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Growing Vegetables in a Small space

Growing Vegetables in Small Spaces

You don't need a big garden to grow your own food

Think you need a huge vegetable plot to grow your own food?

Think again!

I've grown vegetables in all sorts of spaces over the years — from small window boxes and pots to raised beds — and I've learned that you can grow a surprising amount of food in a surprisingly small space.

Our own Organic Yarden is a great example. It isn't a huge traditional vegetable garden, but by using raised beds, containers, pots and every bit of growing space we can find, we've created a productive little garden where we can grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers.

You don't need acres of land.

You just need to make the most of the space you have.

What Can You Grow in a Small Space?

Quite a lot!

Some vegetables are particularly well suited to growing in containers, pots and raised beds.

Great vegetables for smaller spaces

Lettuce

Courgettes
Tomatoes
Chillies
Peppers
Potatoes
Salad leaves
Microgreens
Radishes
Spring onions
Carrots
Beetroot
Spinach
Kale
Swiss chard
Peas
Drawf Beans

And don't forget your herbs.

Basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, sage, chives and mint can all be grown in containers, making them perfect for small gardens, patios and balconies.

Containers Can Become Your Vegetable Garden.

You don't need a traditional vegetable bed.

Pots, tubs, troughs, grow bags and other suitable containers can all become productive growing spaces.

One of the best things about container gardening is that you can put your growing space wherever you have room.

A sunny patio.

A balcony.

A doorstep.

A small courtyard.

Even a collection of pots beside your back door.

And having vegetables growing close to the kitchen is rather handy when you're cooking.

Before planting, make sure your containers have:

Good drainage holes
Enough depth for the crop you're growing
Good-quality organic growing medium
Enough space for the plant's roots
A position with suitable light

And remember that containers can dry out much faster than garden soil, particularly during warm or windy weather.

Make Use of Vertical Space.

When floor space is limited, look upwards!

Climbing plants can make excellent use of vertical growing space.

Try growing:

🌱 Peas
🌱 Climbing beans
🍅 Climbing or cordon tomatoes
🥒 Cucumbers
🎃 Some types of squash.

Use trellis, canes or other sturdy supports to give climbing plants somewhere to grow.

Just make sure your support is secure — the last thing you want is a cucumber plant bringing the whole thing down when it gets ambitious!

Grow Up Rather Than Out.

One of the easiest ways to increase your growing space is to think in layers.

Instead of giving every plant its own large patch of soil, combine plants that use different amounts of space.

For example:

Tall: climbing beans

Middle: kale or chard

Low: lettuce or salad leaves

Below the soil: carrots or radishes

This is a great way to make a small growing area work harder without cramming plants together.

Raised Beds in Small Gardens.

A raised bed doesn't have to be enormous.

Even a relatively small raised bed can produce a surprising amount of food when it's planned carefully.

Our own raised bed is one of the most productive parts of the Organic Yarden.

Raised beds can be particularly useful when:

You have poor or compacted soil
You want better control over your growing medium
You want to make gardening easier to manage
You're gardening in a smaller space
You want to grow vegetables intensively

And if you're building a new raised bed, have a look at our Hugelkultur project, where we used natural materials to help fill our raised bed.

🌿 Don't Forget the Herbs

Herbs are some of the easiest plants to squeeze into a small garden.

They can live happily in pots, containers, window boxes and around the edges of your vegetable beds.

And growing herbs means you can simply step outside when you're cooking and snip what you need.

We grow lots of herbs here in the Organic Yarden, including:

🌿 Rosemary
🌿 Sage
🌿 Thyme
🌿 Lemon Thyme
🌿 Lemon Balm
🌿 Chives

Fresh herbs + homegrown vegetables = dinner sorted.

Succession Sowing Makes Small Spaces More Productive

You don't have to grow one crop in the same space all season.

Once you've harvested something, you can often plant or sow something else.

For example:

Radishes → salad leaves → winter greens

Early peas → autumn vegetables

This means your growing space can produce several crops throughout the year rather than sitting empty once one crop has finished.

Our monthly gardening guides can help you work out what you can sow and plant as the seasons change.

You Can Even Grow Food in Containers

Some crops are particularly happy in pots.

🥔 Potatoes

Grow them in large containers or potato bags.

🍓 Strawberries

Perfect for pots, hanging baskets and containers.

🥬 Lettuce

Ideal for window boxes, troughs and shallow containers.

🌿 Herbs

Fantastic in pots close to the kitchen.

🍅 Tomatoes

Choose a suitable variety and give them a sunny position.

🫐 Blueberries

Some blueberry varieties grow very well in large containers — just remember they need acidic growing conditions.

You Don't Need to Buy Everything.

Small-space gardening doesn't have to mean buying lots of expensive garden equipment.

Before buying something new, have a look around and see what you already have.

Old containers can sometimes become planters.

Wood can become supports.

Kitchen and garden waste can be composted.

Rainwater can be collected for watering.

And seeds can be saved from suitable plants for future growing.

Gardening organically is about working with what you have.

Make Your Small Garden Wildlife-Friendly Too.

Even the smallest garden can provide food and shelter for wildlife.

Try adding:

🌼 Pollinator-friendly flowers
🐝 Herbs that attract bees
🌿 Native plants where possible
💧 A shallow water source
🪵 Small wildlife-friendly spaces
🌸 Plants that flower at different times of year

. You don't have to choose between a productive vegetable garden and a wildlife-friendly garden.

You can have both.

In fact, I think they make each other better.

🌱 What If You Only Have a Balcony?

You can still grow food!

A sunny balcony can support:

Always check the weight restrictions of balconies before adding large containers, and make sure anything you use is secure.

Start Small.

If you're new to growing your own food, don't feel you need to grow everything at once.

Start with two or three things you actually enjoy eating.

If you love tomatoes, grow tomatoes.

If you eat salad every day, grow lettuce and salad leaves.

If you love fresh herbs, start with a few pots.

There's no point growing a vegetable you don't like simply because someone told you it's easy to grow!

Grow what you'll actually eat.

That's one of the best pieces of gardening advice I can give you.

From the Organic Yarden.

My garden has taught me that small doesn't mean unproductive.

A little bit of space can provide fresh herbs, salad leaves, vegetables, fruit and flowers — especially when you plan your growing space carefully and keep planting throughout the seasons.

You don't need a perfect garden.

You don't need expensive equipment.

And you definitely don't need to know everything before you begin.

Start with one pot.

Then maybe another.

Before you know it, you'll be looking at every spare corner thinking:

“Hmm... I could grow something there.” 😂🌱

And that's how a little growing space becomes a garden.