Small Vegetable Garden
Ranked #404 in Home & Garden, #5,966 overall
Small Vegetable Garden
A small vegetable garden can prove to be a blessing - there will be a lot less weeding, less watering and less sowing and, if you are adding compost or other goodies to your soil (which I assume you will be doing), you won't need as much. You will, however, still need to plan your garden, preferably on paper or on the computer screen. It is much better to make your mistakes there than in your actual garden where there will be hard, heavy work involved and extra expenses.
Maybe your yard consists of a balcony or small courtyard. Don't despair. Many vegetables grow happily in pots. Even if you have no yard to speak of, you may still be able to grow some vegetables or herbs inside on a sunny window ledge.
Maybe your yard consists of a balcony or small courtyard. Don't despair. Many vegetables grow happily in pots. Even if you have no yard to speak of, you may still be able to grow some vegetables or herbs inside on a sunny window ledge.
Table of Contents
- Small vegetable garden design elements
- 1) Raised vegetable beds
- 2) Vegetable supports
- - Make your own support for your vertical garden
- - How to train your vegetables onto your vertical supports
- Combine #1 and #2
- 3) Mounted pots
- - Vertical Gardens
- 4) Start seedlings indoors
- 5) Hanging pots / hanging baskets
- 6) Intercropping
- Choosing vegetables for your small vegetable garden
- Books for the small vegetable garden
- For more vegetable garden ideas...
- Any thoughts?
Small vegetable garden design elements
Click on the pictures for more information
1) Raised vegetable beds
Using raised vegetable beds is a great choice for a small garden because they will enable you to grow more vegetables in a smaller space since you can plant them closer together. It will also extend your growing season, since raised beds tend to warm up quicker.
2) Vegetable supports
Trellises, ladders and tepees will enable some creeping or climbing vegetables (e.g. peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, climbing beans) to grow up rather than spreading out and taking up a lot of horizontal space.
- Make your own support for your vertical garden
This video shows the advantages of a vertical vegetable garden for a small space. Patti also shows how you can make your own support and attach it to a raised garden bed.
curated content from YouTube
Combine #1 and #2
Why not combine the space saving techniques of a raised garden bed with a built in trellis like in this garden bed from Amazon.com?
3) Mounted pots
Use your vertical space by using mounting pots and window boxes on a sunny wall or fence. Make sure you water enough!
- Vertical Gardens
Here are some pictures of what some creative people have done to use their vertical space for growing. Click each picture to see it bigger. Not all the plants shown here are vegetables, but I reckon you could use small vegetables or herbs (such as lettuce, strawberries etc) in many of these systems.
curated content from Flickr
DIY Vertical Gardens
- 1Instructions for making a gutter garden or living wall.
- 2Instructions for making a free-standing vertical garden with four tiers .
- 3Make your own colorful garden wall from terracotta pots.
- 4See how one family mounted gutters to the side of a wall to create a vertical garden.
- 5A vertical garden made from a shoe organizer.
4) Start seedlings indoors
Extend your growing season by using seedlings or by starting your seedlings indoors. This enables you to leave other crops in the ground longer (and therefore have a longer harvest) before you have to pull them out to make room for the next season's veggies.
Hydrofarm JSV2 2-Foot Jump Start T5 Grow Light System
Amazon Price: $47.44 (as of 05/27/2012)
Two foot wide stand with adjustable light for getting your veggies off to an early start. Also available as a four foot wide model
Hydrofarm CK64050 Germination Station with Heat Mat
Amazon Price: $21.99 (as of 05/27/2012)
This heated germination station seed starting system is 11 x 22 inches and allows you to start 72 seedlings while controlling the temperature and humidity.
5) Hanging pots / hanging baskets
Grow strawberries or cherry tomatoes in a hanging pot or basket. Just make sure you give them enough water.
Felknor Ventures 82506 Topsy Turvy Upside-Down Tomato Planter
Amazon Price: $2.68 (as of 05/27/2012)
6) Intercropping
Practice intercropping. Grow fast-growing vegetables (such as lettuces, green onions and radishes) amongst the more slower growing varieties (such as cabbages and sweet corn). The quick-growing veggies will be harvested before the more slowly growing ones have reached their full size.
Choosing vegetables for your small vegetable garden
Because your space is limited in a small vegetable garden, you should avoid vegetables which take up a lot of space (such as asparagus, brussels sprouts, celery and pumpkins) or take a long time to produce their harvest (such as leeks, squashes, parsnips and some potatoes).But your reason for wanting to grow your own vegetables should also be considered when determining which vegetables to grow. For instance, if you want to grow huge vegetables to enter into the show or county fair, you may want to grow a pumpkin or a squash and nothing else!
Books for the small vegetable garden
All New Square Foot Gardening
Amazon Price: $11.57 (as of 05/27/2012)
Detailed, user-friendly advice on how to build raised vegetable garden beds, what to plant in them and how to look after them. This book was a big help to me when I first started growing vegetables.
For more vegetable garden ideas...
Any thoughts?
Please add your suggestions for small vegetable gardens here.
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Tolovaj
Apr 10, 2012 @ 12:29 am | delete
- I did some balcony gardening years ago and it was fun. Small garden: great pleasure:)
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Rosaquid
Mar 5, 2012 @ 8:27 pm | delete
- Dig deep and never walk on the soil!
Thanks for the great lens.
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vallain Feb 24, 2012 @ 10:26 pm | delete
- I keep a small raised bed garden in the summer, but have put mostly berry bushes, rhubarb and strawberries in it. That means each spring it is ready to go with no planting needed.
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TransplantedSoul
Feb 18, 2012 @ 1:32 pm | delete
- Sometimes planning and using a small space can get better results. I enjoyed reading this lens.
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RitaDern
Jul 9, 2011 @ 8:13 am | delete
- I wish I would have read this before I planted my very first vegie garden! Thanks for your insight.
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miaponzo
Jun 15, 2011 @ 2:15 am | delete
- Now THOSE are really cute ideas!!!!! I would love to do that!!!
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NaturalMindset
Apr 11, 2011 @ 2:51 pm | delete
- It's that time of year; thanks for the advice!
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mcochs
Dec 28, 2010 @ 8:39 am | delete
- Some really great ideas here for us veggie lovers! Blessed by a Squidoo Angel on 12/28/2010. Have a great day! All of your lenses are awesome!
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WiscBear
Apr 13, 2010 @ 10:51 am | delete
- Nice lens with some very good information. we have a small, round garden (14-ft diameter) and it produced quite a bit last year. with this information, should be able to do better this year
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MiaBellezza
Mar 20, 2010 @ 4:29 am | delete
- Great lens about vegetable gardening in small spaces. Lensrolled into Small Space Gardening!
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