Gardening is a great stress reliever, a way to pass the time, a way to make something beautiful, and a perfect way to spend your time for something productive (how much of your art can you eat?).

Gardening can be a lot of work when you have to worry about carting the dirt into your yard, digging into the ground, and finding the right amount of space for your plants—especially if you’re growing vegetables.  Plus, then you have to keep the animals away from them, and it can get physical and space-consuming very quickly.

But people without yards or the desire to use their yards for vegetables have vegetable gardens all the time, and there are a couple ways to make it happen that are easy and fun!

What Can You Grow in Your Mini Vegetable Garden? 

Not all plants thrive without being planted in the ground and with limited space, so it’s important to only grow the right kinds of vegetables when you take this gardening journey.

For outdoor gardens:

1. Plants that are large and tall (tomatoes, peppers, melons, squash)
2. Plants that spread (strawberries, beans, cucumbers)
3. Small fruit trees (apple, lemon, avocado)

For indoor gardens (even if it’s just on the counter): 

1. Lettuce and leafy greens
2. Root plants (green onions, carrots, ginger)
3. Mushrooms
4. Herbs (basil, parsley, cilantro, mint, chives, oregano, etc.)

Options for Yard-less Gardens

There are a few options for ways to grow vegetables without a yard, as long as you choose the right vegetables to grow, of course.  One option might make more sense to you or will look better in your home, and really none of these options are better than the others!  It’s all about preference and how much time, energy, and handiness you have.

Keep in mind when deciding if your garden will be indoors or outdoors and where exactly you will be placing it that different vegetables require different amounts of sun, so plan accordingly.  Don’t put a low-light vegetable in the area on your patio that has bright sunlight 9 hours a day.  It won’t thrive.  Keep that in mind when planning what vegetables you’ll grow and where you’ll put them.

1. Option 1: Pots – The most well-known of the gardening options, get some pots (if you’re gardening inside where you’ll need to move pots around a bit to find sun, make sure you get plastic pots because they’re easier to move!). Buy soil.  Plant vegetable.  Water according to the directions for that specific vegetable.
2. Option 2: Vertical Pallet Garden (Like this one) – This is a nice idea when you want to build along a fence on a patio or have vertical space but not a lot of horizontal space. You can fit a lot in it, and you can tailor it to fit the plants that you’re going to grow in it.  There are lots of ways to do it (and you can get it done pretty cheaply too).
3. Option 3: Indoor Planters – Your local gardening store will have a large variety of planters available so you can find the right fit for your veggies and your home!

Once you know how you want it to look, all you need is some good soil and the vegetables you want.  The nice part is that if you want to grow garlic, just take a clove off a bulb, and plant it!  Or you can go to your local farmers’ market or gardening supply store and get whatever veggies you want to grow and get to planting.

If you’re unable to build your own vertical pallet garden, keep an eye out for someone who can build it for you or opt for one of the other yard-less gardening options instead!  You can make any of these options work for you, and you’ll have fresh-from-the-garden, delicious vegetables in no time!