GROW MINI VEGETABLES

GROW A GARDEN IN A TINY SPACE!

- CAROL J. MICHEL

In the late 1980s, I carved out space for my first vegetable garden from a 1-ft. wide strip of soil between my apartment patio and a fence. I did my best to squeeze some green beans and a few tomato plants into that little space. Today, with that same limited space, I can grow dozens of mini vegetable varieties.

MEET THE EXPERT

CAROL J. MICHEL, AN AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, ALSO HAS A BLOG CALLED MAY DREAMS GARDENS.

WHAT ARE MINI VEGETABLES? 

Mini vegetables, also referred to as dwarf or compact vegetables, are vegetable plants that are much smaller than their standard counterparts. According to Josh Kirschenbaum, PanAmerican Seed vegetable accounts manager, no parameters are set for what defines a dwarf vegetable, but they are notably smaller than a standard-size vegetable and can perform well in a container.

Like full-size vegetable plants, dwarf or mini vegetable plants usually require full sun. When they're grown in containers, you'll also need to water them more frequently as often as once or twice a day during the hottest days of summer, depending on the size of the container. You'll also need to fertilize them more often because frequent watering quickly leaches out the nutrients the vegetables need to thrive.

A LITTLE HISTORY

As Jen McGuinness noted in her book Micro Food Gardening: Project Plans and Plants for Growing Fruits and Veggies in Tiny Spaces, people are moving to cities, and by 2050, well over half of us will live in an urban environment. Fortunately, the plant industry recognizes this, and plant breeders at companies such as PanAmerican Seed started breeding dwarf vegetable varieties about 15 years ago with a focus on those that grow well in both containers and hydroponic systems, such as the AeroGarden.

WHY GROW MINIS?