🏡 Garden Size For Family Calculator
Enter your household size and gardening goal to see a commonly recommended vegetable garden size.
A per-person rate, and a square to picture it
Two rates are stored - 100 sq ft a person for a supplemental garden, 200 for a self-sufficient one - and the second line just squares the answer off:
area (sq ft) = people × rate per person
square side = √area, rounded to whole feetFour people at the supplemental rate gives 400 sq ft, shown as a 20 ft by 20 ft square. Switch to self-sufficient and it is 800 sq ft, displayed as 28 ft by 28 ft - that side is rounded down from 28.28, so the square as printed is 784 sq ft rather than the full 800.
| Household | Supplemental | Self-sufficient |
|---|---|---|
| 1 person | 100 sq ft | 200 sq ft |
| 2 people | 200 sq ft | 400 sq ft |
| 4 people | 400 sq ft | 800 sq ft |
| 6 people | 600 sq ft | 1,200 sq ft |
What the square is not
- Nobody gardens in a square. It is there for scale. The same 400 sq ft is more usually five beds of 4 ft by 20 ft, with paths between them on top of that area.
- Self-sufficient means vegetables, not calories. Two hundred square feet a person covers salad, roots and summer fruiting crops; grain, oil and most of a year's calories are a different scale of land.
Frequently asked questions
How big should a vegetable garden be for a family of four?
Around 400 sq ft to supplement the shopping, or about 800 sq ft if the aim is to grow most of your own vegetables.
How many square feet of garden per person?
This calculator uses 100 sq ft a person for a supplemental garden and 200 sq ft for a self-sufficient one, so it scales in a straight line with household size.
Why is 800 square feet shown as 28 by 28 feet?
The square root of 800 is 28.28, and the display rounds to whole feet. The square drawn is therefore 784 sq ft - close enough to picture the plot, 16 sq ft short of the recommendation.