Vegetable patches IN SMALL SPACES

As the price of getting your five-plus a day skyrockets, it pays to know size isn't everything when it comes to growing your own incredible edibles

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On balconies storeys off the ground, in pocket-sized townhouse courtyards, in narrow strips along suburban drives or slender window ledges, vegetables are being grown. This is a pastime and way of life that can be easy, healthy, fun and so rewarding – and one that proves size isn't everything.

Whether they’re in containers or in the ground, vegetables require four primary requisites to grow – soil, water, sun and warmth.

SOIL

Most garden soil is adequate for your first crops of easy-to-grow, unfussy vegetables. Just pull out all the weeds, roots and all, and break up big clumps of dirt before sowing or planting seedlings.

While proprietal potting mix is the easiest for pots, incorporating dirt from the garden or hummus (decomposed leaves and other detritus found under trees) will aid naturally the mix’s water-retaining capacity. Layers of stone at the bottom of containers will stop the soil becoming waterlogged, which most plants hate, should you or the skies be heavy-handed with moisture.

WATER