My Tiny Veg Plot: Grow your own in surprisingly small spaces

by Lia Leendertz, Mark Diacono

Food can be grown just about anywhere, and lack of space should not put you off growing and enjoying the taste of your own fresh vegetables.

Not everyone has access to outside space or what we traditionally think of as a garden, but we all have window ledges, doorways, often stairways, sometimes even a balcony or roof space. This book offers solutions and inspirations for these tricky spots that we frequently overlook or neglect, and highlights some unusual growing spaces such as a minuscule balcony in Bristol, an innovative installation of hexagonal polytunnels full of salad leaves in Amiens, France, and an ingenious self-sufficient growing system that provides a wealth of vegetables in an old swimming pool in Phoenix, Arizona.

Filled with practical advice, inspiration and planting and design ideas, My Tiny Veg Plot tells you how to prepare your beds whatever the size and situation; there is advice on filling containers, creating ingenious planters, using planting mediums, soil and water and which fruit and vegetables will thrive in which spot. My Tiny Veg Plot contains straightforward information on what to grow and how to grow it, from seed to ready to eat.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Sustainability, Health

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 25, 2015

About the author

Lia Leendertz is a gardener and writer. She writes about gardening, growing food and cooking, and her work has appeared in for the Telegraph, the Guardian, Gardens Illustrated, The Garden, and Simple Things magazine. She publishes an annual garden almanac.

Reviews

[Kristen Freiburger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helped me chart out my plot but not enough pictures IMO.

[R C · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tour of varied gardens, some in surprising places and formations. But ultimately, I think the book should at least carry the subtitle "(Mostly) white Brits garden". Sure, gardening is essentially universal, but if the book is intended for a British audience, that should probably be made clearer. There is so much more diversity in gardening and growing that is certainly missing. Pretty pictures, though I wish some gave a fuller/clearer angle of the larger plots.

[Megan Rosol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scrappy, creative, relaxed, shoe-string gardening. Focus on growing easy vegetables, herbs, fruit and some flowers in small spaces and less-than-ideal, often urban locations. The book contains beautiful photos, concise descriptions, and a list of useful blogs and websites. Loved it!

[Dna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful book, but not exactly for my purposes. I'm working with a small plot of land, but am going to be container gardening rather than using a plot.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Not all of it is practical, but all of it is idea-provoking, inspirational and fun.
The British author has pulled together examples from many different places, including the US as well as other places in Europe, of small spaces used effectively for gardening. She gives first ideas and tips about a particular type of small-space garden, then profiles of one or more gardens of that type. Each garden profile is followed by "style and gardening notes" giving more technical detail and tips from the garden
In "Raise 'em high" she discusses balcony gardens and roof-top gardens, followed by two-page practical spreads on planting climbing annual crops and on making a hanging strawberry garden. In "Urban Solutions" a carefully crammed tiny back yard, plants staged on steps, a garden in a backyard rain shelter, allotments extended with combination bike-rack/planters, a decorative-pattern vegetable garden. Practical pointers in this section include how to plant in gaps of a cracked outdoor path and repotting your mint to keep it healthy.
In "For the common good," Leendertz profiles a children's learning garden, an all-perennial veg & flower garden in a communal yard, a demonstration edible garden at a library, and keyhole gardens, a form of water-preserving raised beds being adopted in Lesotho, Africa. The practical tips here are on underplanting potted trees with other plants to shade the soil and to make the best use of the earth.
For "Food On the Move," we go from the well-known expedient of the wheelbarrow garden (and how to set one up, to the portable herb garden of an RV enthusiast, then to demonstration gardens in the beds of pickup trucks, and finally self-contained Urban Farm units that combine greenhouse hydroponics and an aquaculture setup in a container building that fits in a parking space. The practical advice here is about how to best apply plant food to your container veg & trees.
"Small talk" covers even tinier gardens-- the small area of plants around the shepherd's hut a writer uses for his work, a windowsill garden of sprouts tended by two young boys, a hanging ball of lettuces, and several meter-square low maintenance beds. Practical instructions, aside from those for planting the hanging lettuce ball, include planting a selection of oriental greens in a butler's sink (one of those ceramic rectangular ones, similar to a farmhouse sink-- you could do something similar with a reclaimed regular sink), and making a winter herb terrarium using an old terrarium fixture to grow winter-hardy herbs outdoors.
"A capital investment" showcases a commercial microgreens operation and a mushroom and mushroom-kit business, with a practical lesson on planting baby greens for cut-and-come again growth.
"Watering holes" includes an art installation of forgotten salad greens on some of the 300 year old island based hortillonage gardens in Amiens, a floating orchard on a barge anchored near Tower Bridge, and a greenhouse installed over a disused swimming pool. Practical tips here include watering suggestions (including a liter soda bottle installed in a tomato-plant pot to provide focused watering).
The photography is gorgeous. The tips are excellent. I'd admittedly love more on each of these topics. My only complaint is the typography: small, sans-serif trendy font that was hard on my middle-aged eyes.

[Benjamin Currey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in small bursts after I was given it as a Christmas gift by a friend. An inspiring collection of ideas for gardens. While not all of these are practical for the everyday gardener, they serve as an idea of what can be achieved when you focus a bit of passion.

I loved the photography in this book - and loved that the photographers garden was shown, which felt like running into someone you kind of know and getting a chance to chat with them properly for once. I wish there was a few more wide-angle shots that showed the entirety of each garden, which would’ve helped put the level of care required for these ‘tiny plots’ into perspective.

Definitely got me wanting to give a baby garden a go though! Loved the tip about growing small sprouts in jars.

[Rev · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this out from the library because I saw it on the shelf and I'm always interested in seeing how to garden in a small space. While my dream would be to eventually have a couple of acres of land, I know, ultimately, I'm much more likely to start out with a smaller space, considering I leave in suburbia. There are so many places we can actually grow food that a lot of people just don't even consider, like window boxes or planters on top of roofs! Inspirational pictures as well.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, with lots of silly ideas and then quite a few practical ones that I hope to implement on my patio. Little tips like using steps to raise your containers, or how to make a hanging basket of lettuces...although I am highly tempted to try growing tomatoes from a wellie!

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very creative book showing REAL gardens, tiny and some not so tiny, from all around the world! Ideas abound, packed with beautiful photographs, with lots of helpful hints and as an experienced gardener, even I learned something new. You will find inspiration here.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the practical to the absurd, lots of photos and ideas for non-traditional gardening.

[Ms Claire Elizabeth Vine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book



Good clear book. Inspirational ideas ... recommended for beginners looking for some help and direction.
Now ready to start my own grow your own kourney

[Desiree']

DIY small plot growing ideas for plants, veggies and fruit.

[Jenna Lenhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful photo book, lined with great ideas and gardening tips throughout

[Jo Draper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful photos & some great ideas, slightly lacking in practicalities.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved learning about all the different small gardens that regular people have designed. The pictures were gorgeous. I felt inspired in a practical down-to-earth way!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun (and productive-looking) ideas for very small gardening spaces. Fuel for your creativity!

[Cheryl Gatling]

So you want a garden, but you don't have any land. Here are lots of examples of what other people did: a rooftop garden, a bunch of pots on the front steps, jars of sprouts on the windowsill, hanging baskets, a hydroponic garden in an old shipping container, a garden in an old wheelbarrow, a garden in the bed of a pickup truck, a garden on a boat. As always with gardening books, the photos are gorgeous, and the biggest thing delivered is inspiration.