[Teen76]

Hello all

I've gone from half an allotment to my back garden where I have built raised beds.  I'm beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed and a complete newbie again as I'm realising that I need to learn about spacing in a smaller space.

Do you know of any good books out there or where I can find practical advice on what and how to grow in a smaller space?

I really appreciate any help.

Tina

[arugula]

John (the site owner's) book:

http://www.allotment-garden.org/book/small-space-growing.php

may be a good place to start.

[joyfull]

and very good it is too - I have a copy and there are things in there that I never knew I would be able to grow 

[Teen76]

I saw that book but thought it was more for container growing.  I have raised beds, not huge admittedly.  Do you think it is worth ago, John's book?  Will it give me ideas about closer spacing etc?

Thanks for the help by the way.  Nice to get a response 

[Yorkie]

Also search for square foot gardening on this forum and wider.  Amazing what you can fit into small areas with some planning 

[Teen76]

Thank you Yorkie.  I have quickly started to realised I need to really sit down and plan it all better.  My trouble is I want to grow everything lol

I've learnt there are bush varieties of things and you can get mini veg (especially interested in Brassicas) etc.  I feel quite unsure of what I'm doing, I was never all that confident when I had a lottie, but I had the room to bluff it.  Now I don't.

I shall look into the square foot gardening though.

[oldcow]

I second the suggestion about the Square Foot Gardening book. I used it this year, following it to the letter, and despite being my first year of growing veggies it worked wonderfully. There's only two of us, and I grew the veggies in a 3 small raised beds and a few pots, so I did grow a little bit of a lot of things. I was amazed by the amount of veggies I managed to grow with this method.
If you have little space, you'll need to be careful about your choice of veggies, and of varieties. Give precedence to veggies that do not require too much space and/or too much time. For instance, next year I won't grow peppers because they did well but each plant sat on its square foot of raised bed from May to October producing two or three peppers; instead, say, the vine tomato plants grew in the same space and produced a ton of tomatoes over more than two months - a much better return.
Some oriental vegetables such as bok choys and komatsuna will grow really quickly, and taste even better if harvested while still small; you can get a harvest every 4 weeks.
For more traditional brassicas, cabbages seem to do well and require little space; broccoli (I grew Chevalier) were great but took a massive amount of room and again they take several months to grow and you only get about 4 portions out of it. I found that Tenderstem broccoli, if you like them, have a way more compact growing habit and kept producing for a long time.
Maximize vertical space; if you provide good support, vine tomatoes, peas (particularly snap peas and mangetout) and french beans can offer a great harvest using only a small  planting area.
Finally, be organized. Plants should be out in the beds only for the time it is necessary. If you're growing veggies that don't mind being transplanted, make sure you always have some small plants ready to replace the ones you're about to harvest.

[digalotty]

good advise oldcow,     here's a link to help you allong with spacing and methods,
http://www.squarefootgardening.com/

[Salmo]

Joy Larkcom - Grow Your Own Vegetables.

[Teen76]

Wow thanks.  Really great replies.  I have to admit being on other gardening forum type sites and this one people actually answer my daft questions lol

Thanks a lot for all the advice 

[Trillium]

In addition to John's great books, I can recommend this site. The fellow has to grow crops right against the house and has been quite creative.

http://veggiegardenblog.blogspot.com/

[Teen76]

Thanks Trillium this is just what I'm looking for.  I was trying to decide whether you can grow upwards with things like Cucumber and Squash etc and this guy seems to be doing just that.

[waddecar]

See if you can find a second hand copy of Peter Seabrook's Complete Vegetable Gardner - it focuses on the management of a 4m x 3m garden plot.

I found it inspirational 30 years ago

[zazen999]

I'd ditch brassicas as well; for all the trouble with pests they just aren't worth it!

[Teen76]

I'll look out for the Peter Seabrook book.  Any help I can get lol  I know what you mean about Brassicas.  I would be so pleased if I got one decent cabbage lol

Here's what my new veggie garden looks like.  I've just planted red and normal onions, plus garlic in the bed to the right of the picture and hope to squeeze in beans as well.