Grow your own vegetable soup: plants for vegetable soup all season
Tomato, carrot, celery, beans, zucchini, and potato. Freezes well.
For a family of 4 making garden vegetable soup every 2 weeks in season (8 times a year), grow:
| Crop | Amount | Plants | Bed sq ft | Yield assumption | Seeds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potato | 4.6 lb | 4 (2 to 5) | 12.5 | 5 lb of seed potatoes yields about 50 lb (UMaine). About 1.5 lb per seed piece at 12 inch spacing. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Zucchini | 3.1 lb | 1 | 9.5 | 30 lb from 12 ft of row (about 4 plants), so about 7 lb per plant. Needs about 9 sq ft. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Slicing tomato | 9.2 lb | 2 (1 to 2) | 8 | About 8 lb per plant (UMaine). Caged or staked at 2 ft spacing. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Celery | 1.8 lb | 2 (2 to 3) | 2 | About one 1 lb head per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Bush bean | 3.1 lb | 11 (8 to 16) | 1.5 | 12 lb per 10 ft of row at 3 inch spacing, so about 0.3 lb per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Carrot | 3.1 lb | 19 (13 to 26) | 1.5 | 10 lb per 10 ft of row at 2 inch spacing, so about 0.17 lb per carrot. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Onion | 3.1 lb | 10 (7 to 13) | 1.5 | 10 lb per 10 ft of row at 4 inch spacing, so about one 1/3 lb bulb per plant. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Garlic | 2 oz | 1 (1 to 2) | 0.5 | 4 lb per 10 ft of row, about one bulb (0.15 lb) per clove planted. Plant in fall. | Shop Seeds Now |
| Total | 37 | ||||
Garden ingredients per recipe (6 bowls)
- 4 medium slicing tomato
- 3 carrots carrot
- 2 stalks celery
- 1 onion onion
- 1 cup cut bush bean
- 1 medium zucchini
- 2 medium potato
- 2 cloves garlic
From the pantry
- 6 cups stock
Soften onion, carrot, and celery, add the rest and stock, simmer 30 minutes.
Change household size or combine dishes in the Plate to Plot tool
Sources and assumptions
Amounts include 15 percent extra for culls, pests, and kitchen trim. Plant counts use the typical yield; the range uses the high and low yields. Bed space assumes intensive beds at recommended spacing. Yields vary with variety, weather, and soil.
- Kansas State University Research and Extension, MF315 Vegetable Garden Planting Guide (average crop per 10 feet of row)
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension, Planting Chart for the Home Vegetable Garden
- Clemson HGIC, How Much to Grow: Planning for Year-Round Garden Productivity
- ThriveThyme estimate from typical harvests (no single extension table lists this crop per plant)
- National Center for Home Food Preservation (USDA tested canning and pickling recipes)
Guides and tools
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