I think the key to make gardening in small spaces it to choose smallish, high value plants that you can plant repeatedly throughout the year. In other words, if you have a 10X10 plot, zucchini is not exactly going to be your cash crop. It takes up a lot of space for a lot of time, and it doesn’t produce a lot of variety.
According to Steve Solomon, the top ten most valuable crops based on approximate value per square foot of garden per amount of time that the area will be growing the crop are herbs, carrots, beets, parsnips, lettuce, scallions, spinach, kale, swiss chard, and leeks. I believe him.
If you’re a home cook, not having to pay for herbs is invaluable. Even better, most herbs can be used throughout the year, either fresh or in dried form. In my personal experience, you can get a huge bang for your buck from swiss chard. Once established, you can cut the outer leaves off month after month. The plants regrow leaves at an astonishing rate. I have 12 chard plants, and they have provided me with a truly absurd stream of chard. This photo was taken AFTER harvesting a giant bunch of chard.
I think the other key is to have a plan such that once one vegetable has finished, you have another ready to seed in that spot. I started out this spring with loads of spinach. Once the spinach finished up, I put in tomatoes and carrots where it had been. Both my shelling peas and snow peas finally finished up, and I just replanted the area with pole beans, basil, and kale.
My general plan has been to provide myself with a steady stream of food throughout the spring and early summer. Now, I can still enjoy lettuce and chard while the beans and tomatoes kick into gear. This is also the time of year when many of the crops that I don’t have space to grow start showing up in the farmers’ markets. I pile up on the cucumbers, zucchini, and everything else that I just don’t have space for. Meanwhile, I am getting my fall garden into place with kale, brussels sprouts, more lettuce, spinach, and leeks. I transplanted my fall leek bed yesterday. I’ve never done this before, so I hope it works!
