Calculating how much to grow is as important as what to grow when planning for your homestead this year.  With skyrocketing super market prices as well as questionable growing techniques by large food producers – most homesteaders look towards the ultimate goal of being able to grow as close to 100% of their required produce as possible.   With modern growing strategies such a container growing, vertical farming and making smart use of your available space, with some ingenuity and planning, reaching a status of self sufficiency is within reach.

Planning your yields for your planting efforts this coming year involves taking the time to sit down and calculate first what your family likes to eat, and then how much you need to grow.  Every family is different in their needs and that is also impacted by individual tastes of those you plan to be feeding.  If your family loves carrots, then you will want to plan enough to provide 12 months worth of them.   If your family hates zucchini, then it doesn’t make logical sense to grow the vegetable as it just takes up valuable growing space.

The other important consideration when planning to grow a year round supply of produce is what you strategy is going to be for having enough produce on hand during the winter months.   If you have no year round green house or growing facility, then having fresh lettuce in January in zone 4 won’t be feasible while vegetables like potatoes, carrots, onions and so forth ( typically root vegetables ) have a long storage time when kept in a cold room covered in loose sand.

This then also opens the discussion of a staggered or succession planting schedule which allows you to create a flow of harvestable fresh produce rather then it call coming ready to harvest at once.   In future articles I will dwell much deeper into these discussions but for today, let’s discuss the growing yield charts below which I broke down into age groups to further help in creating an accurate growing plan.

One last thing before we continue – these yield suggestions are based on what would best be interpreted as reasonable estimates for each vegetable.   This does not mean that a person should look at this chart and assume it is saying you should plant this much food for each category.

Homestead Garden Yield Calculator

Adult Requirements – Ages 14:55

For adults aged 14 to 55, there are numerous variables you will have to consider such as vegetable preference as well as appetite.  For example a 18 year old teenaged male with a large appetite will consumer far more than a petite 18 year female who happily lives on a small diet.    Subsequently, the following table for adults is the mean average for an annual target harvest of that specific vegetable.   For example, for carrots, a family with a mother, father, 17 year old son and 15 year old daughter, would be from 40 to 55 pounds.  If you family eats a lot of carrots, or you use them a lot in stews and soups, then you may want to increase that yield but you a least have a starting point to modify from.

I’ve also endeavored to create a realistic yield amount for each plant.  For example, corn calls for 25 to 50 ears per person per year.   This is shown per ear, but keep in mind your corn will be consumed as corn on the cob, or in nibblet / kernel form.    Based on a 2 month consumption period from day of harvest, as well as freezing the kernels for use over the winter, this yield chart essentially is saying 4 ears per month annually which is likely pretty accurate based on the North American diet.

Children (1-7 Years and 8-13 Years)

Adults (14-19 Years and 20-55 Years)

Seniors (55+ Years)

The Logic of Planting

One of the key principles and is really a true form of art is planting at a staggered pace so that the crop that grows provides as consistent of continual supply as possible for your homestead.  So many homesteaders and gardeners head out to their gardens / plots in early May and plant everything at once which results in everything being ready at once.  It becomes a feast to famine situation and typically results in a large amount of produce going to waste.   Root vegetables such as carrots and potatoes are far more forgiving – but items such as lettuce and peppers have a much shorter shelf life as well as time frame that requires them to be harvested.

Called succession planting – this technique requires you to take into consideration the time from the expected first early harvest to the last harvest of the season.  You can further fine tune this strategy by taking into account the listed maturity times for each of the seeds in a specific vegetable you plant – as well as using a mix of early, mid and late season varieties.  I plan on writing far more extensively on this topic in the coming weeks.

The easiest way to approach this is to work on one vegetable crop at a time – looking at your seeds maturation rate and then on a sheet of paper map out a time line of when each will be ready which will give you your base plan for how and when to start planting what.

Storing Your Harvest

The other important consideration for your homestead food plan is to take into consideration your storage and preserving strategy – but ideally a strategy of providing as much of a flow of fresh consumable produce for as many months of the year is the goal, and then using preserving techniques to stretch through the winter months where no new flow of produce is coming in ( assuming you don’t have a year round greenhouse.  )

A root cellar is a must for any serious homesteader and like its name implies, is used to store root vegetables like potatoes, carrots, beets and onions.  Any produce where the consumable part of the plant grows below the surface is at home in your root cellar so other vegetables like sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips etc and all be stored for extended periods of time in a properly set up cellar.

There a variety of techniques that you can use in your root cellar to keep your stored roots for months on end.  For those of us old enough, most can remember grandparents having a large bin of sand in their root room that the produced was kept covered in.   More modern techniques include storing your potatoes and such in straw in breathable bins such as wood crates.   The key take away on this subject at a basic level is to only store non-blemished roots and do your best to not let them touch each other in storage.

