How Much Food Can I Grow in 1 Year?

I try vegetable gardening for the first time!

[Qopzeep]

First rule of vegetable gardening is to grow what you love. BUT if you're looking to save costs, grow veggies that are expensive to buy. Vegetables like lettuces, basil, parsley, coriander and other herbs and leafy greens which can be picked multiple times can yield a lot. I've harvested multiple kilos per square meter. And don't forget about succession crops: beetroot and radishes can be grown in a matter of weeks, so they can go before or after a crop, like your potato bed. Garlic doesn't need its own bed, they need so little space that they can be planted between other veggies, like fennel or carrots. Plant sprawling plants at the edges of your beds and let them trail across the ground or better yet, train them up your fence, where they'll stay out of the way and get extra warmth. Lastly, you can easily grow veggies through the winter, if you get them in by August or September. For next year: either top up with a healthy dose of compost or amend with fertiliser (chicken manure pellets are cheap and work just fine). You had a great start (onions are not that easy!) but you can definitely triple or quadruple your savings with a little more time investment and smart planting :)!

[gen]

A handful (or two) of helpful hints to (possibly) turn "failures" into "success":
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1. Take the tomatoes that got eaten by the bugs and don't throw them away. You will notice they still have seeds in them, which will grow into next year's tomato crop. Spread the seeds out (along with their gelatinous insides) on a paper towel and dry them. Some people even cut a thin slice of tomato (with seeds inside) and plant it directly in the ground. The gelatin inside is food for the plants, but you can boost their startup, especially considering you have bees. When you start each tomato seed, surround it with a drop of honey and some cinnamon. That will give it the nourishing boost it needs in its critical first days of sprouting.
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2. To get rid of slugs, put out a saucer or soup bowl with beer in it. Slugs will get attracted to it, crawl inside, get drunk, and drown. If you don't put out all the beer, when the slugs are gone, you can celebrate and get drunk on the rest of it.
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3. Another culprit for tomatoes is the tobacco hornworm, which can grow as large as your thumb. When the plants are dry, dust them with food-grade diatomaceous earth. It's basically microscopic shards of silica glass that tears up the juicy bodies of the bugs and dehydrates them. Since rain rinses the dust off, reapply after storms (once the plants are dry again).
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4. If you find that not all of the tomato flowers are getting pollinated, help them out a bit. Take an electric toothbrush and touch the back of the flower. It will loosen the pollen and will increase your yield dramatically, as tomatoes are technically self-pollinating.
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5. Change which bed you plant the tomatoes in, each year, as they tend to strip the soil of a lot of the nutrients; it will give them the best chance of thriving. Also, use an old blender or food processor to chop up the tomato stalks and leaves and mulch the area with them. All of the vitamins and minerals that were trapped in the plants will get returned to the soil.
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6. Cut your seed potatoes into slips (chunks like you did when cooking them), making sure each slip has at least one eye. Each piece will grow into a full plant just as the whole potatoes did.
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7. Plant potatoes in expanding fabric barrels. Start out with the barrel folded down and put potato slips into 4 inches of soil. As the plant starts to grow, roll the fabric bag upwards and add more soil to cover all but the very top couple of leaves. All of the buried leaves will now sprout additional potatoes on them. Be sure to use the dark black fabric barrels, as potatoes are a hot weather crop that are also very intolerant of light (which causes the potatoes to discolor). The bags are available on Amazon for about $20 for 3 bags. This should grow enough potatoes to encompass the entire two rows you planted, but only take up the horizontal space of 3 plants.
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8. Practice "lasagna gardening" (look it up on Google). Dig into your soil and layer black and white newsprint sheets. They will decompose, loosen the soil and block the light so all the weed seeds will get cooked and not sprout. Also, when you put down a layer of newspaper, add any of last year's plant stuff as mulch, and wet the whole thing down. If possible, also spread a layer of earthworms in the garden, as they help to create mulch. And if you don't get into too much trouble with your environmental agencies, before you wet the newspaper, burn it it and it creates "bio-char" (or use the wood ash from your pizza oven). Note: If you smoke, don't touch the tomato plants with your bare hands. Tobacco mosaic virus will get to those plants, and if an infected plant rubs against a healthy one, it can transfer the virus. Also don't use cigarette ashes as mulch. As a top layer, use some black garden fabric or black plastic with small holes punched in it for water drainage. The sun will heat up the fabric and speed up the mulch/decomposition process.
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9. One more tomato suggestion: I noticed that you were very effective in pruning the non-fruit-bearing branches from your tomato plants. Try this trick: leave the very bottom branch (the sucker) attached and bury the middle part of it in the soil with just the top of it sticking out. It will root itself and become another entire tomato plant.
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I guess that's a couple handfuls (10 ideas = 10 fingers worth). Enjoy and best of luck in your garden.
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11. Ok, here's another one for good measure: Cucumbers can grow vertically quite easily. As the plant starts to spread along the ground, pick up the end of the plant and gently weave it into a trellis, which can be something as simple as 3-4 pieces of stick, tied together in a teepee formation, with additional twine wrapped around it. Keeping the cucumbers off the ground will help prevent them rotting.
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12. And here's one more to make an even dozen: Plant marigolds around your tomato plants. The essential oils in the plant help drive away the caterpillars and moths.
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Ok, NOW you can enjoy!

