many, many gardeners in our area who have completely
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given up on squashes of any kind because of pest pressure and
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because it just wasn't worth the fight for the yield that they
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were getting. But if you don't have these
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records for yourself, you'll need to use something, and I
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will list these references for you in the show notes.
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So with references and a list of potential crops in hand, let's
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figure out how many plants we need to fulfill our goal.
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And we'll start with the per person method.
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It's a good idea to know exactly how much space you're working
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with, how many people you're feeding from your garden, and
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whether you want to also grow enough to preserve later.
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So once you have gathered all that information, we're going to
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look at the chart in the MU guide.
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Or you could just do a search online to figure out how many
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plants that you'll need per person over the course of the
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season. Now, I always suggest that you
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start by drawing out your garden space to include all of your in
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ground space and your raised beds and all your pots and your
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other containers, because you can use this drawing to mark
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what goes where and for how long.
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See, that's, that's part of the key to some of these crops are
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going to be in place all season, but some of them are also going
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to be intermittent. Some produce continuously and
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some need to be planted in succession to get a continuous
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harvest. So all of these factors need to
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be taken into consideration. We go through this step by step
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in plan like a pro using a map but also a timeline method for
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my more linear thinkers. By using a map or a timeline,
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you have a visual for how long something will be in place in
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the garden and where you may have gaps to fill with other
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plants. So this is succession planting.
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If you have an early planting of lettuce, you know those plants
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are only going to be in that space for about 6 to 8 weeks,
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and you won't replant those until later on toward the fall
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when the weather starts to cool again.
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So this visually lets you see you have space for something
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else in that spot throughout the entire summer, like tomatoes.
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OK, but how much lettuce? How many tomatoes?
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So let's use the tomatoes as an example.
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OK, We're going to use the chart from University of Missouri to
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figure out how many tomato plants we'll need.
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Now, you may be growing tomatoes just for fresh use during the
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summer and you have 0 desire to be canning or freezing anything.
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On the other hand, you may need a boatload of tomatoes to be
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canned up for salsa and pasta sauce throughout the winter
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time. This is why it's important to
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know why you're gardening and to have that in your mind when you
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are planning your space. OK Also keep your garden goals
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in mind when you plan this out. I always have gardeners come to
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the farmers market in the spring and see all the varieties of
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tomato plants that I sell and they get super excited and I can
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tell who has a plan and who is just winging it.
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The gardeners with the plan have their list with them or they at
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least know OK I have space for 10 tomatoes and half of them
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need to be paste tomatoes and they very confidently pick out
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their plants. The ones without a plan are kind
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of choosing on a whim and they're often looking at me and
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they're asking, OK, how many of these do I want if I need to
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make salsa or how many tomatoes do I get from one plant?
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And they leave with like an entire flat of tomato plants
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with their fingers crossed hoping they have enough room to
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plant them all. I love all of my gardeners
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equally and everybody gardens differently so no shame.
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But I am not gardening on a whim and A wish over here.
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OK, so having a plan, even a loose plan, will help you figure
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out how many plants that you need, and you'll avoid wasting
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money on plants that you don't need or ending up with too few
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plants. And then you got to come buy
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tomatoes from me in the summer because you didn't buy enough
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plants. I'm just saying.
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So all right, so according to the MU Extension guide, we need
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three to five tomato plants per person for fresh use for the
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entire season, and then five to 10 plants for processing.
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Now, the processing part is, I don't know, a little bit
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subjective because everybody's canning needs are totally
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different. So let's just stick with the
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fresh use for a minute and we'll talk about preserving when we
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get to our other method. Remember, every garden is
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different, and the yield on every variety of tomato is
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different too. So this guide is just a guide.
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It can't tell you exactly how many pounds of tomatoes you're
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going to get, but it's a good starting point and you can use
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your garden journal to document how the different varieties do
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for you, and then you can use that for a reference the next
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year. So, for instance, most heirloom
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varieties are actually going to produce fewer tomatoes and they
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generally take longer to start producing than the more modern
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hybrids. Hybrids have actually been bred
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to produce more tomatoes and start yielding those tomatoes
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earlier in the season. So keeping track is a really
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good idea if you're very serious about this.
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So if MU is saying that you need three to five plants per person
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and we have a family of four, then logic says we need between
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12 and 20 tomato plants. That's a pretty wide number,
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right? This also isn't taking into
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consideration how long are growing season is.
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So if I'm gardening some place with a much longer growing
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season, it potentially has a higher yield for each one of
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those tomato plants. A typical serving size is 1
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medium whole tomato. And if you're a tomato lover,
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you might want two or three servings a day during the entire
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season. So you may want to plant 5
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plants per person. But if you only like tomatoes in
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your salads, then you may only need a few tomatoes a week.
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And it's possible that even 3 plants per person might be too
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many. So once again, this is where you
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have to know why you're gardening to help you determine
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how many plants you need. So you're not planting 5 tomato
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plants per person in your family and end up sneaking bags of
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tomatoes onto your neighbor's porch because you have way too
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many tomatoes. This is why I prefer to plan by
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average yield. Now, determining the number of
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plants that you'll need based on average yield is easier to do
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with some experience. So keep that in mind if you're
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brand new to gardening or you're new to keeping track of your
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yields and you're not sure what you go through in a season in
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your kitchen, then start with the per person method that we
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just talked about. But I know how many tomatoes we
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go through in our kitchen in the summer and how many pounds I
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need for canning my stewed tomatoes and my salsa and my
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pasta sauce. So I can estimate how many
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pounds of tomatoes I need over the whole year.
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So rather than guessing that I'm going to get maybe 20, you know,
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medium sized tomatoes or whatever per plant for the
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season, you know, that would be just for my heirlooms.
