Make your family self-sufficient in veggies – How many square meters are needed? (Full article & videos)

Self-sufficient in vegetables – How many squares are actually needed? More and more people are interested in growing their own food. Many people see their home cultivation as a way to provide the family with nutritious food but also as a way to increase the cash. Kristider has also made many people aware of the country’s low degree of self-sufficiency and dependence on food imports. In Sweden less than 20% of the consumption of vegetables & fruit is produced and in Norrland less than 10%, the rest is imported, which also contributes to large carbon dioxide emissions. The question is how much space do you need to make your family self-sufficient in vegetables? This article will help you figure out how much space your family needs.

It is discussed how large an area is needed to be able to be self-sufficient in vegetables as the success of the harvest depends on a number of different factors.

Factors affecting the cultivation area size:

• The climate where you live
• The quality of the soil
• Access to sun
• Precipitation (how much it rains)
• What you grow
• Your diet
• Cultivation methods such as crop rotation, cover cropping, companion-planting (read more on companion planting in this premium article)

Self-sufficiency in vegetables – How many square meters are needed?

According to a degree project by the gardener Jenny Helsing, approximately 500 square meters of open-air cultivation and one hour of work per day are required to support a family of four people on vegetables in a mixed diet. The calculations are based on nutritional recommendations by the National Food Administration and are based on a woman eating an average of 145 kilos of vegetables and a man 187 kilos of root vegetables and coarser vegetables per year. This means that a football field of farms could provide 4-5 families with their annual consumption of vegetables.

Example cultivation area for a family of four people

260 sqm for potatoes (gives approx. 330kg)

13 sqm for onions (gives approx. 45kg)

5 sqm for beets (gives approx. 10kg)

50 sqm for broccoli (gives approx. 25kg)

23 sqm for carrots (gives approx. 78kg)

Exactly how much you need to grow, however, depends entirely on how much you and your family eat, and what you like to eat. Below is a guide to help you specify the size of the growing area to provide your family with vegetables all year round. Remember to start small and expand your cultivation slowly to maintain good motivation.

Make your family self-sufficient: 

Step 1. Look in the fridge and freezer what you usually eat. Write down vegetables and fruits that are in the refrigerator or in ready-made packages. Maybe you can make your own tomato sauce for spaghetti, chili sauce for pizza or jam for pancakes?

Step 2. Estimate and measure how much your family eats per week and year. Feel free to use the table below for support.

Step 3. Choose crops to grow based on what is possible in the climate you live in. Search the latest and earliest frost day in google for your area.

Step 4. Cultivate what you can indoors or in a drive bench. Read more here about how to breed.

Step 5. Plant out your preschooled plants or directly according to your planting plan.

Use the table below. You as Grow Friends or Grow Pro get a printable version when you become a member.
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Here is also an excerpt from the material where you can calculate how much space you need. Below you can also read average figures on how much harvest you can get per plant and how much area the plants take up. Get access to the entire cultivation plan as a Grow Friends/Pro member.
(It can be translated to English upon request)