Perfect match: minis, tiny gardens

Have you moved to a smaller space in recent years?

Just because you live in a small space doesn’t mean you can’t grow a few veggies along with your flowers. As more and more people reduce the size of their gardens, the plant industry has been very busy developing miniature forms of our garden favorites. Even zucchinis now come in a smaller size.

Tomatoes are probably the most popular vegetable small- space gardeners want to grow. The smaller-fruited cherry or grape-sized varieties work the best because the plants stay smaller and the fruits don’t require as much staking. An added benefit is that many of these varieties ripen much earlier than large tomatoes. The Super Bush tomato is a sturdy, upright plant that grows to about 3 feet with 8 to 10 ounce fruits that mature in about 70 days. Red Alert is a cherry-type tomato that produces good flavored tomatoes in 50 to 55 days. Tumbling Tom is a new variety that can be grown in a large hanging basket or trailed over the side of a pot. There are many other varieties that can grow in small spaces so ask your nursery to recommend others.

Bush and pole beans are perfect in containers. Bush beans get about 2 feet tall and two or three plants will produce enough beans for a meal at a time over several weeks. Their medium-sized leaves will also add a nice texture to your garden. Pole beans can make wonderful screens if they are trained up poles or strings. Try Scarlet Runner beans as they bloom with red flowers before producing their tasty beans.

Varieties of zucchini like Jackpot and Black Magic grow about 2 to 3 feet wide and about 2 feet tall with medium-size green squash. Gold Rush grows about the same but has yellow fruit. Their bold leaves will also add a great texture to the garden.

For leafy greens, there are dozens of choices ranging from practically any variety of spinach and lettuce to colorful Bright Lights Swiss chard and Bull’s Blood beets. Bright Lights chard has stems that come in shades of pink, red and gold while Bull’s Blood beets have a dark red leaf.

Thumbelina and Planet carrots produce small round roots that don’t require a particularly deep pot to grow in.

Smaller bush-type cucumbers like Bush (Patio) Pickle or Salad Bush will grow easily in a container and produce enough medium sized fruits to add to salads through the end of the summer.

Growing veggies in small spaces will still require a place that gets sun six to eight hours a day. Containers can be made of almost anything that can hold good quality potting soil and can drain well. They should be large enough to give roots room to grow and hold enough water to get through a hot day. Consider setting up a drip irrigation system hooked to a faucet-end timer to even out watering.