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George (gen81465)

[mycereal]

YouTubers really out here breaking their comfort zones and routine for one whole year for a 20 minute video. I love it.

[PattaTrades]

Recently I found out if you crush eggshells and sprinke them around your plants it will stop slugs and snails from going all over them. I had a similar issue last year.

[nomad_devv]

During the great depression, my grand parents knew it was going on. But it did not effect them whatsoever. They grew their own vegetables and grain. Grandma knew how to sew, cook, and take care of 8 children. Grandpa knew how to raise cattle, hunt, and fish. And take care of 8 children. They didn't only survive, they thrived.

[MamaLena]

A few pieces of unsolicited advice:
1. Tomatoes only like their toes to get wet, so water at the base. Try to keep water off the leaves, as this will contribute to blight.
2. Throw the blighted tomatoes in your garbage, not your compost. You don't want to spread any diseases or bad microbes back into your soil.
3. If the beer trick doesn't work for the slugs, try copper tape, broken eggs shells or straw. They don't like any of those.
4. Wait for the potato plants to turn yellow and fall over before harvesting.
5. When strawberries start emerging, place straw underneath the plant to keep slugs away and keep the fruit from dragging on the ground. (Hence the name "strawberries 🍓)
6. Larger courgettes (?) (we call them zucchini the U.S.) will drain the most energy from the plant so check your plants daily. However, it seems like there's always one that get away.
The squash flowers are also edible.
7. I like to "hide" crops in my front yard, as well. Try mixing lettuces, green beans or peppers here and there. No one will notice but you.
We have six blueberry bushes in our front yard. They look like regular landscape shrubs.
8. Most importantly, have fun with it! After a while you'll know what works and what doesn't.

[MissTarryn]

I love how you added it all up and showed how much money you saved or didn't save, but the true value of this experience is your new knowledge and the joy of watching something grow from your own yard, free from chemicals and growth hormones. I would pay double for that, well done!!

[CrazyMagicHomelesGuy]

Maybe I'm late, but here's some advice:
Let the potato plant dry up at the end of the season for optimal yield. When it dries the plant makes the potatoes bigger to survive the hersh winter.

[heidib.ausd-xxx]

The potatoes grow as long as the leaves are green. So if you wait until the leaves will have been gone brown, the potatoes would have grown bigger.

[thinking-monkey]

The literal cost of the vegetables you grew may have been only 64 pounds, but the feeling of happiness, self-satisfaction, and self-reliance were worth at least a million pounds, easily! Great job, my friend!

[Alex-vnon]

While you didn't turn a profit, you created something you'll enjoy for years to come, and created something for millions to enjoy. I can really appreciate this type of video, something that takes a year to make is no small task. Keep doing what your doing.

[adriansutton]

Depending on resourcefulness you can definitely cut down on the start up costs. There's videos of people making beds from wooden pallets, you can get seeds from other gardeners or the foods you eat, I even saw a video of someone making their own fertilizers. I think gardening is really beneficial physically and psychologically. Getting outside and moving and breathing the fresh air... watching something you have invested in grow and produce...it's an accomplishment. Theres also the mental stimulation from learning new skills.

[Lindisfarne]

The most valuable thing here isn't the vegetables, but the knowledge gained, and the peace of mind that you can survive on your own if you had to.

[sadjaxx]

I love the way you went about this. So many gardeners seem to be professionals who know all there is to know, rather intimidating. You give me courage to give it a try. Thank you!

[xingcat]

Potatoes have turned out to be my favorite vegetable to grow, because I always assumed you needed a big farm to get a decent amount of potatoes, but I've grown them in grow bags and planter boxes, and they take no care at all, really. It does feel like magic, a bit, growing our own food.

[enqrgml]

You might have lost money growing your own but it looks pretty organic which is priceless. Save your good stock for another crop..overall you did well and I found the video inspiring!

[KornflakezRandomStuff]

It is not always about saving money. When it comes to food, it tastes just so much better to grow your own food than the stuff from the supermarket. Great video for sure.

[jailorserry]

5 am watching a man grow his knowledge as he grows his crops, you've more than earned a sub mate. Cant wait to see more

[andrewmckeown]

For larger potatoes, only leave 1 or 2 sprouts (chits) on each potato. You can even cut them into pieces with 1 or 2 chits on each to make them go further. If you cut them though, let them dry out for a few days before planting to avoid rotting before they sprout :)

[Lendo_]

A point that I want to make regarding the costs of the materials, compost, fruits and vegetables (general things) for people thinking of having their own garden:

- The initial setup can be expensive. However, you will end up getting your money back over time, as all of the things you have planted will be able to be replanted using the leftover seeds (bulbs, cloves, etc.). Gardening and having your own patch to look after can seem like a gigantic investment, but as long as you put in the effort and work maintaining your garden and caring for your plant's needs. You will theoretically have an 'endless' supply of fruits and vegetables! And trust me and many other gardeners, even the best gardeners have killed the most plants because gardening is all trial and error! Happy gardening!