When you’re a kid, your mother struggles to convince you to eat your vegetables! As you get older, you learn to love them and enjoy finding new recipes. Some of you may even decide to grow your own vegetables.
However, you’re limited by space, and you can only fit in a small bed.
In this article, we’ll be covering our five best vegetables to grow in a small plant bed.
1. Peas
Why?
If you’re anything like me, then peas were one of the few vegetables that you actually enjoyed when you were a child. As you get older and discover more vegetables, you might realize that peas are rather boring!
But I protest.
Just like any other vegetable, peas can be exciting if you cook them properly. Personally, I like mushy peas with fish and chips. (I’m British in case you couldn’t tell).
But if that’s not your cup of tea (another British reference, I’m sorry!), you could always have peas in a curry, or mixed in with a burger.
How?
Similarly to tomatoes, you don’t always need to buy new seeds to grow peas. But unlike tomatoes, the part that we eat is actually the seed.
A great idea is to lay half a pipe in your bed – this will protect against vermin. Put your soil in the pipe, add the seeds, and cover with more soil.
Raise the pipe to stop animals from eating your plants, and when you can see a small plant sprouting, it’s time to put them into your bed.
Putting sticks next to your pea plants will help them keep their structure as they continue to grow.
2. Green Beans/Bush Beans
Why?
Another vegetable that can be delicious is the green bean, aka the Bush bean. They’re sweet, crunchy, and low in calories. They’re also incredibly high in vitamin C and K – great for your bones, skin, and hair.
After all, there’s a reason why people who eat a lot of vegetables always look better. As with other vegetables, there’s so much you can do with green beans.
Make a minestrone, mix them with mac and cheese, or simply boil them, then add some spices of your choice.
Pro tip: Try making a personal favorite – a Caribbean dish called the “Fry Bodi”.
How?
Mix your soil with compost and make holes for the seeds. Green beans grow really well when they are exposed to bacteria in the soil. Put your beans in the holes, and cover them up again – don’t forget to give them plenty of water!
Keep on watering, ensure they receive plenty of sunlight, and eventually, you’ll see leaves. It might be useful to add a small wire fence around your bed to give the beans support as they grow.
All you need to do is to make sure they’re always well hydrated and exposed to enough sunlight, and over time, you’ll find that you have your own delicious green beans.
3. Garlic
Why?
This next vegetable isn’t something that most of us will eat directly. Instead, most of us will add it to our dishes, to give them that extra dash of flavor.
I am, of course, talking about garlic.
Whether you’re using it to make garlic bread, or just using it as an ingredient in a sauce, we can all agree that garlic is delicious. And due to its small size, it’s also great for growing in a small bed.
In addition to its amazing taste, garlic can help improve cholesterol levels and maintain proper blood pressure.
How?
Growing garlic can be done with minimal effort.
First, get yourself an already existing garlic and separate it into segments.
Next, add a tiny bit of water into a cup, and pour all of the garlic segments inside, while ensuring the roots are facing down.
Finally, place the cup on a window sill and wait for seven days.
After seven days, you should find a small sprout appearing at the top and some roots at the bottom. In your small bed, dig a hole that’s about 2 inches deep, and place the garlic inside, once again making sure that the root is facing down.
The pieces should be planted 6 inches apart from each other, then simply water them thoroughly.
4. Cherry Tomatoes
Why?
Tomatoes are a staple of many dishes in a number of different cultures. If you can make a sauce out of tomatoes, you’ll be able to create many different dishes!
Of course, the kinds of tomatoes you could grow in a small bed are of the smaller variety, such as cherry tomatoes. Not only are they delicious, but they’re also high in lycopene, which reduces the risk of heart disease.
Not to mention their high levels of vitamin C, potassium, folate, and vitamin K.
With tomatoes, you can make sauces and juice, or simply eat them raw.
How?
Growing tomatoes is relatively easy, and you don’t even need to buy the seeds. Because they’re technically a fruit, you can just use the seeds that come with fully-grown tomatoes.
Start with moist and fertile soil, then firm the soil with your hand and make a hole using your finger. Next, put one seed into each hole before filling the hole.
Firm the mix again to remove air pockets and water lightly.
As time passes, keep ensuring that your plants get enough sunshine and moisture.
5. Potatoes
Why?
At first glance, the potato might not strike you as the best thing to be growing in a small bed. But one of the great things about the humble spud is that they can grow underneath each other. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how big your bed is, only how deep your soil can go.
Potatoes are such a cheap and versatile food that you can use to create fries, roast potatoes, or mashed potatoes.
After all, there’s a reason they’re so popular.
How?
During the springtime, find a spot that’s going to get plenty of sunlight. The first thing you will need to do is soften up the soil by mixing it up with your hands.
While you’re at it, try to add fertilizer.
When potatoes go bad, they can sprout what are known as ‘eyes’ – these are little green or brown sprouts.
If you have a big potato with lots of eyes, cut it up to separate the eyes and allow them to dry to prevent rotting.
In your bed, make troughs and plant the potatoes about 4-6 inches apart. Make sure the eyes are facing up, then cover up the troughs.
At this stage, your bed should look like it did just after you mixed the soil.
Sun And Water
You may have noticed that in this article, I’ve spoken about watering your vegetables about 100 times. And there’s a good reason for this.
Plant cells are made up mostly of water – around 80-95%. Without water, the plants won’t be able to maintain their cells, and the chance of them growing is incredibly low.
Another thing they need is sunlight – plants have this amazing ability to turn sunlight into energy.
The energy is then stored and transferred to you whenever you eat vegetables.
Conclusion
Hopefully, by now, you’ve been inspired to get into your garden and grow your own vegetables. When it’s grown, you can buy yourself a recipe book and turn your delicious creation into a delightful and nutritious meal to enjoy!
Of course, the five vegetables we covered aren’t the only vegetables you can grow. If you want to grow a particular vegetable, feel free to explore online if it’s possible to grow it in your plant bed.
Not only will you be healthier, but you’ll also be more fulfilled, plus reduce your carbon footprint (win-win!).
