Growing in small spaces. Tips for making the most of your small space for growing veg. This guide is to help you if you only have a small space. It is possible to grow a reasonable variety of crops in a space as small as 2m x 1.5m by adopting the ‘square foot’ method (sorry for the mixed measurement units!). There are a few simple rules to follow, and clearly the bigger the space you have the better. But this means you can set aside a small part of a flower border or put in a small raised bed and still get some fresh home grown veg for most of the year. Choosing what to grow. • First rule – grow what you like to eat! There is no point in wasting your limited space on things you don’t REALLY like. • Choose veg types that are expensive to buy or taste much better when really fresh – so don’t grow maincrop onions, for example – they are very cheap to buy and don’t taste much different. • Choose compact veg types – maincrop potatoes take up a lot of space • Choose smaller varieties – if you really want beans, grow French beans rather than runner beans – but you don’t HAVE to go for dwarf plants all the time – planting them close together will restrict their growth, though dwarf varieties can be quicker to mature. • Choose quick-­‐maturing types or varieties – it helps you to get 2 crops in the same space in a year (parsnips take virtually all year to grow-­‐ so use some ‘cheat’ space – see below) • Use off-­‐plot space – windowsills to raise seeds (bathrooms are good!), grab-­‐bags on patios and balconies, hanging baskets (for cherry tomatoes), big pots anywhere for strawberries, herbs, salads. Laying out your space -­‐ ‘square foot’ method • As with all spaces, think about how your space lays in relation to the sun. Consider this when you are planning planting to try to avoid (as much as possible) over-­‐
shading from taller crops. • Using a raised bed helps you keep the soil In the best condition, but it is not vital. • Lay out a 1ft square grid with tapes or string (the bright green polypropylene type is best – the string will be there for some time – secure it with garden canes poked well into the soil). Adjust them if your space is not an exact number of feet wide or deep (it’s better to go for fewer, slightly bigger squares rather than cram in some extra ones and make them all too small). • You will find you have a number of squares – count them to sort out how many varieties of veg you can grow. You might want to ‘double up’ – growing 2 squares of some veg, as well as planning to use some squares for 2 different veg in a year. Decide what you want to grow. Having thought about the general veg types you want, select the varieties. Some suggestions: EARLY CROPPERS (some of these can be planted in the autumn or very early spring – especially if you can cover your bed with safety glass or a sturdy polythene cloche over the winter – don’t forget to water though!) ‘Over-­‐wintering’ veg options Veg to plant in spring • Broad beans ‘The Sutton’ • Spring Onions • Spring cabbage ‘Pixie’ • Carrots ‘Amsterdam early forcing’ • Peas ‘Feltham First’ • Lettuce ‘cut and come again’ • Perpetual spinach • Beetroot ‘boltardy’ Chorley Allotment Society © Created by Taylor Armitt Consulting Growing in small spaces. MID SEASON CROPS – these will be your main crops, and you can choose any of the veg from the main planting guides – but try to choose dwarf varieties. You can raise them from seeds on a windowsill or in a cold frame before planting out, or buy mini-­‐plants from nurseries (expensive!). Some suggestions: • French beans ‘Cupidon’ or ‘borlotti’ • Leaf beet, or normal beetroot • Courgettes ‘Venus’ • Lettuce ‘little gem’ or ‘cut and come again’ • Peas ‘Waverex’ or ‘Oregon sugar pod’ • Cabbage ‘mini-­‐savoy’ or ‘kalibor’ • True spinach • Herbs – basil, parsley, chives etc • Carrots ‘amini’ • Radish Don’t forget your ‘bonus’ spaces – ‘tumbler’ tomatoes in hanging baskets, parsnips in 3 foot lengths of old soil & vent pipes (cleaned first!), potatoes in grab-­‐bags, pumpkins in last years’ full compost bin (without the lid on it, of course). You can place growbags almost anywhere, and ‘double’ them up – one on top of the other with big holes between the two to allow roots to go deeper. You can also position them against south or west facing walls and grow runner beans or climbing squash/courgettes on wires up the wall. How about carrots in an old pair of wellies? You are only limited by your imagination! LATE CROPS – you will plant these after the ‘earlies’ have finished, in the space that they have left. But remember to follow the principles of crop rotation, so choose the appropriate ‘follow on’ crops – in this case, in the same group, because you’re in the same year. At the year end, follow the 3 year rotation guide. Again, you will have raised seed elsewhere – most of these can be sown in outdoor pots on a patio or elsewhere on your site. Use decent sized pots and raise a few plants in each. You will plant these out between June and August, and with the exception