Organic Gardening With Limited Space – Grow Your Own On 25m²

Getting bigger yields with organic gardening is a plus, though your garden might be the size of a goblins’ backyard. Not to worry; even with limited space you can enjoy the great pleasure of organic gardening and growing your own food. By searching online, you will find a world of tips to do so, but we have put a few of our own together we have learnt from experience. Straight from the smaller gardens from some of our “green-teamies”. Check out your next gardening goals below!

Vertical- versus horizontal gardening

First of all, with a big garden, you probably plant vegetables in bigger amounts. In any place you like, only having to check whether it gets enough sun or should be grown in the shade. Add water and fertilizers according to plan and let it grow into that next meal of the month. In a small garden however, you have to re-think your plan to randomly spread some seeds in soil and let Mother Nature do the trick.
 

 
Some vegetables tend to do a – non-hostile – takeover of your garden in only a few weeks after planting them. Zucchini and cucumber, lovely as they are, can become a small garden owners’ nightmare. Therefore, the solution lies in vertical organic gardening. You can use any material around you to build ways for your plants to grow up into the air. Bamboo sticks, wooden or iron racks, strips of felt (or any other “breathing” fabrics/materials) or even old furniture with potential plant-apartment skills. Other vegetables and fruits that we experienced as the perfect candidates to grow sky high: fennel, beans (a bamboo stick does the trick), peppers, raspberry and grapes.

Vegetables that you can still easily grow horizontally in a garden with less space of course also exist. The trick is to not plant too many of them at the same time and to keep track of your growing calendar per month (more about this in the tips section below). A few examples:

• Carrots. They need enough space to grow deep into the soil and enough space between them when planting. They do grow quickly and with this they don’t take up space throughout a very long period. The greens on top can be used as a nice snack for example for a pet rabbit. No rabbit available? Well, you do miss out on all that fluff, but you can eat those greens in various ways yourself! Check out some tips here.
• Lettuce. Put it in hanging pots or in a corner of space you might have left. It is a fast vegetable from soil to plate, so also this leaves you with new planting options and space in a heartbeat.
• Radish. A small vegetable that doesn’t need much depth to grow.
• Beets. Their strings and leaves grow strongly in a vertical way, at least if they get enough water to grow properly. Note: don’t plant them very closely together; they need a bit of space to grow into the rounded shape a beet is known for.
• Celery. A fresh and crispy vegetable that does awesomely well in summer dishes. Don’t plant too many since they tend to grow quite firm and big when adding organic fertilizers.
• Herbs. Use them to fill up empty spaces in between your vegetables. They have a flexible character to grow through and amongst other plants.

Insider tips & tricks for organic gardening

Just because it would hurt our growers’ heart if you – with your challenging small garden – would not be yet convinced to start some fine organic gardening, we offer you some extra tips that might do the trick. Or tricks that are actually tips, but potato/potatoe, here they come:

• Create a planting- and harvest calendar per month. Some vegetables need less growing time over others, so planting and harvesting the right vegetables in the right months helps you to create space for new plants in between.
• When purchasing seeds or small plants to plant, check the maximum height they will grow into. This can help you select the best vegetables for the space (width or height) you have.
• Less = more. Plants need enough space to flourish and they will reward you with better yields if you give it to them. So, to plant a bit less may result in better quality and even quantity!
• Reuse materials around you; vertical gardening doesn’t have to be expensive. The same goes for re-potting vegetable scraps into your next round of plants to grow.
• Make sure to double check the best tips and tricks for your country or region. Your weather, soil and even the type of water in your area have influence on the growth of your plants.

In case you are now like “this is awesome, but help me to get this party started”, no problem! Hit us up through one of our chats on Instagram or Facebook (@biobizzwwo), www.biobizz.com or good old fashion e-mail (info@biobizz.com). Let’s get growing!