I made this calculator because...
Chris and I dropped our life in the city, sold all our stuff, got a truck, packed up our essentials and drove across Canada to live on his families' 9 acre retirement property so that we could grow our food own food. This is where we are finding ourselves with a goal to grow a year's worth of food for our family!
So I was wondering what it would actually take to do that, and looking it up to find the answers. Only to find charts that have numbers based on nothing relevant to our eating habits.
So starting with tomatoes, I wondered... how can I find out the number of tomato plants we would actually need to grow for a year's worth of tomatoes?
Then I realized the right answer for us wasn't on any chart on the internet!
The answer is in our habits and what we like to eat and what we do with our tomatoes.
So working from our real needs, I was able to create a calculation for every single crop!
We tried it out and it was bang on and oh man I felt REAL proud that it worked!
For example, we followed the tomato calculation in our very first year at gardening, so I grew 80 tomato plants from seed because that is what the calculator had rendered in order to have 6 months' worth for 4 of us. (We eat a LOT so don't worry your results may differ completely!) We chose 8 months rather than 12 months because we didn't feel ready for canning or water-bathing sauce just yet.
In reality, Chris and I ate most of the garden tomatoes as we were low on funds so we were able to stretch them for longer than 6 months. The 4 of us had the fresh abundance for 4 months, then the 2 of us enjoyed the last of the fresh stuff for another 1-2 months and then we are still enjoying fermented, dehydrated, and frozen tomatoes 2 months later until they were gone! (maybe we have just a little bit saved for savouring still....)
So now that I know the calculator works and that plenty of friends and now customers have tried it too, I am sharing my work and process more widespread and thoroughly thought-out with you via this mini-course. So you don't have to spend the time and mental effort wrapping your head around any of the math or practicality because it will calculate it all for you!
In the course content, I will be providing you with all the thought processes of how to practically determine how much you will eat for each crop and real-life thoughtfulness that you need to consider when making a calculation for each crop so you don't overwhelm yourself with trying to accomplish unrealistic goals.
I am giving complete guidance the whole way for most vegetables that homestead gardeners will grow. If there is a vegetable missing from this calculator that you want to grow, don't worry, because I will show you how to add any of your own crops too!
Imagine If You Could…
- Stop wondering how much of each crop you need to grow...
- Gain clarity about what you actually eat and how much you need to grow to meet your desired wants and needs
- Start focusing your time toward the garden harvest you really want!
Calculate your desired harvest based on your real needs.
This isn't JUST a Garden-Harvest Calculator...
You get...
1. Mind-Warming Worksheets
Realistically determine your current food consumption habits to enter for calculation!
2. In-depth video course material
To help you think practically & realistically to personalize your results.
3. Your Calculator Spreadsheet!
The time & effort, done for you!
Insightful Practical Thinking & Guidance the Whole Way
for a Sustainable Result!
The in-depth guidance I provide will help you think through each crop practically so you can enter a realistic figure for a realistic calculation.
The calculated result will help uncover amazing insights, my favourite being:
A) Showing you if what you eat is sustainable for your personal workload desires.
B) Knowing what to do to achieve the garden harvest your plate demands
Those results come from the spreadsheet telling you:
- How much of each crop to grow to meet your family food needs
- How much each crop may yield on average
- And activities you can include in your garden routines to get a better yield so you can meet your desired harvest goals
What others are saying...
Jessica S.
"The in-depth content was amazing and I feel confident that I know what I should be planting and how to proceed in our garden."
BC, Canada
Jamie M.
"This made it very easy to see how many plants I need to plant based on our needs and not a random guess given by other charts (so many per person)."
Oklahoma, USA
Nyles L.
"I like the formulas that are built in. I have an opportunity for additional beds and so after looking at this, I plan to maximize my space by adding additional beds where I wasn’t planning to have them before."
Niagara, Canada
1) Calculate what you need...
2) Prioritize what you sow...
3) Know what to do for the harvest you want
4) Start learning how to grow your
ideal harvest from today
Ready to Grow a Garden-Harvest
Based on Your Real Needs?
"Knowing what you really need to grow - allows you to prioritize your efforts & focus your learning on the ideal crops for the harvest you need."
Frequently Ask Questions
#1 Which Crops will this calculate?
