New To Gardening - How Much Crop?

How much space do you have to work with? My limiting factor is physical backyard space vs some lawn for the kids to run around. I’ve had to stop growing plants that need a lot of room like watermelon.

I have about 1/3 of an acre of room to work with (doesn’t have to be that large). Irrigation already in place. Soil sample has been done but still need to take it to someone to see exactly what I need to do to get it where it needs to be (ground is Apison soil with soft slate).

The garden doesn’t necessarily have to provide a full year of harvest, but I don’t want to only end up getting a few cans either. I’ve seen people who have done wire arches for their beans. How much would that yield?

Do you have and know how to use a pressure canner ?

no, yes.

Sounds like you're wanting to get serious about it. If that's the case, learn how to can. It's not that difficult and your crops will last for years.

There's a little bit of investment with the equipment and education but the ROI us tenfold. I do most of my canning on the fish cooker outside because, well I get to be outside.

Learning to can is one of the reasons I’m wanting to start gardening. My mom has always canned vegetables she’s gotten from friends. So the equipment and know how is already there. Just have to get her to show me.

If I were you, I'd forget about corn. There just not enough yield per plant to warrant taking up that amount of space in a small garden.

Okra is very prolific and in peak season it is not unusual to pick at least 1 pod of okra per plant per day.

If growing green beans and cucumbers, I'd opt for growing them on a trellis. Cucumbers will look better, not have any rot or bug issues like they can laying on the bare ground. Also, picking pole beans and cucumbers are way easier on a trellis.

Peppers---bells and milder varieties will produce earlier than the hotter varieties like habanero, serrano, cayenne, ghost.

Cantaloupe and other melon crops will eat up a ton of space since they spread across the ground.

My backyard garden consists of 5 rows 50 ft. long. I also have 2 trellises, both about 20 ft. long and 6 ft. tall. There is also one 4 ft. x 12 ft. x 1 ft. high raised bed I use for root crops like garlic, beets, onions.

If in the deep south, growing tomatoes should be spaced fairly far apart for better air circulation around the plants. Plant too close and it encourages mold/mildew issues, especially as the weather heats up. I usually go 30 inches between tomatoes.

quote:

---

A stalk of corn will grow 1 or 2 ears and that’s it.

---

I planted corn once------just once. It was really not worth the space it took up. The only good thing about corn is you can plant it close in each row and don't need a lot of space between rows.

However, only getting a max of 2 ears per stalk, I find it a waste of space. The local Rouses puts corn on sale when in season and I've gotten them for as little as 10 ears for $1 and that is a hell of a lot easier than growing it.

Now, there are some people who like to companion plant. They start their corn and let it get about waist high and then plant pole beans around the corn stalks so the vines climb the stalks so the beans grow off the ground with no need for a designated trellis.

quote:

---

I’ve had to stop growing plants that need a lot of room like watermelon.

---

I grow sugar babies and black diamond watermelon on a trellis, works great, doesn't take up much room and they are so good compared to what you get in the store. I usually try a stars and moon or moon and stars too but those get pretty big and I let those run wild, I just haven't had much success with them, but plenty with the small melons.

quote:

---

I planted corn once------just once. It was really not worth the space it took up

---

Same here, the first year I did a more serious in ground garden. I had raised beds prior to that, and we'd do a few tomato plants and smaller vegetables, but I tilled out a section that first year and planted corn, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and some berries. Decided I don't have enough space to properly grow corn and beans in my yard without tilling out a much larger space, and didn't want to deal with muddy ground in the winter after the growing season. I stick with squash and cucumbers and tomatoes mostly. My youngest keeps talking about a garden, so I'm going to let him help me this spring. We'll get seeds started inside in a few weeks.