Home Gardening – Grow Vegetables in Small Spaces

Small vegetables tucked in sunny locations, in containers, or even in flower borders can help reduce food costs. There’s no need to plow a large plot to supplement meal planning. Learn what to grow – small vegetables that don’t require great amounts of space are a welcome addition to the table. Vegetables grown in pots can provide a summer long crop with minimum effort. Here are some suggestions for what to grow.

Cool Weather Vegetables to Grow in Small Spaces

The vegetables suggested below are cool weather crops that can be sown directly into the soil. There’s no need for starting indoors and transplanting them later.

• Cabbages – Oriental vegetables for small spaces include baby bok choy, sometimes known as Pak choi or toy choi. Baby bok choy is cold hardy, compact, and easy to grow. Burpee offers orient express cabbage that grows to only 4″ across. These are small and attractive even in a flower border.
• Lettuce can add frilly green to red interest in a border. There are varieties, such as Burpee’s Little Caesar, that are good for small spaces. Burpee also sells a microgreens salad mix which would be good for growing in a planter box for continual sowing and harvesting when 1″ to 2″ tall. Their exclusive sweet salad mix can be harvested when 3″ tall.
• Radishes, Carrots and Spring Onions require rich, loose soil to burrow and grow in. Carrot hybrids grow anywhere form 1 1/2″ long to 12″ long. Try a short variety of carrot for denser soils.
• Garlic is as easy to grow as planting individual cloves from the grocery store. They don’t like too much water, and need to be watered when dry. Use a general fertilizer in late March and mid-May. Harvesting is in mid-August. Garlic tops are similar to spring onions, plant them in separate areas to avoid confusion.

Summer Vegetables

Many summer vegetables require a large amount of space for a respectable harvest. Some of these include corn, squash, potatoes, and beans. These can be purchased at a local produce stand and supplemented with vegetables grown in a large pot. Rather than growing multiple plants from seeds, purchase a plant for a quick start.

• Tomato vines take a lot of space. Indeterminate tomatoes are vines that have potentially unlimited growth. Buy a tomato plant labeled “det” for determinate, meaning it’s growth will be limited, or labeled as a patio plant for small spaces including a pot.
• Peppers – From sweet to fiery hot, your choice, a small pepper plant packs a lot of flavor, and is attractive to look at. Plants that grow about 18″ tall are a good candidate for growing in a pot or other small space.

When planting vegetables in a flower border, consider what type of flowers are growing in the same space. It’s important not to disturb the roots of perennials when digging. Adding vegetables to an annual border is easy and rewarding. May your harvest be tasty and plenteous.