12 easy vegetables to grow in small spaces
No big garden? These compact, productive crops do brilliantly in pots, balconies and small beds.
You don't need an allotment to grow your own food. These twelve vegetables give a lot of harvest for very little space.
Fast and forgiving
- Radishes: ready in 4 weeks. Sow little and often.
- Cut-and-come-again lettuce: snip leaves and they regrow for weeks.
- Spinach: loves cooler weather and partial shade.
- Spring onions: happy in a 15 cm deep pot.
Container stars
- Cherry tomatoes: choose a bush or hanging-basket variety.
- Chillies and peppers: need warmth, so a sunny windowsill or balcony is ideal.
- Dwarf French beans: compact and very productive.
- Courgettes: one plant in a 40 litre pot feeds a household.
Climbers that use vertical space
- Climbing beans and peas: grow them up a trellis against a wall.
- Cucumbers: train smaller varieties up a frame.
Roots in pots
- Carrots: pick short, round varieties for containers.
- Potatoes: grow bags give a surprising crop; tip them out to harvest.
Small-space tips
Use the biggest containers you can, because they dry out less. Feed regularly, as pots run out of nutrients quickly. And grow what you actually like to eat.
