2 person household

I was wondering what and how much you plant if its just you and your spouse..
Thanks

If it were just me and my husband I would have to have two squares of peppers one hot one mild, at least one square of each of the following: basil, peas, onions, cilantro, garlic, tomato, potatoes, carrots, green beans, lettuce, and kale. I'm forgetting somethings I just know it. Mel recommends in the book ANSFG that you need 3 4x4 per adult; one for dinner vegs, one for salad, and one for canning. Hope this helps a bit.

I grow for two, and currently have 31 different veggies growing, not including herbs.  Some is for eating fresh, some is for storage, and some I'm trying out for the first time.  

What would you like to grow, and for what purpose?

KountryP
I would review your likes and dislikes with your spouse in addition to what Mel recommends above. Start out simple.  I started with the equivalent of 2 boxes and those 32 squares were plenty to learn about the system the first year.

 Starting out slow is terrific because it allows you to learn very important things like how much compost you will need to make to feed it.  If composting is taken very seriously then you will be a happy gardener.  Otherwise the plants will fail to thrive.  Compost is a huge factor that will determine success.

I also grow for 2 and found the process evolves with time and you'll make changes as needed. Use the first year to get a feel for the growing system and composting.  Remember to keep it fun, if you are like many of us you will have spring, summer, and fall plants to learn about and play with.  And the rewards will be terrific tasting food and great satisfaction as a gardener as you learn new things every year.

KountryPrepper,

I'm a first year gardener and I am basically doing what LlamaMomma stated.

39 squares for the 2 of us.  Huge learning curve on the wants and needs of different plants; identifying and controlling pests, disease and deficiencies; making compost; planting seasonal crops; making trellises, etc.

Second year, you can add more boxes for your favorites and extra for preserving.

I also recommend that you keep a journal and take photos, of both successes and failures.  Mine will make some interesting reading this winter!  

Hi there!  I'm new to the group and have just finished prepping a fall SFG, with some tomato and pepper transplants for now to see how they do.  A bit confused after reading here, though.   I have two boxes and have 18 squares total.  Should I be adding more to the grid?  It's just my boyfriend and I so we didn't think we'd need much, but may make room for one more box in the spring.  
BTW, sanderson, I'm in Fresno too!  My second summer here since moving from Vegas. 
~Mary

Hi Mary.  You are the first Fresnan I've noted on this Forum!   

Do I understand that you have all 18 squares planted in tomatoes and peppers or only in some?  What other veggies would you like to try?  There are so many that can grow here.  Have you read All New Square Foot Gardening?  There are a lot of knowledgeable folks on this forum so any questions you may have, someone is bound to be able to help you.

Lol, no only two roma tomato plants and two pepper plants.   Yes I'm using ANSFG as a reference as well as this site and gardenate.com as far as what to plant when.  When it cools down a bit sometime this month (let's hope),  I'm going to try planting broccoli, onion, lettuces, and radishes.  Gardenate says to plant watermelon in August too so I'll consider that.  I put marigolds in two squares also.  The book said to do it so I did, lol.   Fall will be the beginning of my learning curve and on into my first spring.   I think the additional box in spring might be a good idea from reading others' posts.  That would be 27 squares.
 
As llama mama recommended, I've begun a small composting bin as well which I've been wanting to do for a while.  I hate throwing food away that could be better used out of the landfill.  My boyfriend is happier about the compost plan rather than me tossing it over the fence for the rabbits in the field too.  It's just so dry out I feel bad for them! 

OMG well I've realized my mistake in counting.  I was wondering how one would get 32 squares out of two boxes.  Well the dividers I started using for a makeshift grid while planting are about two inches wide, so when I used them to make my squares I only used three instead of four because the squares looked about the right size.  I even had leftover dividers.  Now I realize I've cut out seven squares from each box!  Please forgive my "duh' moment.     I do know that 4x4=16.  All of your math makes sense now and I'll be finding thinner dividers!

Mary, we all gain knowledge through our personal ongoing learning curves. 
Sanderson mentioned 2 great things, journaling and taking pictures!  Omg pictures are terrific to look at during winter.  So much fun to revisit the garden and gain insights that will help next time around. And my only regret with journaling is not doing more of it.  It is a wonderful way to compare year to year the success and drama of so many plant varieties.  My notes on composting helps too. Jotting down all the ingredients for example can help to make sure you don't forget all the great stuff that worked well.

Hi Mary - I'm growing for 2 people also and I started in the beginning of June. My first plant was late in the season and I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD HAVE PLANTED MORE: 3 zukes, 2 tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak), cilantro, chilis, cucumber, 2 tomatillos, 6 strawberries, carrots, purple onions, thai basil, thai mint so far. My harvest has been small because of the learning curve - I believe I needed better compost (I used mostly store bought right now, but have some compost piles and worm bins going), seeds germinated but the plants are growing slowly (should've given more sun), strawberries don't produce the first year (cut flowers and berries for better quality berries in year two), planted watermelons and cantaloupes late....anyway, for all the work and TLC I've given so far, my harvest has been smaller than I'd like. I have about 36 squares and only about half have plants. That said I've learned soooo much from the book, everyone's advice and from the experience of my garden. I'm now planning for the fall harvest which will include daikon radishes...so I guess I can say, I'm laying the foundation for more fruitful harvests in the future...for 2 people (plus friends and neighbors). 

