04/04/2026
Every beginner either plants too little (one tomato plant for a family of four) or too much (six zucchini plants for a household that eats zucchini twice a month). Here's the math that gets it right. 🍅📏
THE PER-PERSON CHART:
TOMATOES — 2 plants per person
Yield: 15-25 lbs from two indeterminate plants. That's fresh eating all summer plus enough to can a few jars of sauce. 'Sungold' cherry + one slicer variety covers all bases. A family of 4 needs 8 plants — that's one raised bed section.
ZUCCHINI — 1 plant per HOUSEHOLD
Not per person. Per household. One healthy zucchini plant produces 10-25 lbs in a single season. Plant two and you're begging neighbors to take bags off your porch. Plant six and you've made a terrible decision. This is the most overplanted crop in America.
LETTUCE — 6 plants per person (staggered)
Plant 2 seedlings now, 2 more in 2 weeks, 2 more in 2 weeks after that. By the time you're eating the first heads, the third planting is growing. This gives you roughly one salad every 3 days without a glut. Cut-and-come-again harvesting extends each plant's life.
GREEN BEANS — 4 plants per person
Yield: a weekly side dish all summer. Bush beans produce in one big flush (plant successions). Pole beans produce continuously. A family of 4 needs a 4-foot row. Succession plant bush types every 3 weeks for continuous harvest.
PEPPERS — 2 plants per person
One sweet, one hot. Yield: 10-15 lbs total. Sweet peppers are slow — you'll pick green ones first because you can't wait. Hot peppers produce more fruit per plant. Two plants per person means you always have enough without drowning in peppers.
CUCUMBERS — 2 plants per person
Yield: 15-20 lbs. That's daily salad cukes plus enough surplus to make a batch of pickles. Train on a trellis — the fruit grows straighter and takes zero ground space. Check daily once they start — cucumbers go from perfect to baseball bat in 48 hours.
BASIL — 1 plant per person
One basil plant with regular pinching produces more than you'll ever use fresh. Make pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays. One plant = 20+ batches of pesto over a season. Don't plant 6 unless you're opening a restaurant.
KALE — 3 plants per person
Cut-and-come-again from September through December (or longer with frost protection). Three plants per person gives you greens for smoothies, salads, and sautés without overwhelming the kitchen. Frost improves the flavor.
THE COMMON MISTAKE:
6 zucchini plants for a family of 4 = 60-150 lbs of zucchini nobody asked for
1 zucchini plant for a family of 4 = plenty, and you freed 5 planting spots for crops you actually need
FAMILY SCALING:
Solo gardener → use the chart as listed
Couple → double everything (except zucchini — still 1)
Family of 4 → multiply by 4 (except zucchini — STILL 1)
Family of 6 → multiply by 6 (zucchini stays at 1, maybe 2)
Plant the number. Eat the number. Skip the guilt of composting half your harvest because you planted too much of one thing.
