The HH bought a tractor. Did I tell you that already? We had one when we lived in the red colonial house on acreage and it came in pretty handy when it came time to plow the {super} long driveway and for various landscaping projects around the place.
We sold it when we moved to the little house in town because we had no use for it.
Well, fast forward to this spring, and the HH found himself in need of another one. We have a boatload of landscaping projects on our list for this place, and so rather than paying someone else to do the tractor work {and HELLO… carting wheelbarrows of dirt and rocks from one end of the property to the other} he decided to purchase another tractor.
Much to my surprise, the HH has turned into quite the DIYer since moving to New England. So when I asked him if he would expand my lasagna garden with his new machine to accommodate all the corn and pumpkins I want to grow this year, he said he’d “look into it”.
Yada yada yada, the HH told me my lasagna garden was an uneven eyesore, and that the ground where I had started it was too low and a bit wet and he would carve out a new garden bed for me if I’d give up the lasagna garden and let it go back to grass.
I said fine.
But under one condition… that my new garden bed would be larger.
And then the discussion started as to how much larger it should be.
Mavis: I’d like it to be a giant rectangle. About 2-3 times larger than the lasagna garden so I can plant a couple of rows of raspberries and a row of blueberries at one end. And it needs to be large enough for corn and winter squash and dried beans.
HH: You just don’t go out there and dig up a big rectangle. There’s a method to this. There are actual plot sizes for gardens.
Mavis: Ummm, I’m pretty sure wives have been telling husbands how big they want their gardens to be for centuries. It’s not an exact science.
HH: Would you just give me a minute? I want to read up on it first.
Mavis: Seriously?
So while I waited for him to “research” garden plot sizes, I asked The Google.
I took a screenshot and sent him a text {because I had to leave the room before I flipped out about the whole “researching bit”} and requested the “religious family” sized plot.
Then keeled over laughing because seriously…only religious families like to grow a lot of vegetables? And just for the record, if I was only growing food for myself, a 10′ x 10′ plot {100 square feet} would not be big enough.
So finally, when he was done with his “research” we went outside and measured out a new garden space.
The lasagna garden was about 16′ x 22′.
The new garden will be 30′ x 50′. So I basically doubled quadrupled my footprint. {352 to 1,500 square feet}.
And at 1,500 square feet I now have a “religious family with visiting kin” sized garden plot. 🙂
Yee-Haw!
Now we just need to add a few amendments and we’re ready to start growing!
~Mavis
P.S. How big is your garden and how many people do you generally grow vegetables for? Do you put up {can/dehydrate/freeze} any of your extra produce, or do you just like being able to eat fresh from the garden during the growing season? Curious minds want to know. 🙂
Shari Harniss says
Hmmmmm.
I wonder if Google is lumping the doomsday folks into the ‘religious ‘ group because, you know, all doomsday’ers are religious. Right? Yes, I thought so.
I do so enjoy mental acrobatics from certain groups.
But, I am super happy you now have a great big area to garden. Looking forward to the journey!
Linda says
We have two growing areas, an enclosed area with raised beds and an in-ground area, both have been, or are in the process of being enlarged. Our raised bed garden has joined beds with a 7′ path thru the beds width-wise, each row comprises of two 4′ x 20′ beds. All new beds are being made this year and we’re going from 3 rows to 5. The other growing area is for potatoes, dried beans and winter squash and is approx. 25′ x 50′. We do enjoy the fresh veggies during the summer but mostly grow for food storage. There are just two of us.
Mavis Butterfield says
20’x50′ for dried beans, potatoes and squash is HUGE. I LOVE it! Go Linda.
Carrie says
That is so awesome! I thoroughly enjoy your posts and look forward to them every day. I’m happy for you, that you seem to be living the life you want and truly enjoy. Thanks for so much inspiration.
Peg says
My sentiments, too, Carrie!
Pamela says
That description of garden sizes is hilarious! We have a couple large family, an average family, a religious family, and an area with blueberries and fruits trees that is probably average family size. We planted squash in a fence row so that may be the size of an individual garden. 😉 So now when I drive up the road and look at garden plots I will be able to tell so much more about who lives in that house. 😉
Bonnie Baine says
i’ve gardened all my life. it is a great hobby and an economical way to raise a family. ours is about the size of yours. i can, freeze and dehydrate, and go to farmers markets and pick your own farms in our area. it is a good feeling to see all your efforts of the summer in the canning cupboard in the winter. just canned baked beans yesterday. they will be good for a quick meal with beans and franks for the fall. the critters will love your new food source for them. we have to constantly fight with the groundhogs. our garden is fenced.
