Growing Vegetables

If your overall goal in growing your own vegetable garden is to provide your own food source or supplement your grocery bill then you need to consider growing food high in calories like beans , corn or potatoes. The food pyramid shows us that we need to eat twice as many grains as vegetables. It is possible to grow about 60% of your dietary needs in your own yard if you include meats and dairy, if you are a vegetarian than the percentage is of course closer to 100.

The cornerstone of a sound and healthy diet is getting enough calories. Calories are the hardest food element to produce in a small space, like a backyard garden. When planning your garden you need to consider which plants will give you the highest calorie return for your time and effort. Beans will provide a large amount of calories but take a lot of space to grow.  Potatoes are the opposite, they provide less calories but you can grow more in a small area. The calorie per square foot of potatoes is greater than that of beans.

 

Grains like wheat , rye or corn take larger areas to produce useful calories. The advantage of these grains  is that they produce a lot of excess material for the compost pile and your soil. Some effective calorie crops include onions , turnips and leeks. In areas where the growing season is longer or if using greenhouses you can plant these crops twice - doubling your yield!