Tips for small space growers: Part 1

Really packing it in!

Introduction

Gardening, homesteading or even urban farming can be a challenge in a small space and even the idea of self sufficiency can be thrown out the window.

By 'small', I mean spaces under 100 square metres. Our area has 60 square meters in which we can grow food and medicinal plants. I'll not include the aquaponics section as that's still very experimental.

This series of articles will give you tips on how to maximise your space and minimize your effort.

Tip #1
Engage with your community. I was amazed at the amount of resources available for swapping, sharing or gifting when we started to reach out to neighbouring gardeners an growers.

You don't have to try to do it all yourself. You will likely find someone in the local area already growing what you need and often growing it to excess. Arrange a trade with them for something you want to grow before you start.

Tip #2
Don't try to grow everything. Choose a few plants that you'll use all the time. If you don't restrict yourself at the start you may end up with a couple of dozen types of plants but only one or two of each. Definitely not enough to keep yourself supplied with enough produce to make it worth the effort.

Tip #3
Don't think that all of your space needs to be in one continuous area. Many blocks have small, odd shaped, areas that are frequently overlooked in the search for the biggest chunk of space.

Small strips along fence lines and driveways can yield an amazing amount of produce.

Tip #4
Think in straight lines. There is a saying that goes something like 'straight lines don't exist in nature'. That may be true, but we're trying to control a small area and until one gets into Deep Ecology and all that, curves are wasteful. There will come a time where you can recognise the value of curves, but we're not there yet.

Think about four large, round pots in a row, touching. There is a lot of space wasted in between the curves. Now think of four square pots, edge to edge. How much less space is lost between them? None.

There are ways to compensate for losses from round pots, but that's for later. We're only at an introductory stage at present.

Tip #5
Think vertically. Lots of folks waste the space afforded to us by posts, fences, walls and the like. There are lots of highly productive climbers such as Passionfruit and Hops that love to climb.

At Ligaya, we climb lighter vines such as Sweet Appleberry up through our deciduous fruit trees, doubling the use of space.

The traditional 'Three Sisters' gardening method is a great example of this. With this method, one grows Corn as the main structure. Beans grow up and through the corn increasing the yield from the space (as well as having other benefits). Then one grows Squash and a ground cover.

It's a simple solution to space and resource scarcity as each plant provides benefits to the others.

You can put hanging pots anywhere!

Tip #6
Think in layers.This is similar to Tip #5, but in more detail. I like to plan everything in four layers. There is below the ground, on the ground, the shrub layer (let's say, up to a metre and a half), then the tree layer.

By selecting the right plants, you can utilise all these layers, stacked neatly on top of each other, all with the same footprint.

As an example, we have Sweet Potatoes which provide tubers (below ground) and make an excellent ground cover with edible leaves from rapidly spreading vines. These are planted near the base of a Strawberry Gauva which grows at the edge of the canopy of a Pear tree.

Up through the branches of the Pear tree grows a Sweet Appleberry. I've also put lots of spent mushroom compost under the tree in the hopes of getting mushrooms later.

Tip #7.
Think in seasons.I like to grow mainly perennials, as they take less labour, but in some areas of the garden, a rapid turnover of annuals is the go. The usual ideas of crop rotation apply here as this is a system that has been honed over millennia to maximise production from a fixed space.

Conclusion
There's a few ideas for you to start thinking about.

This is part one of an ongoing series of posts based on our experiences of small space production. We've made a few mistakes too and they'll be covered as we go along but we've had more successes than failures. Hopefully, you will too.

Check out how our garden grows on our blog, Ligaya

We also have a YouTube channel and a Patreon page