Mavis Butterfield says
I too think it’s a great feeling to stare at a full larder during the winter months and know I don’t have to leave home if I don’t want to. {Which is pretty much every winter.} 🙂
Carole says
Well finally back to Dig for Your Dinner!! HA HA
I have 10 raised Vego Garden beds with two horse troughs and two stock tanks plus green house. With Vego beds I used the hugel kulture method and lots of mulch which is working beautifully. Just two of us but I have enough growing space for lots of veggies. I have two citrus trees in the greenhouse. It is hot and dry here in south Texas so raised beds with drip irrigation is almost mandatory for gardening. I start early here about February and end early usually in Aug/Sep. Way too hot by then for anything to grow. I can a lot of it and freeze the rest.
Mavis Butterfield says
I Miss Lemon. I can’t wait for get a greenhouse again so I can grow Meyer lemons. Maybe some oranges too.
Holley says
Go big or go home!!! Woohoo! I’m so happy for you! But that Google chart – oh my!
Nancy says
We have 6 large raised garden beds. We use drip irrigation for them. We have a greenhouse for starts and other growing needs. Gardening goes from March to October.We can, freeze, and dehydrate.
Mavis Butterfield says
I need to get on the HH about irrigation, Thanks for the reminder.
Kath says
Our garden is 20 x 50 with 18 raised beds. I grow for two. We can, freeze and eat fresh. We also share occasionally with friends, family and neighbors. A neighbor recently shared some delicious first cuttings of asparagus, so will be looking to return the favor!
Patty says
You two are so funny.
Jennifer says
Did anyone else get Field of Dreams vibes from the HH on his tractor.
Cindy says
Lol
Margo says
Love your new garden space! Looks like all that “research” paid off!
I don’t have a lot of usuable flat space, and our soil is mostly hard packed clay. I have 7 raised beds and use the square foot gardening method. We also have a few citrus trees which give us fruit for about 5-6 months. There are just the two of us. Mostly we eat fresh from the garden, but if I have a lot I’ll freeze extra. I planted a lot of green beans this year and they should freeze well. I garden most months except August and September due to heat in zone 10a. But I have shade cloth this year so might try to extend my season.
Elle says
I’m all raised beds here: 3×30, 3×14, 3×16 (3), 3×12, 3×10(2) and hubster has a blackberry patch that he is trying to keep within the T-frame he built. It is 5×16. I had to do the math. That totals 452 sq feet for 2 people plus sharing.
I do put up as much as possible filling my 14f freezer and my canning shelves in the garage. I share freshies with neighbors and my nephew drinks his way through any salsa jars I’ll throw his way. He could easily go through a quart a week if I’d make him that much 😉
We are on a small city lot and sunny spots is challenging. 4 of those beds are the front yard and 4 in the back yard. We have a huge concrete patio in back and most of that is in shade by 130 pm so that’s why we had it done this way.
I would love to have a big rectangular row garden but I don’t want to spend half my retirement fund to afford a half acre in this valley. We’ll stay put for the duration and I’ll work on increasing my biointensive techniques.
HAPPY GARDENING!!!!
Nora says
Your new plot is about 4 times as big as the lasagna garden – you square the size so is doesn’t double 😉
Anyway enormous by my standards – digging in the dirt of the community garden – some raised beds and stuff, but big enough for the kids to enjoy some gardening in our big city and us living in a flat.
Diana says
We have 1 1/2 acres mostly devoted to food. We have over 100 trees, including citrus, nuts, stone fruit, and a huge area devoted to tropicals. I also have over 50 banana trees. I have food planted intermingled with the trees in a permaculture style. I also have 8 raised beds, and about 20 large pots and tanks planted. We try to eat most of our food picked fresh from the garden as that packs the most nutrition. I am a certified health nut and love growing lots of weird and unusual food. I also love to cook from scratch and use all of the things I grow. I can, freeze, and dehydrate some, but prefer fresh. I enjoy counting at the end of the day how many different things we have eaten. I tell my husband, we ate 26 different things today mostly from the garden and he laughs that I would enjoy counting them! My favorite thing we grow is cherimoya, the flavor is so incredible. I also love to share my plant knowledge and produce with friends and family and the instagram community. Eating homegrown produce is so much batter than taking medicine!
Gigi says
I love cherimoya! But it’s hard to find in the stores by me. I’m planning on creating permaculture garden also. Construction this year so maybe in the next 1-2 it’ll happen.
