permaculture

[Steve Diver <steved@ipa.net>]

Hi Paula -

A quarter acre would produce more "fresh" food
than a family of four adults can eat during
the growing season.   

That's why it's so important to include "food 
preservation" (canning, drying, and freezing) as
an essential part of the equation, to make food
available during the off-season. 

All of the old country gardens were based on both
fresh produce and preserved foods. 

Each garden is different in how it is designed
and layed out.   But if you draw a plan that 
includes raised beds that are 4-to-5 feet wide 
and then you also draw rows that are 50' to 100' 
in length, filling in a quarter acre size area, you 
can see that you're talking about a huge number of 
tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, squash, okra, bush 
beans, lettuce, spinach, kale, cucumbers, melons, 
pumpkins, tasoi, etc 

Interestingly, the dacha gardens will also have
a small cottage in one back corner.  These are 
gorgeous little mini-homes with painted trim that 
a couple people can stay in during the summer months.  
They are built with a loft or made into a two-story 
dwelling, but they are small in dimension so they 
don't take up too much surface area.  They can serve 
as a built structure to catch rainfall, to serve as 
a trellis wall, etc. 

Steve Diver 



>Paula Hatfield wrote:
>
>Steve,
>Thanks for this information about measurement.  
>How much food can be produced in 1/4 acre of land?  
>Enough to feed a family of 4 adults?
>
>Paula