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Most people think of a vegetable garden as a fairly large plot of land with rows stretching 15 or 20 feet each. The idea of a small container or tiny patch of land growing a viable vegetable garden seems foreign. Yet growing vegetables in cramped spaces is not only possible but highly rewarding. One can grow tomatoes in tubs at the edge of a patio, strawberries in empty milk cartons on a windowsill, lettuce in a modest window box, watermelons along a strip beside a driveway or beans on a trellis on a small apartment balcony. A space no larger than a card table can supply you with vegetables year-round. The trick is to create a garden that has the right growing conditions and to buy seeds that are well suited to smaller areas. Luckily a number of seed companies have responded to the newly recognized demand for miniature or compact plants, and more new strains are being offered to the public every year, often grouped together under such headings as "space savers," "space misers" or "midgets." Growing vegetables in a smaller space is different from growing other things in the same space. Plants like rhododendrons, heathers or miniature bulbs are grown mainly for their appearance. They're merely decorative. Vegetables are grown not to reward the eye so much as the taste buds. So while you might find corn stalks and bean bushes in the average vegetable garden, they're not a common sight in a well designed landscape garden. The greatest difficulties are practical ones. Although the leafy greens, like lettuce, can do fairly well on only four hours of direct sunlight a day, any vegetable that produces a fruit (tomatoes, beans, corn and so on) must have a solid eight hours of warming sun or its yields will be disappointing or virtually nonexistent; but that bright light does not benefit dwarf azaleas. Similarly, a friable soil mix, amply fertilized, is desirable in vegetable growing but too heady for many dwarf plants that are expected to stay small. The major problem, however, is presented by the need to turn over the vegetable garden's soil every year, in effect reconstituting it; such heavy tilling cannot be done in a bed of rock garden plants and perennials. In most cases, a vegetable patch must be sited differently and separated from the conventional small-scale garden. Growing small vegetables is a worthwhile challenge, however. You'll need to decide whether you want the fruit to be miniature as well, or only the plant that produces it. Miniature vegetables are a cute novelty, but they're really not that practical. However there are some that are widely accepted, such as cherry tomatoes and radishes.
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