Cindy Miller says
Our first veggie garden this year is about 20×20. However I have 5 window boxes along side for herbs. (I would have them on the patio but with the new 4 month old English Mastiff [weighing 82 pounds already and so far ] he hasn’t learned not move furniture and I didn’t want to chance the herbs).
Mavis Butterfield says
That is a great size!
Catherine says
Your husband cracks me up. Who knew you needed to research garden size. I think it was all a ploy to justify the tractor. Keep up the good work.
Teri says
That dirt looks really good! Will you have to fence it to keep the turkeys out?
Mavis Butterfield says
I think I’m going to try fishing line this year. We’ll see.
Angelia JOhnson says
Mavis,
I thought you moved in town? How big is your property? I looks way bigger than I thought…You must do a fly by or pictures so we can see. I live in Washington state and I have a big yard in a cultisac but it is still not too big. not enough for a religous family garden lol.Thanks for the posts..
Judy says
That will be a great size to go with your new greenhouse!!!
Sue D says
We are slowly terracing the hilly part of our back yard. When done, I’ll be able to have my asparagus plot again. For now, once again, I’ll be growing in fabric grow pots and in the cottage garden and rose beds in front. Tomatoes (4 varieties), cucumbers, aubergine, peppers (4 varieties), mesclun, pumpkin (2 varieties), dill, onions, garlic, basil, and not sure what else may fit. I’ll be very glad when the terracing project is complete!
LindaT says
We have a 20×20’ ish veggie plot, but have potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes in grow bags, raspberries in a separate plot, apples, peaches and cherry trees elsewhere and strawberries and rhubarb separate. we added a planter box a few years ago at the end of the garden and I grow sugar snap peas there until they are done, then green beans (climbers) both on a trellis. We do some switching with broccoli, too, since when we have 90 degrees day after day, which has been the case the last few years, the broccoli stops doing much that looks decent. So I sub in bush beans or something else w a short season.
What about all the god stuff in the lasagna garden? Is HH going to plow that into the new bed?
Tonya says
Okra grows well during the hot of the summer after other things die off
PSUCHIC06 says
I was reading and saw “plot” then glaced at the screenshot & and I actually thought burial when I saw family sized haha.
Good job HH…he know he will be eating tall the goodies in the summer and fall
Josephine Howe says
I have 17 plastic 18 inch high stock tanks and many various sized pots and soon to add a couple of one foot high metal stock tanks. One can never have enough garden. That is a truism. Ours is a garden for two older retired folks. Congrats on your brand new space. It is awesome. I eat fresh, can, dry, freeze, and ferment. Food from the organic garden is the best and one does not have to be religious to enjoy it. Lol
Chantal O'Byrne says
My garden is 359 square feet and it feeds three of us. We also have a row of raspberry bushes. We just added two blueberry bushes and an apple tree last year. I would love a bigger garden to grow more. I am working on my husband. We started with 210 square feet and added the extra footage last year. I am hoping for a little more. I love how your husband has to research everything. Man I’m telling you.
Tonya says
How do you keep such a large garden weeded? Do you use a small tiller? Plastic walkways?
Diane says
That would be my concern too! I noticed Mavis’ gardens don’t appear to have mulch on them, looks like just the soil, so wonder how she keeps it from having weeds constantly popping up. I’m in Georgia and the weeds grow so fast here unless you mulch very well.
Katherine says
I have 6 3×6 raised beds that are in the middle of my flower garden. There is only 2 of us and we get more than enough veg for us.
Marti says
I have a huge garden–it use to feed my family of 5 and my parents. Now it is just me but I still have the same size garden. I love to can and freeze. My grown kids come shopping at my house. Last year I canned 60 quarts of dill pickles for my son’s family. Everyone enjoys the pickles, jams, soups, all the tomato products and veggies that are in the pantry. I also take fresh veggies to share at church every Sunday so I guess I have a religious family garden. Last week I took 85 stalks of rhubarb and it was gone in a heartbeat. Last fall I shared 145 different kinds of squash.
Jam says
I have two 3×6 raised garden beds and a 2×2. I’d like to expand it, but I’m in the raising babies stage of life, so my gardening has been on the back burner for a while. I really miss it though. I also have a peach and pluot tree, and have been trying to figure out how to help them thrive in not optimal soil conditions in our area.
I do like to can and freeze. When the loads of zucchini come in, I like to make zucchini bread & muffins and just freeze them to eat all year. One year I made over 100 zucchini chocolate chip muffins and put them in the freezer, my HH loved it.
