If you had to choose...

[shiney]

Five veggies to grow in a small space, what would they be?

What are the best yielders or survivors of pests in your experiences?

Share your favourites with me!

[wulf]

A different selection from last year!

It would also depend on factors such as how much (or how little) space there was and how long I wanted crops for. Herbs might be a good choice - they're pretty compact (and you can eat the trimmings) and long lasting. Quite a few of the herbs in my garden - parsley, mint, thyme, chives, golden oregano, sorrel and others - survived the winter and are thriving.

Wulf

[pureportugal]

tomatoes would be my no.1 choice - easy to grow, lovely fresh and easy to store either bottled or dried and basil is a great companion plant and you can sneak it in between the tomato plants (so i reckon you could get away with 6 plants rather than 5!) and again, it's easy to grow, lovely fresh, and quick n easy to dry for winter use.

and definitely lettuce, can't beat it picked & eaten straight from the garden and you can fit it in the spaces between bigger plants while they're still young & small (so call that 7 plants in the space of 5!). must say i've never had much success growing it from seed though, i always buy seedlings now.

broad beans are very easy to grow but they do take up a bit of space, you do get a very good yield though. and again, lovely fresh and easy to dry & store.

okra - though maybe not so good in uk as it needs a long growing season - very very high yield, easy to grow and no problems with pests that i know of.

radishes - plant to mark the lines of other crops you've sown, super-quick to mature - so another sneaky extra one!

spinach/chard - very easy to grow, goes on and on and on and you'll always have fresh greens. very high in vitamins & minerals.

ok. lost count now. i could probable think of loads more but reckon that'll do for now!

xx sophie

[Wombat]

I would have to go for carrots myself, we have a bed about 1 x 2 metres or less and haven't bought a carrot since before November, and there is still plenty left to keep us going through the winter.

Any runner beans (vertical gardening) are good, but your family has to like them. I grow dwarf beans every year (although not a bean person myself ) but one year went for climbing beans and everyone complained they weren't as nice .

Vertical gardening is also possible with cucumbers, or have you considered growing pumpkins or other cucrbits over the top of a garage, shed or even the house to save space. I do this every year with variable results - our summer sun is pretty ferocious and can cook things growing over a tin roof!

Do you have space for container gardens (growing in containers, not growing the containers themselves ) - see Jonhs ideas in the allotment section.

Nev

[Andy Hamilton]

Have to agree with the radishes for the same reason. I have planted a packet in my windowbox whilst I wait for my cherry toms to germinate. In about a week I will harvet them and transplant the toms. I also have a few baby beetroots growing in there.

In my other window box I have a bunch of herbs most of which are pretty easy to grow in most soils.

So I guess that is my small space, two window boxes about 1 foot x 4 ft for both put together. So how small is the space? Bigger than a window box? I am also growindg some corgettes inside in a bucket, high yeild and pretty easy to maintain, however think that might need more sun as they are a bit 'leggy'.

[shiney]

Blimey, quite a selection of veggies.

I asked because, I do have a small garden and have just put together two incy wincy raised beds (4ft by 2ft). We have filled it with lots of our compost, which has been mulching down for about 3 years and is wonderstuff, as you all know.

We have planted some carrots and some spring onions to start and was thinking of planting some dwarf beans in the other raised bed.

Looks like radish is going to be choice and lettuce too!

We have a skinny strip of garden which is a foot wide and about 10ft long where we've put our spuds (it's also the place where Slugville exists, so I'll have to report back on that area later!)

Thanks for your suggestions and ideas.

[wulf]

Radishes are good - my first sowing is soon going to ready to harvest (and the firstfruit I sneaked earlier this week was great). Another crop I'm experimenting with this year is Pak Choi. So far, I've had a good germination rate and the plants are starting to bulk up.

I tend to be a little bit stingy on the spacing. That probably means I'm not getting the biggest plants I could but still plenty for the table.

Wulf

[shiney]

This is going to be a difficult choice with all these ideas floating around!

I really like pak choi and it's sooo expensive in the supermarkets ~ for what you get.

That reminds me, I must ring the allotment dept at the council today!

[Andy Hamilton]

I just had some alarm bells ring as soon as you mentioned slugs along with radishes (or is it in a different bed?) Last year I managed to grow about 6 edable ones from a packet, the slugs seemed to love them. But 6-8 weeks growth you can succesionally plant them and keep on at the slugs in the meantime.

[pureportugal]

We have planted some carrots and some spring onions to start and was thinking of planting some dwarf beans in the other raised bed.

that reminded me i should have also included welsh onions, very easy to grow and they're perennial. where you plant one it will grow and produce a bunch which you can then split. use them like spring onions or cook like normal onions - two plants for the price of one! i don't know how good they are to store but (here - prob. in uk too) they grow all year round so you have a constant supply.

[catalyst]

i think if my space was limited, i´d go for things i like but are too expensive...
or things you can´t get in shops...
squeeze in a bed of asparagus.
couple of tomatillo plants..
okra... very prolific, we have seeds to swap...
quilquina... i like this herb....
and some interesting courgettes... shop bought ones are so boring...
same with tomatoes... yellow ones have more vitamin a...

andy

[cheap&cheerful]

Shiney-hows your raised beds going?

I once had a really small bed where we took up a path and just filled it with manure. Took a chance because the manure was quite fresh so I buried it really deep, and put a good layer of topsoil on. Kept my fingers crossed and prayed that by the time the roots of the veg got down to it the watering and the rain would of taken the sting out of it.

I planted runner beans along the back of it. Then I planted a row of cabbage, a row of spinach, a row of cauliflowers, a row of spinach and so on. They were only about 4 deep but the path ran the whole length of the garden. Then inbetween the rows I planted quick stuff like lettuce, spring onions and radish. The combination of slow growing crops with the fast stuff really worked well.

It was one of the most successful plots I've ever had. The cauliflowers were HUGE, firm and white. Infact 25 years later and I've never grown them so well since.

You've probably got it all planted by now. Hope it's doing well.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what you grow it's always going to taste better than the supermarket junk.


Jill..

[greenbean]

I have limited space too, so have chosen veg that we like, also veg that is pricey, I am planting larger veg, ie. courgettes and pumpkins at the edge of the raised beds, so that they get the benefit of the soil but spill over and don't take too much space up in the bed. This is my first year at growing veg so can't really say yet what my fave's will be. I am interested in the vertical growing that is mentioned, especially for pumpkins. I would need advice on appropriate supports I think.

[shiney]

Hi Cheap and cheerful

My beds are coming along slowly but I hope they will bloom into action soon. The carrots are the slowest things to grow so far. I only have two little beds and my potato strip, but it's a start.

Thanks for the info on what you are growng, sounds like you were very successful ~ well done.

[greenchi]

Definitley a mesculan salad mix. One of the grafted tomatos. A bush type nugget pumpkin. Zucchini and some spring onions. ...