Wooden Box Of Garden Vegetables
family vegetable garden
(Image credit: alicjane)

Deciding how large a family vegetable garden will be means you need to take a few things into consideration. How many members you have in your family, how much your family likes the vegetables you grow, and how well you can store the excess vegetable crops can all influence the size of a family vegetable garden.

But, you can make an estimate on what size garden will feed a family so that you can try to plant enough to enjoy all of your favorite vegetables all season long. Let's look at the what size garden will feed a family.

How to Grow a Garden for a Family

The most important thing to consider when deciding how big your family garden should be is how many people in your family you need to feed. Adults and teens will, of course, eat more vegetables from the garden than children, infants, and toddlers. If you know the number of people you need to feed in your family, you'll have a starting point for how much of any vegetable you need to plant in your family vegetable garden.

The next thing to decide when creating a family vegetable garden is what vegetables you will grow. For more common vegetables, like tomatoes or carrots, you may want to grow larger amounts, but if you are introducing your family to a less common vegetable, like kohlrabi or bok choy, you may want to grow less until your family becomes accustomed to it.

Also, when considering what size garden will feed a family, you also need to consider if you will be planning to serve only fresh vegetables or if you will be preserving some to last through fall and winter.

Vegetable Garden Size for a Family Per Person

Here are some helpful suggestions:

Asparagus

5-10 plants per person

Beans

10-15 plants per person

Beets

10-25 plants per person

Bok Choy

1-3 plants per person

Broccoli

3-5 plants per person

Brussels Sprouts

2-5 plants per person

Cabbage

3-5 plants per person

Carrots

10-25 plants per person

Cauliflower

2-5 plants per person

Celery

2-8 plants per person

Corn

10-20 plants per person

Cucumber

1-2 plants per person

Eggplant

1-3 plants per person

Kale

2-7 plants per person

Kohlrabi

3-5 plants per person

Leafy Greens

2-7 plants per person

Leeks

5-15 plants per person

Head Lettuce

2-5 plants per person

Leaf Lettuce

5-8 plants per person

Melon

1-3 plants per person

Onion

10-25 plants per person

Peas

15-20 plants per person

Sweet Peppers

3-5 plants per person

Hot Peppers

1-3 plants per person

Potatoes

5-10 plants per person

Radishes

10-25 plants per person

Winter Squash

1-2 plants per person

Summer Squash

1-3 plants per person

Tomatoes

1-4 plants per person

Zucchini

1-3 plants per person

Heather Rhoades
Founder of Gardening Know How

Heather Rhoades founded Gardening Know How in 2007. She holds degrees from Cleveland State University and Northern Kentucky University. She is an avid gardener with a passion for community, and is a recipient of the Master Gardeners of Ohio Lifetime Achievement Award.