Small Space Gardening

Here we are – Winter is right around the corner! What a year. First, the growing season got off to a late start, then we had drought-like conditions, and before we knew it, we were well into the colder fall months. And now, it’s time to give our yard and ourselves a well-deserved winter’s rest.

But wait, during these darker months of the year, some of us decide to try winter gardening, or even to make plan for the next growing season. This article addresses those of us who do not have a greenhouse or yard but perhaps have a balcony or a small deck and want to try some winter gardening. The question for us is how do we maximize a small growing space, especially during the cold season if we want to have some fresh greens or other cold season crops.

As we are moving into the winter months, let’s start with indoor edibles. My two favorite approaches are small indoor hydroponic systems and microgreens. Both can easily be done on a windowsill, a shelf in the kitchen, or even on the dining room table. Both approaches have pros and cons. Indoor tabletop hydroponics are around $70 a piece. They consist of a water container, growing cells, growing baskets, pods, and grow lights. Their best feature is to ‘set it and forget it’. Once set up with the seeds of your choice, there is nothing more you must do but watch things grow. That is “definitely” an advantage. The disadvantage is that only a limited amount of anything can be grown in these small systems, and it takes the same maturation period as outside. My suggestion is to use seeds that need no more than 40 days seed-to-harvest. These systems are best suited for growing herbs or greens for a one-person household. Lastly, hydroponics are more costly overall to grow than just putting seeds in soil.

Microgreens can be grown in trays using hemp mats, paper towels, or soil. Seeds are scattered evenly onto the growing medium, moistened daily for growing success, and are subjected for an initial phase of 2-4 days in total darkness for the seeds to germinate. A growing dome covered with a towel suffices for this purpose. These microgreens will grow and can be harvested within a week. These are their pros – easy application, fast growth, almost instant success, and less costly than hydroponics. The disadvantage is that microgreens need a certain amount of attention and care for growing success. I personally use both in my home: two small hydroponics systems, and at least one 10×10 tray of microgreens. Both supply me with sufficient greens throughout the winter.

I like outdoor systems that work in a small space, so I use our balcony for gardening most of the time. My two favorites are growing plants in 5gal pots or using a tower garden. The fancy ones are hydroponic systems, which I love but consider too impractical on a balcony.  A tower garden that needs to be hand-watered is less expensive and overall easier to handle.

The advantage of growing plants in 5gal pots are obvious. They are large enough to grow tomatoes or peas, can be moved around as needed, and don’t need a huge amount of soil. I also like inexpensive shop shelves to grow small plants and herbs vertically in containers.  All three systems work well during the growing season, and it’s easy to wrap them with a plant cover in colder temperatures. Plant covers are low cost and readily available online.

There are a fair number of other vertical systems on the market if you are interested in small space gardening. Using Google or YouTube searches are two great ways to get more information on this topic.

For information about small space gardening: https://extension.umn.edu/yard-and-garden-news/gardening-small-spaces

If you just want to dream and explore all the options for different planting systems under any conditions, I highly recommend the book “Urban Gardening” by Kevin Espiritu who also has a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@kevinmespiritu).

Have a wonderful holiday season whether you garden indoors or out, dream about next year’s gardening adventure, or just take a break from it all.

See you in the garden!

Sabine Price

For more information on coastal gardening, or to rent a bed in our community garden or to make a donation, please visit https://gardenbytheseaoceanshores.org/ .

This article was originally printed in The Ocean Observer, November 2022.