From the garden ELLEN PEFFLEY
Not too far in the future gardeners will be looking at a bare spot of garden land, seed packet in hand and the urge is there to sow the entire packet. The quandary all gardeners have every season is “how many to plant?”
Increasing plant populations to increase yields is not always the answer. The law of diminishing returns kicks in even in the garden.
The law of diminishing returns is an economic theory that after an optimal capacity is reached, adding another factor actually diminishes the return resulting in a smaller increase. Same principle can be applied to the garden: adding another plant causes overcrowding resulting in fewer harvestable crops.
Number to plant depends on the space available in the garden plot, crop being grown, and how many of a certain crop can feed yourself.
Once the crop has been decided, gardeners can depend on the seed packet for sowing spacing. Then the question is how many of the crop will be needed to feed yourself.
The website awaytogarden.com has done calculations for you. Following are some usual crops grown in summer gardens with the number of plants suggested to feed one person. Adjust the number of plants for additional persons and for likes or dislikes.
· Beans, 10 to 15, 3”spacing · Beets, 10 to 12, 3” spacing · Corn, 10 to 12, 12” spacing · Carrots, 20 to 30, 2” spacing · Cucumbers, 2, 12 to 24” spacing · Eggplant, 2 to 3, 36” spacing · Okra, 4 to 5, 12” spacing · Peppers, 1 to 3, 12 to 24” spacing · Summer squash, 1 to 2, 36” spacing · Tomatoes, 1 to 4, 24” spacing · Zucchini, 1 to 2, 36” spacing Keeping a garden journal is an excellent guide for making subsequent garden plans every year. Recording placement of plants with exact spacings, varieties, and their successes or failures takes the guess work out of what to plant next year.
When sowing seed, double plant by putting two seeds in each hole. There will be no lost time in waiting futilely for a seedling to appear when a seed has never germinated. With two seeds, chances are at least one, if not both seedlings will emerge. Pluck out the least healthy and keep the most vigorous of the two seeds.
Lastly, group families. Plant cucumbers and squash together, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant near each other.
Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.