And, canned peaches are a treasure, although I haven’t gotten enough yet to can them. But whenever friends are gifted any by relatives I am sure to tell them how lucky they are 🙂
This post of yours was hilarious to read.
Jules says
This post made me laugh! I guess it’s all about making the husband’s think it’s their idea.
Our garden is acres…I don’t really know the size because it’s my dad’s farm. My parents and siblings all share in the planting, weeding and harvesting. We have cherry, plum, Apple, pear and peach trees. Our side of the farm is hazelnuts and chestnuts ans walnuts which my husband and I will be eventually farming full time. And yes i love going to the freezer or pantry to use food I’ve preserved to feed my family. Nothing else tastes as good
KC says
I’m betting “individual” means “person working full time and living solo and therefore not able to split any of the housework, maintenance, yardwork, weeding, etc.” which translates into not being able to keep up with as large of a garden as someone who does have some spare time.
Whatever deterrence you’re going to use: do it before there are plants in there. Once critters learn that there is tastiness somewhere, it takes more to deter them!
Dianna says
“religious family” haha!! Love your new garden plot. My husband thinks the same thing about lasagna gardening.
We have 4 raised beds (8×4 each) and 7 earthboxes, a couple of towers, plus a bunch of various pots and planters with greens and herbs. There are 4 of us. In the past, we’ve always just eaten fresh whatever we grew, as well as sharing with friends and neighbors, but in the past 2 years I started freezing and canning. I am not a fan of our current garden set up, and my husband doesn’t want to till up the yard. We have clay soil and I suspect that the previous owners used chemicals on the lawn. So I have been making a play for a garden full of Birdies raised beds. We’ll have to buy 1 or 2 a year because they’re pricey!
Anne says
Howling with laughter. You ladies are a gem of a corner of the internet.
We are at two 4×4 beds, with other food things, especially shrubs or trees, interspersed as we can. There’re a lot of mixed beds going on as we replant inherited decorative beds with food. Two littles and two dogs, one a garden destroying puppy, plus a full time job. So our focus now is on putting things in that take us a little time to plant but take a long time to harvest. In all ways, really.
Heather says
We have 380 sq ft total for two people. Since we are in the high desert and get snow in the winter, our growing season is pretty short.
We have blackberry and raspberry bushes and a ton of garlic plants, which I freeze if we have any extras (we mince the garlic before we freeze it).
Besides those, we will plant tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans, zucchini and yellow squash, kale, a few cantaloupe and lettuce that we will plant in our raised beds. Everything we don’t eat fresh will be frozen or canned for later this year.
Last year we had voles who took our our zucchini plants.
Tammy says
We don’t have room for a big garden (well…our house is on almost 1/2 acre so we have the ROOM but the back is all shade trees), so we have two garden beds in our front yard. I grow for fresh food to eat and to to can as much as possible, for our family of three.
I laughed out loud at “religious family with visiting kin”. haha
Cindy says
The HH had to get a new tractor and he did his research on that too I bet. That’s too funny he had to go up garden plots. I saw he used a chalk line to get straight. Lucy was out helping and inspection to meet qualifications. He new about the lasagna garden wasn’t going to work, why didn’t he say something to you then? The lasagna garden was a little uneven for him lol. Anyway you got a new garden that’s whooping big. Keep us updated, love reading your post and what other people say. We’re renting so all do 2 tomatoes plants and a cucumber plant in pots. I am not sure about what they sprayed with chemicals and he had 2 dogs.
Shannon says
We moved to central Kentucky last year, so this will be our first full gardening season. We’ve put in 15 raised beds, equaling about 300 square feet. I’ve also put in several experimental beds (no-till and Ruth Stout) to equal another 500 square feet. Since we garden using the square foot method, we get a LOT of produce for just the two of us so we eat fresh, can, freeze, and started freeze-drying this month. Whatever produce doesn’t get processed in one of these methods will go to the chickens and given away.
Katt says
When my kids were home (five boys), I had a 60′ X 60′ garden. I froze everything. All I had to buy for vegetables all winter was lettuce and tomatoes.
We also raised a pig (350 lbs), 13 chickens (for eggs), and a shared a cow (1/2 each), with another family.
I’d buy seven HUGE grain bags of potatoes from a local farmer for $7 a bag. That lasted a year.
We had plenty for almost nothing.
It was good.
Pam T says
You are going to need a bigger canning cupboard!
