How to Grow a Small Garden

Grow these vegetables and others in a small garden.

If you're trying to grow a vegetable garden in a small space, you may find it challenging, but it can be done. Patio and backyard gardeners have been producing delicious vegetables for their dinner tables for years in small gardens. The secret lies in good planning, succession planting and crop selection.

Things You'll Need

• Compost
• Garden soil
• Shovel
• Rake
• Seeds
• Seedlings
• Trowel
• Time-release fertilizer

Instructions

1. Use individual, small beds no more than four feet wide. This allows access to the vegetables without stepping in the beds and compacting the soil. Additionally it is best to start out small and add later when you have more experience. Providing permanent paths between beds allows better access to the crops in your small garden.

2. Double dig a bed the first year. This is a lot of work but it provides the nutrient-rich, well-drained soil your small vegetable garden needs to produce an abundant harvest. Dig the first layer and put it in one pile. This will be mostly topsoil. Dig another layer and put it in a different pile. This layer will not be as rich. Break up the soil in the piles and remove any sticks or rocks. Now fill the beds you have dug alternating between both piles of topsoil, purchased garden soil and compost in equal proportions. Rake the entire bed smooth.

3. If you live in an area that allows two growing seasons, plant your garden with cool-weather vegetables at the last average frost date. Sow seeds of lettuce, radishes and spinach together in one area of the bed. They will quickly grow and be harvested in time for a second summer crop to go in the same garden area. Erect trellises at the back of the bed and train crops to climb on them. Plant peas near the trellises in early spring and follow with climbing beans or cucumbers for the summer crop.

4. Purchase seedlings from your local garden center. The varieties it carries likely perform well in your area. Plant the seedlings closer together than recommended. This cuts down on weeds. Since you can reach any plant from the sides of a 4-foot wide bed, you won't need to walk between the crops.

5. Avoid crops that require a lot of room to produce. Pumpkins require a large area to sprawl and corn performs best when it is planted in a block of many plants. Don't try them in your garden the first year. Look for bush varieties of most vegetables to save space.

6. Visually inspect your growing garden for pests regularly. If you discover any, deal with them immediately using an organic pesticide; ask your local garden center for a recommendation. Keep the area weeded and water when needed. As your climbing plants grow, tie them to the trellises.

7. Harvest when the vegetables are ready. After harvesting, pull the plants from the bed and have a new seedling ready to go in its place. In some temperate climates, you can put in a third round of cold-weather crops. Broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts all perform well in cool weather. Garlic, onions and shallots can be planted in fall, covered with mulch and allowed to grow all winter for a spring harvest.

Tips & Warnings

• Find out the first and last average frost dates for your area.

• If you plan to put plants into the garden in late summer, you may have to start them from seeds, as most garden centers don't carry seedlings late in the season.

References

• Readers Digest: What to Grow in Small Gardens
• Iowa State University Extension: Small Plot Vegetable Gardening

Resources

• Veggie Gardening Tips: Growing Vegetables in a Small Garden Plot