Vegetables and fruits are supplements, not staples: cabbage yields about 1.1-2.2 million kcal per acre and winter squash 0.9-2.2 million, so the 5-8 acres of vegetables in a plan for 100 people supply only about 4-17% of the community’s calories. Their value is vitamins, minerals, variety and winter protection against scurvy, not energy.
Part of Caloric Budget for a Community
Vegetables and fruits as supplements are the low-energy garden and orchard crops grown for vitamins, fibre and variety alongside the calorie-dense staples.
Low Energy Per Pound Means Low Energy Per Acre
The caloric guide gives two vegetable rows and one plan line:
| Crop | Yield (lb/acre) | kcal per lb | kcal per acre (million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cabbage | 10,000-20,000 | 110 | 1.1-2.2 |
| Winter squash | 5,000-12,000 | 180 | 0.9-2.2 |
Working: cabbage 10,000 × 110 = 1.1 million and 20,000 × 110 = 2.2 million; squash 5,000 × 180 = 0.9 million and 12,000 × 180 = 2.16 million. The sample plan has 5-8 acres of vegetables (cabbage, squash, onions, greens) and 5-10 acres of food forest (fruit trees, nuts, berries).
Worked Example: What Share Of The Calories?
- Lowest case: 5 acres at 0.9 million (squash low end) = 4.5 million kcal. Highest case: 8 acres at 2.2 million = 17.6 million kcal.
- As a share of the 102.2 million kcal a year that 100 people need: 4.5 ÷ 102.2 = 4.4%; 17.6 ÷ 102.2 = 17.2%, so about 4% to 17%.
- To get a whole day’s 2,800 kcal from cabbage alone, a person would need to eat 2,800 ÷ 110 = 25.5 lb of cabbage; from squash, 2,800 ÷ 180 = 15.6 lb.
So these crops cannot be the calorie base, and the guide treats them as supplements. Fruit trees have no yield or calorie figures in the guide, so they cannot be counted in the calorie plan from it; the food-forest article covers them (Food Forest & Permaculture).
What They Are For
The corpus nutrition guides give the reason. A community can grow abundant calories and still suffer scurvy, pellagra, beriberi, rickets or goiter once the variety of its food narrows (Nutrition Programs). Scurvy strikes hardest in sieges, famines and long winters without fresh plant food (Scurvy), which is the case for winter storage of vegetables, pickles and preserved fruit, not only for summer abundance.
What You Need
- Beds and a succession plan, so produce does not all ripen at once (Four-Season Growing)
- Preservation: canning, drying, pickling and fermenting (Canning & Pressure Preservation, Vegetable Fermentation)
- Cool storage for squash and cabbage (Root Cellars)
Method: Plan The Supplement
Step 1: Allot the acres, 5-8 in the sample plan. Step 2: List the vitamins and minerals the staples lack, and pick vegetables and fruits that supply them in each season. Step 3: Plan the winter: what will be stored, pickled or dried, and how much per person. Step 4: Measure the real harvest and the real losses.
Common Mistakes
- Counting vegetable acres as calorie acres. They are small contributors.
- No winter plan. Fresh produce stops, and the vitamin gap starts in the months the guide calls the winter gap.
- Over-reliance on one preserved food. Variety is the aim.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Livestock Feed Conversion — the animal side of the plan
- Combine with: Winter Calorie Gap Planning — storing for the months without fresh food