In a future section and contained articles I’ll be going far more in depth on this subject including an entire extensive guide to canning and preserving.

Until then, the game is a foot with the new growing season just around the corner and time to start planning your strategy for how much you need to grow this year to feed your family.

Carrots have long been a staple of the North American and European diet – revered for its nutritional value and versatility as well as its ability to be stored for extended periods of time.  While most gardeners and farmers focus on cultivating carrots for their edible roots, the process of harvesting seeds from carrots is an equally vital, albeit less understood, aspect of carrot cultivation. I’ll be explaining the little know art of how to harvest carrots seeds in this article which will to create a sustainable seed source from your carrot crop while contributing to sustainable gardening practices.

Carrots, interestingly, are biennial plants which means that they have a two-year life cycle, contrary to the annual harvesting of their roots.   In the first year of a carrots life, they devote their energy to developing a robust, edible root, whereas the second year sees them flowering and producing seeds. Understanding this lifecycle a primary step for anyone looking to harvest carrot seeds, as it requires patience and a different set of cultivation skills compared to growing carrots for annual consumption.

Harvesting carrot seeds extends beyond mere cultivation. It’s a practice steeped in agricultural sustainability, allowing gardeners and homesteaders to maintain and propagate heirloom varieties, contribute to biodiversity, and reduce dependence on commercially available seeds which can be genetically modified. Furthermore, harvesting your own carrot seeds can be a rewarding experience fostering a closer connection to the cycle of growth and the natural world while furthering your independence of your homestead.

The first year of a carrot plant’s life will set the foundation for sustainable and successful seed production. This period focuses on the growth and development of the carrot root, which will sustain the plant in its second year when it turns its energy towards flowering and seed production.

Planting and Germination in Year One

Starting with your selected seeds – this crucial step requires that you not just pick the type of carrot you want to eat for food but also ensuring the quality of the seed.   You will want to use an heirloom seed for any crop you plan on performing sustainable seed harvesting with and I would also recommend doing you due diligence with the brand of seed you choose to go with.  By definition, heirloom seeds have been monitored through their generations to ensure that they are both organic and certified non GMO – after all there is no point in using a seed that is organic now, but in its lineage was a descendant of a genetically modified seed.

Once you have selected your seed, your carrots should be sown directly into the soil. During this seeding phase, be sure to space out the actual carrots you plan on using for seeds so they have ample room to grow.   If you are planning on planting more then one variety of carrots for seed harvesting – you will also want them to be further apart from each other so they do not cross pollinate in the second year when they flower.   Carrots seeds take 1-3 weeks to germinate and during this time, keeping the soil consistently moist is important for successful germination.

Because carrots are a rood vegetable, having soil that is rich in organic material and is loose allows for unimpeded root growth.  Carrots prefer a continual supply of moisture while not being overly saturated.   It is also a good idea to use a layer of mulch over the soil that will help retain soil moisture and regulate soil temperature.  As the carrots come up – you will want to thin them accordingly and pay a particular focus to the carrots that you are growing to be used for seeds.   These will stay in the ground over the winter where in the spring will focus on flowering an seed production and no longer on the growth of their root below the soil.    This means that in regions with cold winters, carrots intended for seed production must be protected as much as possible which involves a heavy layer of mulch in the fall.   Another option is to dig up the entire carrot and store them in a cool, moist place over the winter, then replant them in early spring.  You may want to try both methods to see which works better for you.

Carrot Flowering and Carrot Seed Development in Year Two

As the carrot plants enter their second year, they shift their energy from root development to flowering and seed production.

Initiation of Carrot Flowering:

In the second year, as the days lengthen and temperatures rise, the overwintered carrot plants will begin to produce flowering stalks which is called bolting. These stalks will grow tall, and umbel-shaped flower clusters will form.  These carrot flowers are typically white or pale purple and are arranged in a unique pattern known as an umbel, where several flower stalks emerge from a common point. The primary umbel blooms first, followed by smaller, secondary umbels.  During this phase, let the flowers fully bloom so they can begin their natural pollination process.  Depending on your variety, these blooms can range from wild flower looking in appearance to magnificent blooms.    The popular flower Queen Anne’s Lace is a direct relative to the carrot but is inedible for humans.

Carrots are predominantly pollinated by insects and in particular bees – but other pollinators will also help in the process.   Having bee attracting flowers near by any vegetable needing polination assistance is a good idea.    Ensuring a diversity of pollinators in your garden can enhance the pollination process.   Sunflowers, wild flowers, and most vibrant colored flowers attract bees – while also remembering that bees and their cousins have different length ” tongues ” so having flowers that are have different shaped and different lengths of pedals will make your growing area even more bee friendly.

