Having a small garden doesn’t have to mean small harvests. In fact, small, well managed and tended gardens are often more productive than their larger, occasionally neglected counterparts. Using a few basic principles, you can grow sizable harvests from a small plot or even a few raised beds.
Focus on Soil Health
Good production begins with good soil. If you want big harvests, work to build soil that’s fertile, rich in organic matter, and well-draining. One of the fastest ways to accomplish this is by bringing in finished compost. While compost can be pricey, it may be worth the initial investment.
Top dress existing beds with a couple of inches of finished compost or use it to create new beds. You can fill raised beds or use the popular no-dig method. Lay a thick layer of cardboard onto the sod and then cover the cardboard with a thick layer of compost.
There are also several ways to build good soil over time. These include making compost at home, growing cover crops, using mulch, and amending your soil as needed. Here are a few guides to help you build healthy soil:
- Getting a Soil Test
- Understanding Your Soil Test
- Make Your Own Compost
- Spring Cover Crops
- Winter Cover Crops
- Beginner’s Guide to No-Dig Gardening
Grow Vertically in Your Small Garden
Vining plants like cucumbers, winter squash, pole beans, Malabar spinach, and tomatoes are all high yielding crops, but when left to their own devices, they sprawl throughout the garden, taking up valuable real estate. Keeping these crops properly trellised saves space and makes them easier to tend and harvest.
There are several options for trellising plants. We love making cattle panel tunnels for pole beans. They’re easy to harvest from and a lot of fun, too. You can also use panels or fencing in a traditional layout.
A method called the Florida weave, which uses twine and fence posts, is an ideal, economical option for keeping rows of tomatoes tidy.
If you’re working with heavy crops like winter squash and melons, you’ll need to make a sturdy trellis. Those from large fence posts or A-frame style trellises are good choices. The fruit may need extra support. You can tie old fabric or pantyhose to the trellis beneath the fruit as a sort of makeshift hammock to take some of its weight.
Succession Plant
If you want to maximize productivity, you need to keep planting. Few crops are productive for the whole growing season.
In spring, we love to plan and pair a cool weather crop with a warm weather one. For example, we’ll plant snap peas on a trellis in early spring. After the chance of frost has passed, we sow Malabar spinach beneath the peas. As the peas finish up for the season, the heat-loving spinach begins to climb.
In summer, we continue successions of quick growing crops. Bush snap beans, sweet corn, and summer squash mature fairly quickly are great for planting in small batches every few weeks to get a longer harvest period.
In late summer and fall, we sneak in the final rounds of those summer crops and then sow more of the cool season crops for late fall and winter harvest. Some good options for fall include beets, carrots, lettuce, collards, rutabagas, and turnips.
Tips for succession planting from expert Pam Dawling (author of Sustainable Market Farming):
- Summer Succession Crop Planting: Avoid Gluts & Shortages
- Last Chance Sowings
- SESE Candy Carrots & Sweet Roots
Use Season Extension in Your Small Garden
Using the shoulder seasons of spring and fall can significantly increase your production, especially in the Southeast where summer temperatures are often too high for cool season crops to thrive.
Use succession planting to start plants early and late. To make the most of these cooler periods, have season extension ready to go.
Cold frames, indoor seed starting set ups, low tunnels, and high tunnels can help you start transplants and cool season crops earlier. Use your season extension to harden off transplants or sow cool weather crops like lettuce, which can you can harvest before replacing them with summer crops like tomatoes.
Low tunnels and shade cloth can also allow you to keep spring, cool season crops thriving further into summer. These help keep the soil cool and provide a bit of relief for sensitive crops like spinach, lettuce, and spring radishes which will bolt or get woody when the temperatures rise.
Row cover or even old sheets can help you keep summer crops like tomatoes safe from early light frosts for a little longer. You can also sow additional cool season crops in low tunnels, high tunnels, or cold frames in the late summer or early fall to harvest through the winter.
Keep Detailed Records
Keeping a detailed garden record can allow you to catch patterns in your garden over time, narrow down the most high yielding varieties, and prevent future mistakes.
Many gardeners still enjoy using a physical journal for record keeping, but you could also use a spreadsheet or gardening app.
Note important events, harvests, and problems. Some things to track include:
- First and last frost dates
- Pest and disease issues
- Selected varieties
- Planting dates
- Harvest dates
- Harvest quantities
Make the most of your small space with these five gardening tips. Happy gardening!