For those of us who don’t have a huge veg plot, knowing how to cram in a few extra crops is a great way of maximising your yield…these are our 3 top tips.
- Grow Baby Veg – plant carrots, beets and leeks closer together than advised (i.e if they are meant to be 10cm apart, plant them 5cm apart instead). Then, midway through the season you can harvest alternate veggies in the row as baby veg leaving the remaining plants to grow onto full size.
- Plant Leafy Plants Between Rows – lettuces, rocket, spinach, chard, mizuna and mustard leaves can be grown in between rows of slow-growing veggies. So, plant a row of lettuces between a row of celeriac and parsnips, for example. Pick the outer leaves regularly to use in salads, and this will keep the plants small. By the time the salads are over, your parsnips and celeriac will only just be getting going and you can pull the leafy plants up to leave space for the parsnips/celeriac to grow.
- Choose Smaller Varieties – Tiny Tim Tomatoes, Baby Sweetcorn, Dwarf French Beans and Bush Courgette are all smaller plants that their larger cousins, so you’ll be able to pack more in to a tighter space.