The environment is going to control the figures. Five acres in the Mohave Desert will produce less than five acres in Grass Valley or somewhere in the central valley there.

With decent soil, I read a reference some years ago that it would take about one-quarter acre to feed a family of four. But that has to be some intensive growing with considerable experience, IMO. I don't know if that would include two teenage boys who are constantly hollow, though.

One acre or more might be closer to the truth for beginners climbing the knowledge ladder. Keep in mind that if you produce tree fruit, no real crops can be planted within the dripline (or further) of each tree, so that cuts down on the actual amount of available ground area.

The USDA has a chart on how much you would have to plant for X number of people. I would like to find that again and print it out -- it's kind of hard to find. You could start from that, figuring how much you would need per person, how many plants it would take to produce that amount, etc.

And an ongoing problem with that scenario is that vegetable cropping uses the more nutrients from the soil than any other type of growing. Those nutrients have to be returned if you want to continue getting a good harvest, it can't just be take, take, take. You either have to recycle your own waste (human and animal) and return it to the soil, or you have to import nutrients from outside your acre. TANSTASFL applies here, as in most other situations.

If you could grow your own fish (for example) and use the fish-wastewater as fertilizer, that would also return some nutrients.

My mother said that her mother told her that when she was growing up in England during the later 1800s, the ladies of the houses on the street would keep an eye out for horse droppings, and would scurry out with a broom and dustpan to collect it for their vegetable gardens.

Sue