Vegetable and Herb Gardening in Small Urban Spaces

April 28, 2021

Although we'd love to, many of us don't have a lot of room to grow a spacious vegetable and herb garden. You may only have your back porch, window space, or small outdoor area to grow in. But that shouldn't keep you from growing fresh food for you and your family!

Luckily for us, there are numerously accessible and creative ways to maximize the area you do have! We've put some of these ideas below so you can reap the most food harvest and fill your kitchen with healthy, delicious food!

Pots:

This is the most common go-to for starting a garden in small spaces! They come in all types of shapes, sizes, and materials. You can buy cheap plastic and terracotta pots pretty much anywhere. Even better, recycle plastic containers you may have around your house already for an environmentally friendly touch!

Garden Towers: This is an excellent use of growing vertically, spaces almost all of us have! These can be purchased at your local garden center, online, or you can build your own. These are perfect for growing your herbs, greens, and other small berries and veggies. Just don't get/make one too tall to comfortably harvest from the top!

Wooden Pallets: These have quickly become a trend in the vertical-space gardening world! It is a great way to re-purpose old pallets taking up space in your yard and garage. You can plant inside the pallet, in between the rows( you'll have to put in the bottom to keep the dirt in), then lean or mount on an empty wall. You can also use pallets as a trellis to growing climbing species of plants up!

Hanging Baskets: A fantastic idea to use up some of that open air space on your porch! You can grow herbs, Edible flowers, and vining species in these. Some people even have grown tomatoes in them!

Windowbox: We all have windows in our houses! Typically the outdoor bottom portion of the window is pretty easy to build a simple planter box for and attach to the window frame. You can also grow inside, on the same window sill!

Raised Beds: These have many perks, starting with you get to pick how big, small, tall, or low to the ground they are! You can also build them out of pretty much anything, from wood to lifeless tires! They are an excellent way to stay off your hands and knees and save your back while gardening, and help keep unwanted pests from munching on your plants!

Before you start planting!

It's always best to start your seeds indoors to control the temperature and environment a bit more than outdoors. Check the back of each seed packet to see what temperature each specific seed needs and how long each variety can take to sprout! You may need to purchase a seed heating mat or grow light to keep them warm!
The bigger the plant gets, the bigger the pot needs to be. Smaller herbs and veggies can do in around 1-gallon size pots, whereas tomatoes and peppers will need lots of root space to be healthy and produce well!
Sunlight: Seeds don't necessarily need the sun to sprout. Unless it is your heat source for seeds that need a warmer germination temperature. Once they sprout, they will need lots of sunlight( or grow light). Most will need about 8 hours of sun!
Make sure pots have proper drainage holes, or you will rot your plant roots away!
Use suitable soil! Always grow seed in soil specific for seed starting, or it can lead to their demise. Once they are ready for transplanting, they will need different soil. You can read more about transplanting and soil types here.
Never let your soil dry out! But at the same time, too wet of soil for too long isn't good either and can cause mold. Purchasing a moisture meter is a good investment, or you can use our toothpick test! You can watch how to test your soil with a toothpick here.
Having the right plant food is super important to have on hand when your seeds emerge and throughout maturity. Some plants will be a bit more hungry than others. Read all about how to choose the right plant food here!

And now it's time to get creative and see what you can come up with in your unique space! There are so many variations to the above ideas, you're bound to come up with your own creations! The options are limitless!