Onions, Celery/Celeriac, Sweet Peppers, Hot peppers, Tomatoes, Brussel Sprouts, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kale, Kohlrabi, Spinach, lettuce, arugula, Swiss chard, cucumber, Summer Squash, Amaranth, sweet potatoes, Potatoes, radish, peas, carrots, beets, quinoa, Chickpeas, watermelon, Cantaloupe, pumpkin, Winter Squash, corn, Garlic
Crops like beans should be grown abundantly if you eat them in general. Especially because they are easy to save!
PLUS - I show you how to add any crop of choice so you can easily calculate ANYTHING you need.
*We need to calculate annuals, not perennials because perennials expand and grow bigger year after year. Annuals start over and grow from seed each year and are a cycle that we need to optimize. Determining your real needs will help you optimize the labor required to achieve the desired result of your annual harvest.
#2 Will this help me have a better harvest?
Yes! This Garden-Harvest Calculator will help you become clear on where you need to focus your time so you can produce a harvest that is based on your real vegetable consumption habits.
Disclaimer: Due to environmental factors, your results in the garden may likely differ from the results of the calculator due to several factors both in and out of your control.
Among many more benefits, inside the course material, I include 7 tips to help you maximize your crop yields & nurture your garden to help you produce the average calculated yield or better!
Which Describes Your Situation...?
A. Short on Grow Space?
Uncover what you really eat
enjoy the most expensive grocery vegetables, free from your garden in the right amount that you need
& prioritize the best crop amounts for the space you have
to maximize the value of your harvests
B. Big on Grow Space?
Uncover what is required
to grow a year's worth of food for your family
& worry less about needing store-bought groceries
as you now know what to sow to yield your ideal crop amounts
& can start working toward mastering your real food needs.
C. Looking to Expand
Your Space & Ambition?!
Start a small farm,
turn costs into profit
& lead the way to high-quality food security in your neighborhood.
You can calculate how much you need to grow for a successful neighborhood CSA Business and avoid falling short.
Is this worth it for me?
It depends I suppose... What is holding you back?
Calculating your ideal harvest can be very insightful for both big and small garden endeavours.
Have you ever seen those charts online that say to "plant 2 pepper plants per person"?
Well, that isn't realistic for anyone!
No random chart online can tell you a random number of plants per person - because no blog writer knows what YOU eat in a day.
The information on those charts never even asked you: how many months do you want to eat each crop for?
Calculating your crop needs will help you save time and grow more because you will be confident about how much to actually plant for each vegetable type.
As a result, you will...
A) optimizing the use of any sized space (big + small)
what do I mean by optimize? I cover several ways you can strategize to save yourself time, money, and effort in the long term by helping you make practical decisions about what matters to you most!
B) optimizing your time spent if you are trying to grow a year's worth of food with abundant or adequate space
Start spending your time in your vegetable garden toward actions that help you learn how to master the outcome you really need, from the start! (It's like knowing what would take years to learn through trial and error!)
D) My favourite... is being able to clearly decide what consumption habits are sustainable for our desired garden workload!
I help you design a realistic workload to create a sustainable-for-you garden harvest goal!
For a small investment now, how much might you save going forward from here?
Especially when you use this "SURPRISE" coupon code!
Here is what others are saying about these...
#1
"DO IT! If growing your own food/getting closer to your food sources, focusing on more sustainable practices and self-sufficiency are important to you/goals of yours but you’re feeling overwhelmed - this gives you the confidence and the resources you need to make it happen. You’ll also LEARN. Rachels resources encourage you to be an active participant for yourself so you won’t always feel reliant on someone else. Rachel’s resources will teach YOU how to be confident and part of your own process every step of the way."
#2
"I can't even begin to imagine the amount of money I will save over the year.
I love the spreadsheets and the interaction/guidance I had working on them. The steps were easy to complete in the week and taking it step by step allowed me to fully understand and customize my plan for the best.
this sounds cheesy but... Do it today! You won't be sorry!"
#3
"I desperately wanted to grow my own food for the health and security of my family but was overwhelmed with how to get started. Googling only added to the confusion. I am excited to start gardening even more now and since the spreadsheet builds year after year, I believe this will be a huge time-saver. I also will have a more productive garden because of the ability to observe and document my info in an organized place that makes it easy to review and quick to find when I need it!"
Try the Companion Planting (made simple) Matrix
For a taste of the value that I offer with my spreadsheets!