Mary Beth says
I live alone and have 4 raised beds, each 4×8, totaling 128 square feet and 7 fruit trees. Each week I still supplement with farm stand and farmer’s market produce.
Lori King says
That’s the size my Dad always had and the end closest to our view he planted a row of I believe Iris – they grew about 2 feet or so tall, a gorgeous purple and were just beautiful! The farthest away he planted the rows of corn so in between were the peas, beans, tomatoes, squash (oh he planted pumpkins by themselves away from this garden) and other veggies. This was in NE CT. I only gave details because it is a nice trip down memory lane. You certainly know how to garden! I love it! Enjoy your new plot.
Jamie says
Ours is 18′ x 22′. It’s for 2 people and 6 guinea pigs. About 1/4 of the garden is food for the pigs and rest is for us. We eat most of our food fresh, but I have a goal to learn to can jams this year to prolong our fruit harvest – in addition to the garden our lot is edged in by blackberry and raspberry bushes, we have 2 mulberry trees, a cherry tree, and an apple tree.
Tiffany F says
I truly laughed out loud as soon as I saw “religious family”!
I have 1 raised bed (4×8), about 40 5 gallon buckets, and I use the flower beds around the house for things the deer don’t like. We also have 2 apple trees. I try to can but haven’t had enough the last few years to do a whole lot.
Debi says
I have nine raised beds that are 4’X8′ and one bed that is 4’X16′ and I grow for two people. If I had space for more I’d have hubby build them!
Caitlin says
Our garden is 1,330 sq ft and our house is only 1,050 sq ft- ha! We are a no-religion family of 4, but the kids are both under 5. My husband thought he would limit my garden size by fencing it in (and to keep the deer out). Jokes on him, we both think its too small and are planning another garden area.
Diane says
Running irrigation out to the garden or let it fend for itself throughout the season?
Kim says
Ours is 30 x 60 feet. We are empty nesters. Sometimes I wonder what we don’t have more yield. Two of our big crops are red potatoes and sweet potatoes, both of which only require storage.
My 18 tomato plants have no fruit yet, as we went from a cold spring to high nineties this month. I could weep. Milder temps coming in a few days. Is there still hope?
Alas, we keep pushing forward with purple hull peas, okra, onions, green beans , peppers.
Amy W says
I think the lasagna garden would be a PERFECT pumpkin patch!
Tamara says
Well mine must be for a whole religious commune! The fenced in vegetable garden is 30×70, then I have a 10×20 greenhouse full of tomatoes, peppers and basils. Then I have 20 cherry tomato plants in pots here in there. And then we have our fruit garden, which is about 3/4 -to an acre with most of the fruit trees, not all, blueberries, grapes, josta berries, currents, honey berries, figs, kiwis and more! But yes, I try to preserve as much as I can with am aim to be as self sufficient as we can be.
Taryn says
My ‘front garden’ is about 10 metres by 12 metres and I grow my corn, pumpkins, beans, peppers, tomatoes and most of my potatoes. I have garden beds equal to about another 2/3 with brassicas, carrots, asparagus, herbs, etc. I just googled that and it’s over 2,000 square feet! And there’s only 2.5 of us!! I don’t grow onions and the rest of my potatoes, nor peas or green beans as we’re on a cropping farm and I have 12 hectare paddocks to pick from for each of those. We are mostly self sufficient with vegetables, berries and partially with fruit. Oh, and there’s a fruit forest on top of all that. I’m in New Zealand. 🙂 And my husband sometimes uses his 140 hp tractor to help in my front garden. That looks a bit odd. Happy gardening!
Dee Patterson says
Vegetables are terrific but fruit is usually more expensive to buy .
Although there are different varieties of say , tomatoes which taste completely different to shop bought ones , not just because they are fresher and organic but the actual variety makes a difference .
In my opinion, it’s fruit where you can taste significant differences in flavour and quality and save the most money .
It does take a few years for most fruit trees to think about giving s crop but, once they get going you should find yourself with so much fruit you will be able to give or sell it as you’ll have an abundance , far more than you will ever need , even to store.
I don’t know what grows or can grow in your area, but I’m sure whatever your neighbours grow you could too.
Here in Devon , England, we can grow virtually anything now with global warming I’ve even seen bananas in front gardens .
That said, apple trees , damson, plum, pears are still a good bet .
Heather Russell says
Just a suggestion, you may want to plant your blueberry bushes somewhere else. We have always planted ours away from the garden. Blueberry bushes get huge with age, and you don’t want the tractor doing damage to them.