Category: Garden, Growing Vegetables

Gardening in Small Spaces

Each year I face the challenge of gardening in small spaces. Nearly three years ago I moved into my long-awaited home. It has the smallest usable yard space of any house I have ever lived in. The lot size is just about an acre, but much of that is down a hill and in the woodsy wetlands area. My front yard is large enough for me, but I wish I had more to work with in the back. Each Spring I must find the best ways to rotate and plant vegetables which will get enough sun to grow well.

backyard garden
Small Garden Space

I have a family of three, but my kids are not as excited about eating fresh garden vegetables as I am. I don’t have to grow much of a crop of anything – just enough for me. And that is a good thing, since I don’t have the space for it.

Last year I tried fabric pot gardening and it worked out well. You can see in my picture above that I had one large round raised garden. I used the smaller garden bags to grow potatoes, beans and carrots. The nice thing was that I just set the pots in the sunniest areas along the deck, and had instant gardens!

The rest of my planting is done along the strip of ground at the edge of a drop off which is loaded with blackberry briars. With all the trees growing nearby, the lower part of the yard is too shady to plant anything. It doesn’t leave much room to do everything I’d like, but I do get some nice veggies by mid to end of summer.  And I put up a cement block raised bed out front which helps expand the crops too.

Raised Garden Bed – Getting Ready to Plant

raised garden bed
Simple Raised Bed of Cinder-Blocks

At last our snow is gone. It could snow again, but it won’t last if it does. We can seriously begin thinking about our gardens now in New Hampshire.

Last year I dragged these cement blocks up from the side of the house and created a raised bed. I ordered dirt from Agway and wheel-barrowed it over to fill the area. I had tomatoes and a zucchini plant in it and they did great.

I will have to begin thinking about what I want to grow and where I’ll plant it. Except for cold weather crops, like lettuce, parsley and peas, I won’t be able to plant until the end of May.

I added Bone Meal to the dirt in this raised bed, but I still need to order a new batch of good dirt too. Finances are a bit tight, and I won’t be buying hanging planters and such to beautify my yard, but certain things I must have to grow some (hopefully) good crops. I garden to eat healthy and save money. And I also enjoy it.

I got outside the other day, when the weather was nice, and took some photos of what is coming up in the yard. I’ll share once I get them off the camera and into an organized group for my blogs.

Garden Vegetables I Enjoyed This Summer

(My New Hampshire garden.)

Throughout the summer my garden produced some delicious vegetables and herbs for my family to enjoy. I have been picking basil for months, and now that it’s October, I can still go out and grab a handful. This year I used the flowers from my zucchini in some stir fry and omelets.  I found a recipe for stuffed squash flowers, but never had the time to try it.

garden vegetables and herbs
Fresh Pickin’s From The Garden

I mostly grow radishes for fun, as they are not one of my favorite things to eat, and the peas were not very abundant so I ate them raw in salads.

Parsley is one of the best new plants that I enjoy all summer and it’s good for my kidneys too, so I eat it as much as I can.  Even now, it’s still sending off stalks for me to use, but I know the deer will be munching on it soon.

I even bought a dehydrator and dried some parsley and basil.  The basil took forever, but I may try some more parsley before it’s gone.  My local organic grocer has fresh parsley available year round, so I won’t have to do without.

Summer is a busy time.  Between getting the gardens ready to plant, weeding and picking and cooking, there is not enough time in my day for blogging.  Things are calming down, and all the pictures I have been taking for the past four months will now be added to my blogs.

I hope your gardening kept you busy this summer too, eating good, fresh food and enjoying beautiful flowers.

Pictures of My Backyard Raised Bed Tomato Garden

large fabric raised garden
The Bigger Fabric Garden

raised bed with tomatoes
The tomato bed as of mid-July

Here are two (before and after) pictures of my backyard gardens. I planted 4 tomatoes in this fabric raised bed back in June. I added a few basil plants and radishes around the edge. As you can see, by mid July they are growing like crazy. I haven’t eaten any tomatoes yet, they are still green. I have one red grape tomato that I will probably eat tomorrow and that means there will soon be more that are ripe. All my fabric raised beds are doing well except for the potatoes, but I don’t know if they are just ready to be dug.

The potato stalks look like they are dying, so I hope when I dig down into the bag I will find potatoes worth eating. Those little turd bugs got ahold of the leaves while I was away for 10 days.  My carrots don’t look too good either.  I haven’t grown carrots for many years because I never had much luck with them getting large enough to use.

My concrete block raised bed is also doing well.  I have zucchini in that along with a couple of grape tomato plants.  I just ate boiled zucchini for breakfast!

I’ve Learned How To Grow Good Lettuce

growing lettuce
Lettuce in a Pot

I have tried many times to grow my own lettuce without success. Sometimes it would grow and look nice but it was too bitter to eat. This year I scattered seeds randomly in containers and in the ground (among the strawberry plants) and I am harvesting it!

I’ve learned that lettuce can be eaten when it’s fairly small. I cut off the larger leaves, rinse them and eat. New leaves grow to take their place almost immediately.

Lettuce likes cool weather, so I’ll try to get it planted sooner next spring. I can grow it in my little greenhouse on the deck, or next to the house. In fact I plan to plant some parsley early too.

Another trick I’ve discovered is to plant it in a pot like the one here. Then the lettuce can be moved out of the full sun on hot days. I set mine between two tall Tansy plants (weeds, really) that are shading it nicely.   I also don’t have enough room to grow everything I’d like to in the ground.

I think I’ve planted buttercrunch in the strawberries (below) – I read somewhere to do that for shading. It’s growing and I am eating it! I’m so happy to finally be able to grow good, tasty, lettuce.

strawberry plants and lettuce
Little Lettuce Leaves Among Strawberries

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Growing Potatoes in a Fabric Pot

potato plant leaves
Potato Plant

I’ve entered a phase of experimental gardening with fabric pots. Right now I think these things are the greatest idea ever. I’ve wanted raised beds but haven’t had the time to create any so little bags to hold dirt is the closest I’ve come. I planted two pieces of potato in this bag a few weeks ago and as you can see, they are growing nicely.
I am going to admit that I am a dummy when it comes to potato growing. I always thought the potatoes grew off the roots, but I guess they grow from the stem as it shoots upward. I do know that when the tops die, it’s about time to harvest the potatoes. This page at the Food Gardening Guide site has a good explanation of what to expect when growing potatoes.

Next year I will get my potatoes planted earlier as they like the weather cool.  I hope this fabric pot works out because it is certainly an easy way to grow them.

Next to the potatoes I have planted some green beans that haven’t sprouted yet.  On the other side I have one more pot where carrots are sprouting.

Another plus to using these pots, for me anyway, is that my cats stay out of them.  I wondered about that, since they seem to think my gardens are the best place to do their business.  I was hoping they wouldn’t think a pot of dirt was their litter box.  Next you will have to see my large fabric garden.  It’s like this potato holder, but much bigger.