Carrot Seed Development

After pollination, the flowers on the carrots gradually transform into seed clusters. Each tiny flower in the umbel has the potential to develop into a carrot seed.  During this period, it’s important to monitor the plants regularly, as seed development varies among umbels.  The carrot seeds are ready for harvest when they turn brown and start to dry out.    This typically occurs several weeks after flowering and you will need to closely monitor this period as if they dry out to long, they will fall off the plant. The primary umbel will mature first, followed by the secondary and tertiary umbels.  In the image below, the flowers have dried out and turned brown – it is this period where the seeds are either ready, or near ready to harvest.

Rain harvesting for a homestead can be as simple as a method to capture rain water for growing and agriculture purposes – or as advanced as a system designed to harvest water that is intended for drinking and cooking.     Regardless though, you may want to look into installing what is called a first flush system which is designed to divert the initial flow of rainwater, which is typically loaded with pollutants and debris accumulated on the catchment surface away from the storage tank which in turns reduces the contaminants that make it into the primary water supply.

For a lot of homesteaders and preppers, you might not have even given though to a first flush system – or the value of it.   It’s a simple concept – when it rains, the first flush of water from the roof or catchment area contains the highest level of contaminants which makes sense as this first flow of water washes away the dust, bird droppings, leaves, and other debris that have settled on the surface since the last rainfall.  With that said, a first flush system is designed to capture this initial, dirtier flow of water and divert it away, ensuring that it does not enter the storage tank.

At the heart of a First Flush System is a diverter, which is a valve or mechanism that directs the initial flow of water to a separate drainage or storage area. After a predetermined amount of water has been diverted (which is often adjustable based on the size of the catchment area and the amount of debris typically accumulated), the diverter automatically closes, and subsequent cleaner rainwater is allowed to flow into the storage tank/s.   By removing the first flush of water, the overall quality of the stored rainwater is significantly improved which not only is important for potable purposes, but it’s also beneficial for non-potable uses, as it reduces the burden on filtration systems and preserves the cleanliness of the storage tank while also removing man made and environmental pollutants such as those associated with smog and acid rain.

The basics of the system work in conjunction with your current water harvesting system which for many homesteaders is to simple divert their eavestrough downspouts to their rain barrels.  With a First Flush system, you are going to split your storage system to have a reservoir to collect the dirty water that comes off during the initial rain.   The standard formula for this is to flush a half gallon of water per ten square feet of roof surface.   A 1000 square foot roof surface then would mean you would want to plan to flush the first 50 gallons of water.

First flush systems are connected vertically down from the main water drain via a T-joint fitting. Use a suitable PVC pipe (for example, a 90mm or 100mm diameter) for the diverter. The pipe should be fitted with a ball float which will rise as the pipe fills with water, rerouting the cleaner water into the tank after the initial dirty water has been diverted.  Sites like Amazon have numerous options for buying diverter kits around the $100 mark.

It is important to remember that the collected ” Dirty Water ” from the first flush is going to have a far higher contaminant level then a basic water barrel collection system for the simple reason that the water in this reservoir isn’t going to be diluted with larger volumes of fresh clean rain water.   Although some look at this water as will usable, I lean towards rating its use as limited.  I wouldn’t recommend using it on your garden due to it’s high volume of contaminants – and if you were to use it on your lawn it still would be potentially contaminating your ground water system.  Although honestly compared to a civic water system filled with chlorine and fluoride,  its a toss up for which is worse.

That isn’t to say there isn’t value for this water including such uses as a fire suppression reserve or to use for cleaning outdoor areas.   This dirty water can also be used for wildlife habitats thanks to it’s high volume of organic material but I would recommend running it through a gravel bed filter to remove as much contaminants as possible.   This is the process of using gravel or a rock bed to run the water through it which can be a very effective means to treat polluted water.

An outdoor basic design involves using a bed of gravel or crushed rock of stones in various sizes can be made by making a 2 to 3 foot wide trough of rock a minimum of 15 feet long ( the longer the better ) where the dirty water is drained across.  This requires a downhill slope as you don’t want the water pooling or sitting still in the trough.  The water at the other end of the bed will have a vast majority of contaminants removed and far more safe / useful for uses such as non food based agriculture growing.

You can also create a system that uses barrels filled with rock to treat the water and in a more elaborate design, could feasible use various sizes of rock in a consecutive barrel system while keeping the lower valve / exit spout a few inches higher than the bottom of the barrel so that the contaminants can rest at the bottom of the rock bed and not be transported to the next filtering barrel.  A drain spout at the bottom of the barrel allows you to let the debris and pollutants to be cleaned out on a periodic basis.

The main point in this discussion though is the importance of using a first flush system in water harvesting to ensure that the dust, bird crap and other debris on the roof of your buildings isn’t directly put into your harvested water.