How much land do you need?

How much land do you need?

People grow vegetables for a number of reasons:

• for cheap food
• for tasty food
• to produce rare delicacies that are not easy to buy
• for the satisfaction of doing something
• enjoyment
• excises
• and many more reasons.

One of the question that you might ask yourself before you start, is:

How much land do you need to produce all the vegetables and salads that you need?

A plot of land that is 600 square yards should do the job. That is 60 yards long and 10 yards wide.This is an average allotment size in the UK, reckoned to be enough land for a family of four.

A person will have to be very busy to keep such a garden carefully cropped and clean and free from weeds without mechanical aids.

Before you start such an enterprise it is also a good thing to have a rough idea of how long it is going to take time wise, that is.

Based on my experience of the last few years on a allotment of 600 square yards. I would say you need 250-280 hours per year to cultivate a plot of this size.

A lot would depend, of course, on:

• your soil type
• your system
• how much experience you have
• your fitness.

My first year on my allotment took a lot more time because I took over a plot that had not been used for a couple of years and therefore was in a right state.

I spent a lot of time setting out raised beds and a fruit garden. Once that was done, the plot has just been a joy to 'work on' and I use that term lightly because with a bed system it is so easy to grow and keep weed free.

Proof of this is the fact that I am the cup holder for the best allotment in Oxford.