Someone was interested in how I produce any food on a very tiny (.13 of an acre) piece of land, so hence my post.

My yard is mostly a house plus a largish deck. We only get sun on 2 sides; the rest is very shady, and nothing really grows there, so space is even more limited. Also, the usable garden space is in slivers; no room for the standard rectangular plot. Add to that the problem of most of THAT space being only about 6 ft. wide, and only about 12-15ft between the houses, and you get a doll-house garden! Despite that, I can get a suprising amount of food from my yard--enough vegetables and fruit in (Summer/Fall) for 2 adults. Now, I've only been doing this for 3 years, and last year was not a good year--we hardly had tomatoes, for example--but, if they all had flourished, we would've been giving tomatoes away.

The layout: on the side of the house:
1. there's a fence, 9x24 feet;; L-shaped. My main garden is there, using 9x16 ft of the fence on the inside. I built a raised bed, in an L-shape, 9x16 ft, and do Square-Foot gardening in it. The bed is comprised of stacked landscaping ties, & is 12" high. I used old mini-blind slats, stapled in the center, to make a cross, which provides 4 "panes" to grow in.

2. On the reverse side of the fence, I have a 24-ft long, 2ft wide plot. I could expand, and go around the corners: 1 plot of 9 ft; the other of about 40-50 ft. I do grow pots of potatoes on the 9 ft side, though. Green beans, potatoes (in the ground), pumpkins and squash grow in the 24-ft plot.
3. I use the deck to grow lettuce, herbs and spinach in pots. I also grow strawberries in pots, across from the raised bed. I have another strip outside of the fence, 4x15 (another L). Turnips, carrots, potatoes grow there. Against the house, opposite: grapes, raspberries. (Blackberries on the fence). I also have hanging baskets of strawberries on shepherd's hooks in the rose garden. I am planting 3 dwarf apple trees along the fence line, and 2 peach trees.

In short, you have to be creative with your small space. Also, think "up"--what can you grow on trellises, in window boxes, and hanging baskets? Or, what can you grow in containers on your deck/patio/porch? Most vegetables can ber grown in containers; there are even special seed varieties bred for this--even watermelons.

(I had and am having some trouble with the post here--it keeps bouncing up, so I can't see what I am typing when I type it--hence all the edits!)

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WTSHTF: Gather it up, and use it for a GREAT fertilizer for your survival garden!

Thanks for posting this. I am hoping this helps a lot of us who have limited space.

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Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Handgun and Personal protection in the Home.
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Wow! That's a lot of garden for a small space. That's certainly an efficient use of a small area. Kudos.

Girl, I am impressed!

Well, thank you! I thought about using the roof (and it's not a flat one), but thought better of it! LOL

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WTSHTF: Gather it up, and use it for a GREAT fertilizer for your survival garden!

I love this post. As I move from job to job, I'm sure that I have a string of townhouses, rental properties, and apartments ahead of me. It's nice to know that there are ways to grow some veggies along the way!

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Vanquish Fear and Panic!
www.thegundude.com

What a great post! I live on a similar plot, with nearly no land to grow stuff in...even my decorative shrubbery doesn't get enough light. I live in a crowded urban subdivision. My solution this spring is going to be to cut down 5 trees that grow along my property line, just behind my garage. Not only are they pushing my garage over, but they prevent anything else from growing in that small section of yard. If I cut the trees down, I'll save my garage, and I'll then get enough sunlight on my deck to use it as a small garden. My deck is the only place that will receive enough light to grow stuff. I don't really want to cut down those trees, but I fear I have no choice if I want to become more self-sufficient.