Small-Space Homesteading: A Beginner’s Guide to Growing More
Updated: Sep 22
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Every growing zone and region offers its own challenges and benefits for growing consumable crops. I am using Maryland as an example because it is where I currently live, but these tips can be modified to your growing zone, regional native plants, and space. Links at the bottom of the article include national resources to help you learn how to harness these tips for your area! Let's take a deep dive to get the best results with the least effort - even in small spaces.
This guidance falls into three easy categories:
Planting Calendar: knowing your growing zone and frost dates
Utilizing Pollinators
Maximizing your Space
Planting Calendar
The first step to a more bountiful harvest is to know your growing zone. (View link for the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to find your growing zone information!)
Note: Growing zones help you choose which plants you want to (or are able to) grow and when to plant them in the ground. Perennials are plants that traditionally can overwinter (survive winter temperatures) and then bounce back each year to produce more crops, flowers, or foliage. Annuals are plants that produce once during the growing season and then die. They need to be regrown and replanted each year.
As you can see on the map, Maryland growing zones range roughly from USDA Zones 5b–8a, so there is a great deal of diversity in this small state. Knowing your growing zone tells you the average lowest temperature in your region. This is important because some plants cannot overwinter if the temperature drops too low, even if they are considered perrenial plants in other zones. So you can use this number to pick perennials for your area that will grow back the next spring rather than dying from frost in the winter. Some plants might still be worth it to you to grow as annuals knowing that they won't survive the winter in your growing zone, but being able to plan for this expense each year is important. Plant tags usually tell you what growing zones they thrive in, but if not, an online search for the genus and species or an inquiry with your garden center staff should get you the answers you need.
Once you know how to match the plants you pick to your growing zone (critical for perennials), the next key to extending your harvest is knowing the Frost Dates for the region in which you live. You don't want to put some plants in the ground until after last frost because it will kill them, and others you want to start before FIRST frost in fall and then they can overwinter (like garlic, which is planted in the fall and harvested the following summer). You can find Frost Dates by region through this link to the National Gardening Association by entering your zip code.
As an example, for the Maryland area, here is a rough planting calendar:
Late winter
Start onions, lettuce, kale, broccoli, and herbs indoors. You can use seedling starter trays or pots and seedling starter soil (this is my personal favorite brand) with a good grow light system and then transplant these crops into the ground later.
Early spring
Plant peas, spinach, radishes, carrots, potatoes, and cool-season greens. These can be direct sown at this time because they can handle small dips in temperature. If an unexpected frost becomes forecasted in your area, covers and frost blankets may be useful to save a young crop.
After the last frost
Succession-plant beans, greens, and herbs; provide shade and consistent watering.
Add tomatoes, peppers, beans, cucumbers, squash, and basil to your garden as starts. You can get a jump on this category by starting your tomatoes and peppers and such indoors under a good grow light system. Consider a heat mat as well to help with germination. This way you are artificially making your growing season longer without risk of frost killing your plant babies. Don't forget to harden your seedlings for one to two weeks before planting them outdoors. Hardening is a process of giving them limited duration exposure to outdoor temperature and conditions rather than shocking them all at once. This video by The Rusted Garden, offers a great description of hardening off your starts.
Practical Application: How early you start annual seeds indoors varies by the type of plant. It is based on how long they take to grow. An easy way to find the answer of when to start seeds indoors is to search online "how many weeks before final frost date should I start [insert plant type] seeds indoors?" With that answer you can work back from your zone's average last frost date. For example, tomatoes typically are started 6 to 8 weeks before the estimated last frost date, while bell peppers are started a bit earlier and cucumbers a few weeks later.
Late summer–fall
Plant fall lettuce, kale, carrots, beets, garlic, and cover crops.
Winter
Protect containers with mulch, move tender herbs indoors, and plan next season. (This is a gardening planner tool I have enjoyed, but there are many options out there) If you are blessed enough to have a heated greenhouse, you can continue to grow some summer crops during the winter months… but otherwise Maryland tends to be pretty inhospitable to anything that doesn’t specifically need the cold to overwinter (again, like garlic).
Please Note: Frost dates are based on averages but they are not guarantees. So how cautious you want to be based on these estimates is a personal choice.
Utilizing Pollinators
Timing isn’t the only way to improve your harvest. Utilizing pollinators effectively will make the plants you grow be more fruitful…literally!
Below is a list of plants that thrive in Maryland and serve to attract beneficial pollinators in droves. A quick internet search for pollinator attracting plants in your area is a great place to start.
Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)— drought-tolerant and attracts pollinators
Black-eyed Susan — Maryland’s state flower and excellent for bees
Bee balm — supports bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds
Mountain mint — fragrant and highly attractive to pollinators
Wild bergamot — useful in pollinator gardens
Goldenrod and asters — provide late-season nectar
Serviceberry — a compact native shrub with edible berries
Virginia strawberry — suitable for small spaces and ground cover
Ideally, plants that you are trying to use to attract pollinators should be of enough variety that you have active blooms for the entire growing season. This means plants that flower in early spring, late spring, mid summer and late summer or fall. I personally enjoy herbalism as a hobby, so including plants that are pollinators but also have herbal benefits is a goal of mine. Therefore, the plants I personally reach for include lavender, chamomile, calendula, bee balm, purple coneflower...to name a few. With just a bit of research, you can find flowering plants that suit all of your wants and needs. Attracting gorgeous wildlife is also a great bonus.
Maximizing Your Space
Utilizing the space that you have to the best of your ability really goes a long way to getting a larger harvest.
If you only have a small balcony for growing, consider going vertical. These setups allow for several plants in about one square foot of space and are also easier to tend to as you don’t have to bend over so far! Railings can also be utilized for hanging baskets or bags. These offer space saving (and back saving) benefits. There are also a variety of raised beds to keep your balcony clean while still planting more.
If you have a very small yard or patio, these options still apply! Plus other raised bed opportunities become available.
If you don’t have any outdoor space, there are still growing options and you can check out my hydroponic systems blog to learn more about growing a full harvest from inside your home.
Armed with these easy tips and tricks to maximize your yield, homesteading successfully and sustainably is right at your fingertips!
Resources:
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