Do you think you don’t have enough space to garden? You’d be quite surprised. Even those living in an apartment with a tiny patch of grass to call their own can grow a good amount of vegetables for their family.
Whether you rethink how you grow or really consider the needs of your family, the following are excellent tips for small space gardening.
Consider Your Family’s Needs
When you don’t have a lot of room to work with, you want to stick with fruits and vegetables your family will actually eat. Now’s not the time to be adventurous. Stick with produce that can be used in a variety of dishes.
For example, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, and lettuces can be used in so many different dishes and all are relatively easy to grow in small space gardening beds or even containers.
Be sure to opt for the fruits and vegetables your family eats most often and that will grow well in your region.
Unsure of your region? You can check it here.
Grow Up with Vertical Gardening
A vertical garden is a genius idea for those that have zero space to work with. While vertical gardens like these are relatively new to the small space gardening scene, growing vegetables vertically isn’t.
Depending on how creative you are, you can also create small garden beds on a stand so that you can grow larger plants. You can even use hanging baskets to grown tomatoes and strawberries. You could even convert a wooden pallet or hanging shoe organizer into a planter for herbs and smaller plants.
Use Raised Garden Beds and Tiered Planters
Is your backyard nothing but patio? No problem. A raised garden bed or tiered planter will allow you to make use of the area. Raised garden beds can be purchased rather inexpensively and with a bit of gardening plastic and good quality soil you can turn any area into a garden.
If you are the DIY type, this type of raised garden bed is relatively easy to make yourself. We made a version of this for our backyard and it works great. We even added covers to keep out squirrels, rabbits, and birds.
Tiered planters allow you to make the most of a sunny corner of the yard and allow you to grow a variety of tasty produce in a very small area.
Choose Plants That Create Quantity in Small Space Gardening
If you don’t have a lot of room to work with you want to make sure you’re choosing produce that has a high-yield. Examples include lettuce, carrots, onions, and vertically growing plants such as peppers and tomatoes.
The more you can get from a plant, the better. In some cases, like with tomatoes, you may grow so many that you need to can the produce for later use.
Take the Garden Indoors
Last, but not least, put your windows to good use. You can grow a wonderful herb garden in your kitchen window. Everything from chives to dill to parsley can be grown in a small window garden.
You’ll have an abundance of herbs to add wonderful flavor to your meals and you’ll save a fortune over buying fresh herbs at the grocery store.
And did you know that growing plants indoors actually has even more benefits. It’s one effective way to sustainably cool your home in the summer! Check out these other eco-friendly tips for cooling your house during the hot months of summer.
Don’t let your small space limit you. There are so many great ways to grow the fruits and vegetables your family needs in a small space. If you really want to get into small space gardening, think outside the box and don’t be afraid to give up a little patio and yard space for something much, much better.