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I'd likely get a little bit more for that than my hybrids.
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And then I have to figure out how many plants I need of each
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based on the per person. Forget it.
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I just assume that I'll get an average of about 10 lbs of
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tomatoes per plant, regardless of what type they are other than
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cherry tomatoes. And then I make my plan from
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there. OK, there are a lot of resources
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out there that'll tell you the weight or the volume of what you
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can get from each plant on average.
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I've always used university websites and extension resources
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when planning just to give me an idea of yield.
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But a lot of the time I had to go to four different sites to
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find what I needed. So I made a list and I compiled
00:15:00
that list and I put it as part of one of the lessons for my
00:15:03
plan like a Pro students. But I am going to gift each one
00:15:08
of you this chart if you want it as a free download.
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So this chart is what I have compiled from reliable sources
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to give you the average yield for 36 different vegetables and
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melons, whether you're measuring by the number of row feet that
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you're planting or by individual plant.
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So you can get that download by going to
00:15:30
justgrowsomethingpodcast.com/yield Y i.e.
00:15:35
LD Yield. I will link that in the
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description and the link is also in this morning's e-mail.
00:15:40
For those of you who are on the e-mail list, this chart will
00:15:43
tell you if you're planting Brussels sprouts.
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You'll get approximately 10 lbs for every 10 feet of row that
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you plant, or about a pound and a half per plant.
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To me, this way of planning makes more sense.
00:15:58
If your family loves Brussels sprouts for your holiday meals,
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but that's really the only time you eat them, well, then it's
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easy to figure out how many plants you need to grow for, I
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don't know, say, two large family meals of the holidays,
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right? And you'll also know that you
00:16:15
should be planting those plants Midsummer for a fall garden and
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not in the early spring like a lot of the packet directions
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say, because then they'll be ready to wait too early.
00:16:26
Your garden should be customized for your needs across the
00:16:29
season. So really knowing your wife or
00:16:32
your whole garden is important, but maybe even each individual
00:16:35
crop too. It really does help so you don't
00:16:38
over plant or under plant. All right now one more example.
00:16:42
Let's talk about the lettuce that I mentioned early on.
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Lettuce is generally only in the garden from transplant for about
00:16:49
6 weeks or so, longer if they're planted from seed, right?
00:16:53
And it only grows well without getting bitter in the cooler
00:16:57
shoulder seasons. It's not really A Midsummer
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plant unless your summers are always very, very cool.
00:17:02
So that means you'll need some succession plantings to keep you
00:17:07
in a continuous harvest if you don't want all of your lettuce
00:17:10
ready all at once. And if we draw this out on our
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map or on our timeline, you're going to see that you're going
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to have a break in that harvest during the hottest part of the
00:17:20
season. This is where we save space in
00:17:23
the garden while still getting the number of plants that we
00:17:26
need. So if you determined that you
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need 5 heads of lettuce per person in your family in the
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spring and another 5 per person in the fall, and you have a
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family of four, you can figure out how much space 20 heads of
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lettuce needs and you can plan accordingly.
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Now, once you place those in your garden map and you mark how
00:17:49
long they're in place, and then when they get planted again for
00:17:52
the fall and you realize there's that gap there, if you have also
00:17:56
determined that you only need 5 tomato plants for your season,
00:18:01
you may figure out they occupy the exact same amount of space.
00:18:06
Well, that makes planting easy. You can start the lettuce where
00:18:08
your tomatoes are going to be planted, put the tomatoes in
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before the lettuce comes out, harvest the lettuce and let the
00:18:14
tomatoes do their thing, and then plant the fall lettuce and
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the understory of your Midsummer tomato plants to shade them a
00:18:20
little bit as they grow. You will have the information
00:18:23
that you need to know how many seeds and plants to start or to
00:18:27
buy. You'll you'll grow what you need
00:18:31
of both crops and you won't have valuable space just kind of left
00:18:36
vacant while the lettuce isn't in season, which likely means
00:18:40
that you have room for more plants in other areas of the
00:18:42
garden. I hope this all makes sense.
00:18:45
I absolutely am a planner. I love having all the
00:18:49
information and then figuring it all out ahead of time before I
00:18:53
do anything. And I know not everybody is like
00:18:56
that, and there's nothing wrong with being spontaneous in the
00:18:59
garden. But when you're just starting
00:19:01
out, or you only have a certain amount of space to work with, or
00:19:04
you have very specific goals, it's good to know what you want
00:19:08
to grow and how much you need. It's also very important when
00:19:13
you're expanding the garden so you know exactly how much more
00:19:16
room to build out. And it works the other way, too.
00:19:19
I can't tell you the number of times I've gone to a client's
00:19:21
home and they've marked out a huge space for their garden.
00:19:25
And I sit down with them to determine their goals, and they
00:19:28
quickly realize that's way too much space for what they want to
00:19:31
do. Or clients who think they don't
00:19:33
have enough space and I help them lay out the garden to not
00:19:37
only meet but exceed their original goals.
00:19:40
Take the time to do a little bit of thinking in terms of goals
00:19:45
and a little bit of math to meet those goals so you can take
00:19:49
advantage of the space you do have while also not getting
00:19:53
overwhelmed with too many plants or disappointed by not enough.
00:19:59
Thanks for being here today, as always if you have any
00:20:01
questions. Feel free to comment or reach
00:20:04
out by e-mail or DM me on social.
00:20:06
You can always find more information about these topics
00:20:09
on my website, justgrowsomethingpodcast.com.
00:20:12
Don't forget to check out the Plan Like a Pro course.
00:20:14
Just growsomethingpodcast.com/pro.
00:20:18
Until next time, my gardening friends keep on cultivating that
00:20:20
dream garden and we will talk again soon.
00:20:22
Take care.