Garenate.com looks like a helpful website. Thanks for sharing it!

My new box and trellis.


 My Main Box


Strawberry Plants


Zuke Flower 


 Potted Plants

grownsunshine wrote:

I REALLY like that trellis

Thanks Rooster!

Kountryprepper wrote:I was wondering what and how much you plant if its just you and your spouse..
Thanks

Here ya go.  I've been  meaning to make a list like this for a long time.

It's only a snapshot in time:

Number of squares frequently changes.
Usage classification occasionally changes.

I really like ALL of it, arched trellis, boxes, pathways, leaning house trellis, plants, irrigation, etc.   Are you sure you are a first year SFG-er?? Soooo nice!

I grow for two as well, but share some with a friend.  I have 2 4x4 boxes with toms in a side bed with their good friends basil, and trying a zuc and yellow squash in pots (very mixed success there so far).  I succession garden in my boxes, for instance, earlier this year I had radishes in different squares and have subsequently planted beans or carrots in them.  Just pulled the 4 squares of onions today and will plant broccoli/cabbage in them.  One thing I did this year was find my first/last frost dates (I used the 50% probability date), and using the charts in ANSFG calculated what I needed to plant when for continual harvest.  I got a late start this year, and still need to tweak it a bit but its working well for me in knowing when to plant.

Sanderson - Thanks for the kind and encouraging words! This morning I decided to put another leaning trellis on the other side of the box without any plants. Also I bought a few more plants (pumpkins, squash) this weekend to try and make something happen before the fall season hits and I replant for the new season...more stuff to try and grow up the trellis. I've been working pretty hard on the garden, but my plants aren't showing it....yet   With everyone's generous input and advice on all of the different subjects, the harvest should eventually be plentiful....(fingers crossed).

Herblover - Sounds like your having good success with your harvesting. Post some pics when you get the chance.

I'm a big proponent of planting some things that you've never even bought at the grocery store and have maybe eaten rarely, if ever. When harvest day comes, get on the internet and find a recipe that looks good. If you're like me you'll say "Where has kohlrabi been all my life?"

Of course if you're limited on space you don't want to load up on stuff you might be disappointed in, but that was a rarity for me.

http://www.squarefootgardener.com/2013/07/08/grow-what-you-eat-or-eat-what-you-grow/

Brandon

 grownsunshine, do you have any beans planted in that lovely garden yet?  My memory of gardening in SD is that beans started producing a lot again in Sept/Oct.

Turan - sounds like a good idea. I have a couple of spots available. I think I'll try soy beans and maybe another type. Any recommendations?

boffer wrote:
Here ya go.  I've been  meaning to make a list like this for a long time.

It's only a snapshot in time:

Number of squares frequently changes.
Usage classification occasionally changes.

 Thanks, boffer, that is a very useful break down of how much of what to grow.  I assume this is part of your goal to provide a salad and vegetable dish for every day of the year for 2?  How much succession growing is reflected in this list?  I guess what I mean is you have 550 sq in this list, how big a garden do you need to grow this?

I realize that for a group of us to all grow this same list would require very different sized gardens in accordance to season length and other variables.  Aside from the impossibility of getting us all so organized that would be a really cool experiment to do.

grownsunshine wrote:Turan - sounds like a good idea. I have a couple of spots available. I think I'll try soy beans and maybe another type. Any recommendations?

 I do not know anything about growing soy beans, they are a bit different from other beans, a different genus/species.  I just did a little research on the web.  They sound a bit more like growing a warm weather fava bean, ie a bush and wider spacing than the regular beans.  It sounds like 4 to a square?  I am sure some one here has experience on them. 

I would recommend pole beans for along a trellis (8/sq in a double row under the trellis), or really any of the purple or yellow varieties as well.  For this late of planting stay away from the yardlong beans, they want that heat all season and a long season.  Any of the bush snap beans should do well (9/sq).  I love growing some of all colors just for the fun look in the basket.  Purples are easy to spot.

green soy beans with yellow and purple beans in a salad with a nice vinaigrette sound good and would look nice too!

I highly recommend White-Half Runner beans.  They are a white green bean and the best tasting in my opinion.  I grew these with my corn this year and they are doing great.  They are running up one side of my cattle panel arch.  One runner has reached the half way point of the arch, which is 8'!
Madge

Turan,  In March you had 232 SF.  Did you ever build the others you were planning?  Have you posted photos of the spread?  Thanks, Sanderson (who has 39 SF plus pots)