of leeks, will only get one or two per one foot square. • Sprouts • Broccolli • Kale ‘redbor’ • Cauliflower Planting Tips Before you start, plan out how much of each crop you might want. You’ll be planting more closely than normal, so a good guide is that the bigger crops (courgette plants, sprouts, for example) will only fit one to a square foot. You’ll get 4 lettuce or 4 climbing French beans (latter on a cane wigwam 4 foot high) or 16 carrots or spinach plants, for example. Draw out several plans of your bed and mark out the early and mid-­‐season crops on one, and the late crops (just filling the ‘early’ squares) on the other. See the next sheet for how it looks. Plant in square patterns, not rows. If sowing seeds direct, use a dibber and sow 2 or 3 of each seeds at each station. Space as accurately as possible and fill over the seeds with sifted compost. If more than one seed germinates, SNIP off the weaker ones with scissors – if you pull them out, you may disturb the roots of the one you want to keep. Plant Care Because they are closer together, the crops will need more water than normal crops. So although we’re in the Northwest, you will need to water them. Try to use collected rainwater at ambient temperature, not cold water from a tap. Also apply liquid feed (seaweed or home-­‐made comfrey concentrate is good) – especially to leafy veg. Mulch the plants where possible. Be especially vigilant against pests – slugs and snails will LOVE the well-­‐stocked ‘larder’. Use fine nets on supports (hoops from blue plastic pipes) against butterflies laying eggs, and beer traps (or slug pellets, preferably organic) for slugs and snails. Soil Care You will need to refresh and feed your soil more often than with less intensive methods. Dig in compost or manure each winter into the empty squares, and NEVER walk on the soil. Take care to rotate crops properly to keep down risks of disease build-­‐up. Try to use mulches to conserve water. You can also plant some edible flowers between crops and on the edges to attract bees and make it pretty! Chorley Allotment Society © Created by Taylor Armitt Consulting Growing in small spaces. Rotation suggestions These will help plan your mini-­‐plot, which is assumed to be 2m x 1.5m (6’ x 4’). The basic idea is to use the three main crop groups – Beans & Peas, Brassicas and Onions & Roots, as ‘blocks’. Planting a different group each year in turn (‘rotating’) helps maintain nutrients in the soil and keeps pests and diseases down. Here, we use a separate colour to represent each block / group. You can also use some of the spaces twice if you plant early crops, then late ones (diagram on right) after the earlies have been picked – so from June onwards, depending on picking dates. The mid season crops stay in their square into the summer, so those squares only get used once. Stage One: Early (e) and mid-­‐season (m) crops ‘A’ = sow the previous autumn Stage Two: Later crops Late Pea Mange tout pea BEANS & PEAS Late Pea Sugar Salads (e &m) Broccolli Salads Summer Cabb (m) Salads (e &m) Kale Salads Swede Turnip Spring Onions (e ) Spring Onions (l ) Beetroot Beetroot Garlic (eA) Broad Bean (e) Broad Bean (e) French Bean (m) French Bean (m) Early Pea (e) Early Pea (e) Spring Cabb (eA) Spring Cabb (eA) Courgettes (m) Summer Cabb (m) Courgettes or summer squash (m) First Early New potatoes Broad Bean (e) Broad Bean (e) pod Pea (e) F.E. New potatoes (e) BRASSICAS ONIONS AND ROOTS French Bean (m/l) French Bean (m/l) Note the early /mid season crops that stay in longest go in the central spaces, so you don’t have to lean over them to re-­‐plant when early crops are finished and you want to put something else in! You could use the darker Each year, rotate the colours so the bottom colour from last year goes to the top, And the other two move down one position. Remember the crop group that goes with each colour – Beans are blue, brassicas are green and roots are brown. Try to vary the ‘free’ plots from the early and late planting so that the soil gets some rest. So over three years the pattern is: Year 1 Year 2 Onions/ Beans Brassicas Roots Onions /Roots Year 3 Brassicas
Beans Brassicas
Onions /Roots Beans Chorley Allotment Society brown squares above to experiment each year after your early crops are out by raising plants in pots till June-­‐ try some mini-­‐sweetcorn or pumpkins, for example-­‐ or use it for sprouts, late cabbage, kale etc because next year that section will be ‘green’. You could also try ‘three sisters’ planting – this uses sweetcorn, squash and beans in the same place. The sweetcorn grows tall and supports the runner beans, while the squash covers the ground and keeps weeds down. But North-­‐West England is wetter and less sunny than South America, where the system comes from, so it does not always work! Look on the internet for more guidance on this, small spaces and crop rotation in general. Most of all, enjoy trying things out – if you get a disaster, there’s always next year! © Created by Taylor Armitt Consulting