Veg Gardening In a Tiny Space

[jules1967]

Hi all! I'm new to this site and find everyones tips very useful. This is my very first year of trying to grow food.I feel very envious of all of you folks with huge gardens and a bit of a fraud as myself and my kids live at my parents house at the moment so am limited with the self sufficiency stuff i can try. I've only got a tiny space aprox. 3m x 1m and windowsills to grow stuff on . I wondered if any of you could give me some tips on which fruit or veg to grow in pots etc..?

[jannie]

Hi jules and welcome. There is a thread in this section for John Harrisons' new book... Once you have read it you will think your 3mx1m patch is an allotment. ...and it comes with free seeds.
Good luck

[p.penn]

Yes, I have got my copy - it is amazing how much you can grow in a small space. I have a concrete patio outside my front window 2mx2m max and last years I gerw toms, peppers & chillies in a mini greenhouse, strawberries, courgettes, spring onions, radishes, carrots and little squash.I grew salad leaves on top of the the log store There are also sprecial seeds (Mr Fothergills do some and possibly suttons) for pot growing if you need them.

[4c lady]

I have a small veggie pot, a smaller fruit patch and I grow things in pots. This year im growing my tomatoes in hanging baskets - mainly because they are out of chicken reach. Im also going to grow carrots in tubs as ive never done much good with growing them in the garden. Im also going to grow runner beans in a big pot this year. Last year I had a water butt that I cut in half and used to plant potatoes and they did very well. Corgettes always do well in pots. Im also having a go at growing lettuce in pots on the windowsill in the kitchen. I noticed B&Q are selling a lot of kits to grow things on window sills and patio pots.

[p.penn]

I grow the salad leaves mixes in seed trays outside - they do really well.

[perchy]

Get the book its really good!! but lots of advice on here, you will be amazed at what you can grow in pots and buckets

[jules1967]

Thankyou all. I've ordered my copy of the book mentioned and hopefully as i usually have 'the kiss of death' with plants i'll manage to grow something edible.

[Birdbrain]

Get the book its really good!! but lots of advice on here, you will be amazed at what you can grow in pots and buckets

Looks interesting so i ordered a copy. I've started growing stuff in black builder's buckets this year. 90p each in Wicks! I drilled a few holes in the bottom and the handles make them easy to move in and out of the greenhouse and around my smallish garden.

[perchy]

Get the book its really good!! but lots of advice on here, you will be amazed at what you can grow in pots and buckets

Looks interesting so i ordered a copy. I've started growing stuff in black builder's buckets this year. 90p each in Wicks! I drilled a few holes in the bottom and the handles make them easy to move in and out of the greenhouse and around my smallish garden.

Keep your eyes peeled in supermarkets, they sometimes give the black buckets away, had a few last year

[Rowan]

I grow lots of salads and radish in the blue mesh plastic trays that the shops throw out,I line them with cut down compost bags,poke a few holes in the bottom and half fill with compost, they stack up well and give you very clean leaves and they are free..............

[perchy]

I've got a few of them, I think my plants from the garden centre came in them, I will try that

[k66yla]

Morrissons sell their old cut flower buckets for 99p for 8. I grew alot of things in them last year.

[digalotty]

John harrison's books are great and come with good quality seeds as well, so highly recomended.
anyone with a small space to grow in should check out SFG

http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

[Dave NE]

I also have limited space but i have spent some time thinking about the permaculture idea where you go up instead of out, as an example i have a brick pillar about 18 inches across and about 10 ft tall, in over 20 years all its ever had is an ornamental planted in a pot at the base and a hanging basket about 6 ft higher up, so this year the hanging basket will go higher and the dead space below can be used to house layers of veg in troughs. This is nothing new as some inner citys have whole buildings covered in greenery, not edible though, just a thought, Dave NE

[kattcollins]

well I've just ordered a copy too, I love the idea of growing my own food and every year I think 'right this year I will do it' but it frightens me abit, i buy the veg mags and it all looks so complicated and then I start worrying about all the diseases I read about and in the end I convince myself that I just can't do it but what the hell i'm gonna go for it this year and have bought some lettuce seeds...surely I can't mess that up??