What’s a good size for a first garden?

Carefully managed, even a 4’ x 4’/1.2 x 1.2 m plot (16 sq. ft./2.4 sq. m) will produce quite a bit of food and will leave you time to learn about and enjoy caring for a vegetable garden. If you have lots of space and want to try a larger garden, make it no more than 10’ x 20’ /3 x 6 m (200 sq. ft./18 sq. m). Keep in mind that the ideal size for your garden depends on the types of crops you want to plant, too. Crops like bush beans, lettuce, spinach, peppers, and carrots are perfect for a small garden, since the plants are small enough to allow you to fit in a variety of crops in the available space. However, if pumpkins and winter squash are high up on your planting list, you’ll need to prepare a bigger garden, since just one of these plants can cover an entire 4’ x 4’/1.2 x 1

Reprinted from The Veggie Gardener's Answer Book Copyright 2008 by Barbara W. Ellis, with permission from Storey Publishing. Creative Commons photo credit: Amber