Minigardens: Vegetable Gardening in Small Spaces

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You can build a simple cold frame that takes up little space.
You can build a simple cold frame that takes up little space.
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Grow a patchwork garden: Put a small patch of herbs and flowers here, a few tomato plants there, and a potato patch over yonder!
Grow a patchwork garden: Put a small patch of herbs and flowers here, a few tomato plants there, and a potato patch over yonder!
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Diversify even a tiny plot of growing space.
Diversify even a tiny plot of growing space.

Do you want to start an organic garden but fear that you may be moving by midsummer? Do you pine for a farm but find yourself stuck on a quarter-acre suburban lot? Do the requirements of your current job make living in the city a necessity? Don’t fear! There are plenty of strategies to help you get the most out of gardening in small spaces.

If any of these problems sound all too familiar to you, don’t despair, because city folks and modern nomads don’t have to forgo the joys of growing fresh produce. In fact, even if the empty moving van has just pulled out of the driveway of your new home, it’s not too soon to make a start toward food self-sufficiency, because my gardening method requires only as much effort as you want to put into it. The workload can then expand in small, manageable chunks as more time and energy become available or as you decide you’re likely to stay put long enough to justify added effort.

Many Minigardens

Of course, many homes seem to have too little yard space for a garden. Well, we faced that problem three years ago, when we were transferred from our suburban home to a house in a metropolis. The new abode was located on a city-bound lot only 34 feet wide, and the backyard was almost completely shaded by 50-year-old trees (there was a sunny strip right next to the house, though). The site was, nevertheless, just perfect for a “patchwork” garden.

Like a patchwork quilt, you see, this type of plot is made up of a number of separate minigardens. And — like the components of a homemade quilt — each little growing space would likely seem nearly worthless by itself. What good, for example, is a 2-foot-by-4-foot patch of land … or a strip of sunlit soil in a shady back yard?

  • Published on May 1, 1983
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