Growing up, I lived in a 3 bedroom row home in the city. Although we did have a backyard, it wasn’t large enough to have the garden my dad always wanted. But he know how to take advantage of the space he did have using a few techniques that I am about to share with you. None of them were particularly crazy, just some practical, common-sense, easy to follow solutions.
One of the easiest things you can do right now is to pick plants that have high yields. By growing plants that grow more produce per plant, you will need to plant fewer of them. For instance, cherry tomato plants, peas, beans, zucchini, all have very high yields. So, simply planting just one or two could produce all that you need.
Do you companion plant? Companion planting is when lay out your vegetable garden so that plants with different needs are next to one another. It may mean that they have different nutritional needs and by planting them together, they do not fight for the same nutrients. Two plants may structurally support one another. For example you can plant Royal Burgundy Beans in between your corn and allow the beans to use the corn as a trellis. Or, it may mean that one plant provides needed shade for a smaller plant. I love planting lettuce under my tomatoes in the hot summer. The tomato?s shade keeps the lettuce from bolting.
Rotating crops from season to season will prevent disease help ensure your garden is abundant. You can also rotate crops within a season by planting your vegetables according to their temperature requirements. Plant cool weather tolerant plants in the early spring when temperatures are cool and then replace them (after they have been harvested) with summer varieties.
Learn how to grow vegetables vertically. You might be limited on the amount of space you have, but the sky is the limit, literally, when you grow your plants vertically. Vegetables such as cucumbers, beans and some squash are great candidates for vertical growing. Allowing them to grow horizontally can consume a tremendous amount of your precious garden space. If plants grow up a strong structure, you can use all that vertical space to your advantage. And, this will allow you to grow more varieties, too.
As you can see, these simple solutions can help you realize an abundant vegetable garden harvest with limited space. Adopt these common-sense ideas and you will be well on your way to harvesting more vegetables from your garden this season.
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