Small Food Garden Ideas

Small food gardens with maximum output

Small food gardens the size of a door, a balcony, or a series of containers, can be surprisingly productive.

It’s all about planting with purpose, using space creatively and choosing the most productive, space intensive veggies and herbs. It’s also about putting together a community of plants that support each other’s growth, or provide shade, attract pollinators or enrich the soil.

Food Under Lights

Growing vegetables and herbs under lights is the solution for apartment dwellers without access to outdoor space or sunlight or for gardeners whose winter gardens are too cold or dark for veggies.

Indoor grow lights boost the available light levels to meet the needs of edibles for more light than indoor plants, even if they are grown next to a window. While leafy greens and some shade-loving herbs will grow with moderate to bright indoor light, fruiting veggies and herbs for full sun need much higher levels of light.

The most suitable grow lights are specified LED grow lights that generate light and less heat. You can build your own modular system or shop around for one complete with LED lights, growing tray on a wooden base and modular framework. It could easily become the central feature of a room.

Good To Know:

• Use a light timer for your grow lamps, keep on longer for low light and less for brighter conditions.
• To simulate full sun conditions, move your plants closer to the grow lamp. To simulate part-sun to shade conditions, move your plants farther away from the grow lamps.
• Feed plants monthly with a liquid fertiliser.

Square Foot Gardening

The dimensions for a square foot garden are 1m x 1m. The space is then further divided into ‘foot’ sized squares/blocks. Each block accommodates vegetables and herbs that would feed a family of four. This type of garden is generally built on top of the ground, before being filled with a fertile growing mix. But it can also be made as a raised bed for good drainage. The site should be level, and it should receive at least six hours of sun a day. It should also be away from shrubs and trees.

The planting formula is as follows:

• Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, okra, tomatoes and peppers: 1 plant per square.
• Loose leaf lettuce, beetroot, spinach, Swiss chard, turnips, leeks and parsley: 4 plants per square.
• Leeks, spinach, mustard greens and anise: 9 plants per square.
• Radishes, green onions, celery, carrots and beets (tops): 16 plants per square.

Good To Know:

• Climbing plants like runner beans, cucumbers, or vine tomatoes can be grown up a trellis. This can be either at the back of the garden, or it can be on one side of the garden.
• For a staggered harvest, plant a new block every two weeks.
• When you are replanting, don’t plant the same kind of vegetable in the same square.

READ MORE: Want to learn more about how to create a square foot garden? Click here

Container Food Gardening

There is a growing range of patio veggies bred for pots on the patio, balcony, or kitchen courtyard. They are more compact, but still high producers. The range includes tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and other fruiting vegetables. There are also mini citrus, strawberries and pot blueberries. Add to that, leafy greens, spring onions, beetroot, baby carrots, bush beans, and turnips that grow in regular pots or trough-type containers and don’t forget about herbs that thrive in pots.

Good To Know:

• Make sure that the plants receive at least six hours sun. This should preferably be morning sun. Do not place plants against a wall that receives hot afternoon sun.
• Choose the right size container for the right crop. Tomatoes (and other large vegetables) needs a container that holds 8 -10 litres of soil for the roots to get the proper amount of nutrients and water. Leafy or compact veggies may only need a 30cm container.
• Water daily in summer. The smaller the pot, the quicker it dries out
• Incorporate a slow-release fertiliser when planting and feed once a month to replace nutrients lost through watering.
• Save space by growing vining and climbing veggies up a trellis.

Vertical Food Gardens

Vertical food gardens are mostly in the form of growing pockets that can be firmly attached to a wall or suspended on a frame. The system you decide on should be simple, easy to water and provide enough growing space for the veggies without becoming too heavy.

Good To Know:

• Growing pockets are most suitable for salad and leafy greens, herbs, and strawberries.
• Regular but small amounts of water is required for the vegetables. A liquid feed, like Nitrosol, is required every 10 days to two weeks.

Aquaponic Food Gardens

This system allows a family to grow enough vegetables in a space the size of a fish tank and also have fish to eat. Depending on the size, an aquaponics system can be set up many places. I.e. on a balcony, patio, townhouse garden, or backyard. Anywhere that is level, with at least six hours of sun and sheltered from draughts and cold. The system doesn’t require any chemicals, fertiliser, or soil, just food for the fish.

Water circulates from the fish tank through a container filled with plants in a growing medium and back into the fish tank. The waste products from the fish provide the nutrients for the plants. The plants in turn filter the water. And absorb the nitrates so that it can be re-used by the fish.

Good To Know:

• Mix vegetables, herbs and flowers to attract pollinators. Herbs with aromatic foliage will repel insects.
• The easiest for home installation is the flood and drain system and DIY kits are available. An excellent online resource is MyAquaponics.co.za.

READ MORE: Find out about the pros and cons of hydroponics here