garden plan for family of 4

Hey all,
I'm looking for some help, my family decided to remain for the next 5-6 years on the southern coast of Spain, Andalucia. We're in the process of purchasing a plot of 3-4K sqm with the intent of having a self sustaining garden.
I'm looking for help in planning what we need to self sustain our family of 4, looking to plant vegetables, fruit trees, having 5-6 chickens, 2-3 ducks. No goats or cow for the moment, I think the size of the plot would prohibit that too.
Water will be from a well, the water here is extremly hard (full of limestone) however the produce seems to be adapted to this water as everyone, including industrial agriculture, use the ground water. In our current house we have 2 small patches where we have a few tomato varieties, chillies, bell peppers, salad and they did well with the water.
Seeds - I"ve so far purchased and planted seeds from the gardening store, and small plants too, but they all seem to wither after year 1. They grow and produce but second year I need to start from scratch. What are the seeds I should look for to have plants that do not die after year 1?

Can someone share with me how many veggie patched (and size) we should have, how many fruit trees we could plant (and if around/ under the trees we could plant something to maximize the space)

Any other ideas or tips are super welcomed!
Thank you.

How exciting!  I remember my first garden when we bought our homestead!

At that time we were a family of four also.

My garden was about 25 ft x 25 ft and was right outside my kitchen door.

I suggest [planting what your family likes to eat to get started and then experiment with new things later on.

The plants that I remember may sound odd for someone in Spain.

Purple hull peas, pinto beans, okra, and of course tomatoes.

Best wish for your purchase and that first garden.

Thanks Annie!
We like quite the variety as we cook mostly from scratch with a few exceptions.
So for us, tomatoes, bell peppers, chillies, salads (varieties) cucumber, zuchinies, onion, potatoes, garlic - these are our main ingredients we tend to buy almost weekly. Some we grow but tiny patches so we don't harvest everything we need.
I think the weather is helping us a lot, we are in a 10a area, as we can garden all year round.

Fruits would we awesome, peaches, cherries, mangoes, apple, pears, fig - I will tackle these maybe later, not sure how eaasy/hard it is to plant young trees and grow them to bear fruit... I will leave this as a phase 2 so that I do not overwhelm us with too much from the beginning.  

Hi Alex,
Sounds like some good plans.

For specifics, one year I grew a double row of emerite greenbeans that was about 32' long. We were eating them fresh too, but managed to freeze over 30 quart bags full. It didn't completely cover the whole year, but we could have some good greenbeans once a week for a good chunk of the year.

In general, if you are trying to be self sufficient, I would focus on growing the fats and protein and nutrition. Because it's fairly easy and cheap in most places to get calories, but things with a good amount of vitamins, protein, and fat can be expensive. I know you mentioned only have a few small livestock, but if you plan to eat meat, then rabbits and quail are two animals that can produce a lot in a small space.

I suppose it depends on your goal. You mention 'self sustaining'. Do you mean actually trying to survive off the food you produce yourself? If so, basics like corn, beans and potatoes that produce lots of calories and protein will be the main crops.

I'd suggest looking at what local people grow rather than attempting in the first year to introduce exotic varieties. The local garden/ag shops will stock things that are reasonably well-adapted to the climate.

Try asking neighbors with gardens what works for them. If you have lived there a while try asking friends and work colleagues for seeds. I know at my workplace quite a few people are serious gardeners and would be happy to trade seeds with me if I needed more seeds.

How exciting!  I agree with the posters above that you should look to local markets to see what grows well in the area, and focus on the foods your family really enjoys.

If you’re planning on fruit, might as well plant the trees sooner rather than later, as most tree fruit will need a few years maturation before they bear.  

In Spain you are probably a perfect climate for figs, which could give you fruit more quickly. Figs are super easy to propagate, if a neighbor can be persuaded to prune a branch of their tree you can root it in a vase of water and then plant it in the ground and have a tree growing.

Mk Neal wrote:...you should look to local markets to see what grows well in the area...

This statement is the key. I'm already trying for 3 years to grow food in a similar, but more harsh climate than coastal Andalucia and it's failure after failure. Make sure you have access to water.

My recommendation would be cucurbits:
-cucumbers, pick Armenian ones - much more resistant to heat than regular pickling cucumbers and they can also be pickled
-zucchinis
-melons grow very well
-watermelons even better

Beans if planted early.

Swiss chard does not seem bothered by extreme heat. If it gets a little bit of water you will quickly have a lot of greens.

Fennel grows very well. Dill needs some water. Same for basil.

Okra, if it's not too hot like this summer.

Everything else, you have to find out yourself if it suits your climate/microclimate.


For quick return fruit trees I would recommend peaches. Figs grow slowly, but like the heat.