Context: A couple of friends and I may be getting ownership of a pretty sizable chunk of land for free, and we've decided that we want to use that land and the buildings on it to address problems like food insecurity, as my area has the highest rates in the country. I'm not totally sure exactly how big the plot is yet, but it can already grow enough food to be self sustainable according to the current owner. It was previously used as a sustainable living project and retreat.
Our plan is to grow as much food as we can on that space, ideally using only volunteers and donated materials so that we can give it to kitchens and shelters for free. With this in mind, what can we do to maximize the amount of food we can grow in that space? We don't want to sacrifice quality for quantity, but we want to feed as many people as we can for as long as we can so quantity is very important.
The Market Gardener by fortier has great info on planning and efficiency of movements for small farms. His system does everything with very simple tech and maximizes output from a small area. A great resource, highly recommend.
Elliot Coleman has a number of books detailing innovations in small-scale sustainable ag. Winter harvest handbook has good details on rolling hoop houses, which help you grow more by timing environmental manipulations.
The John Jeavons book mentioned elsewhere is what started me out as well, it’s an excellent guide.
A lot will depend on where you are - climate, soil, weed pressure, demographics. Having spent 5 years or so running various sustainable ag projects I’ll say this: it counts to put in infrastructure where you can. Depending on what you want to grow, drip irrigation paired with plastic mulch (I know, but still) can be make or break.
Volunteers come and go so don’t bet on having them around. Sometimes they can be more work than the plants. Make note of which tasks will be easily learned by someone inexperienced, and which require a more nuanced understanding.
I could go on forever - very excited for you, best of luck and please keep us updated.