Growing your own crops, even in a small area, can be incredibly rewarding. With clever planning and utilising every inch of space, anyone can turn a tiny garden, balcony, or even a windowsill into a productive little farm. The benefits of maximising small areas for gardening are plentiful: you can save money, eat fresh produce, and enjoy the satisfaction of nurturing plants from seed to harvest.
The Tiny Farm Planner is a pretty yet practical small farm planner that also serves as a guidebook, record keeper and task tracker for backyard gardeners and small-scale farmers everywhere. It’s also ideal for allotment owners, community gardens and veg box schemes.
Use no-dig gardening to protect wildlife. Use fruit protection bags (over netting, which can trap birds and wildlife). Learn how to create gardens safe for pets (use humane slug/snail deterrents). Avoid facing indoor foliage to outdoor gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.
This easy-to-use logbook has illustrated helpers to manage all your tasks by season, with plenty of checklists that go by your garden’s cycle, rather than calendar date.
Divided from early season to post season, track everything from planting dates to chore lists and yield/harvest times, no matter what your climate or zone. Included in each seasonal section are:
- Seed, plant & tool inventory record sheets
- Budget tracking and expense logs
- Seed-starting and planting schedules/charts
- Monthly chore checklists
- Supply needs lists
- Variety reviews
- Records for little details!
Additional resources include goal tracking for 1, 5 and 10 years from now, recording pages for soil test results, places to track amendments to products use, cover crop tracking and end-of-year crop evaluations.
With handy growing tips throughout, this is the complete system for any enthusiastic gardener, for hobby or profit.
Jill Ragan is a small farmer and online educator, balancing this with her family life. After seeing broken food systems, she became passionate about growing her own food, rather than sourcing from the grocery. She now grows food on a larger scale at her home farm.
Start a No-Dig Organic Vegetable Farm
We have a huge food crisis in England. Not only is most food imported (and often covered in pesticides and plastic), but most is unaffordable to people on tiny budgets. Yet in North America, whole villages and towns are being fed, by often a few people who have decided to create sustainable market farms, providing organic fruits and vegetables on just a few acres.
The No-Till Organic Vegetable Farm is an ideal read for farmers and community gardeners, to reduce weeds, use inter-planting to increase resilience, and create hedgerows and beneficial insect habitats, along with tips on finding customers to buy your produce.
The book covers:
- Science and soil health
- Start up costs & land search
- Establishing beds
- Crop planning
- Water resilience
- Preventing weeds & manual weeding
- Harvesting and marketing
- Attracting and retaining employees
- Planning and recordkeeping
- Agriculture-supported community
I began the farm with a loan of $180,000 and an interest rate of 3.8%. Four years later, the farm grossed over $250,000 in a season. Today, the farm sells about $300,000 of food each year from 2.5 acres of vegetables. All profits are reinvented in the farm.
If you want to farm for a living, I highly recommend reading this book. It is one of the best guides for serious growers that I know of. Ben Hartman
Also read this book on how to build your own farm tools. Set up a workshop and make 15 tools including simple seedling benches, a mini barrel washer, a DIY germination chamber and a rolling pack table. Plus learn how to design an effective drip irritation system.
Donkey Gardening Gloves are vegan-friendly and good quality and profits help a local animal sanctuary. Due to synthetic materials, use a microplastic catcher if laundering.
Daniel Mays (who has a degree in environmental engineering) runs a no-till farm in Maine (USA) that produces food for hundreds of local families on three acres of land.
Vertical Farming
Vertical Gardening is another effective method for maximising limited space. This technique involves growing plants upwards rather than outwards, making it perfect for small areas. By using trellises, shelves, or hanging planters, you can grow more crops vertically.
Climbing plants like peas, beans, and tomatoes thrive in this arrangement. They not only save ground space but also create a stunning visual effect. With a little creativity, you can transform any wall or fence into a lush garden.
Fast-growing vegetables are your best friend in a small garden. Radishes, for example, can be harvested in as little as three weeks. Other quick crops include salad greens like spinach and leaf lettuce, which can be ready in just a month. Courgettes and bush beans are also excellent choices; they grow quickly and yield high returns.
Consider planting these fast-growing crops in succession, which means replanting the same area in intervals. This ensures a constant supply of fresh produce without overwhelming your space.
Herbs pack a flavour punch and are often high-value crops. Basil, parsley, and chives are incredibly easy to grow in containers or small garden beds. They thrive next to vegetables, enhancing flavour and potentially deterring pests. This technique, known as companion planting, helps maximise your space and promotes healthy plant growth.
For instance, planting basil near tomatoes can improve their taste while disguising them from harmful insects. Experimenting with various combinations can lead to both bountiful harvests and an enriching growing experience.
Healthy soil is the foundation for thriving plants. When gardening in containers, start with a good-quality potting mix. Incorporate organic matter like compost or well-rotted manure to improve fertility and moisture retention.
Regularly fertilising your crops can make a significant difference. Slow-release fertilisers work well for container gardens, while liquid fertilisers can provide an extra nutrient boost during the growing season. Keep it simple—monitor plant health and adjust your fertilisation routine accordingly.
Efficient watering methods are crucial. Overwatering can be just as harmful as underwatering. Consider using drip irrigation systems or self-watering pots. These options deliver water directly to the roots, preventing waste and ensuring even moisture levels.
If you’re hand-watering, try doing it early in the morning or late in the evening to reduce evaporation. Remember, consistent moisture is the key to happy plants.
Grow Food for 100 People on a Few Acres
Sustainable Market Farming is the ultimate guide to year-round organic vegetable production for market gardeners and small-scale farmers. This illustrated best-selling book is now fully updating and includes tips on everything from planning to harvest, with in-depth profiles on a full range of crops.
The author feeds a community of 100 people on just a few acres of land, using disease-resistant varieties of crops and organised business skills. Pam has been growing organic vegetables for 40 years in her home state of Virginia.
15 Plans for Farms of 5 Acres (or less)
Compact Farms is a useful book of 15 real vegetable farm plans, for big success. Fully illustrated for farms of 5 acres of less, learn how to harness clean water and orient farms to the right directions, to grow food with maximum efficiency and minimal effort. The book profiles small-scale farmers in urban and rural settings, who earned enough income to turn hobbies into careers.
