Top Crops for Small Vegetable Gardens

Every gardener plants sweet basil, and for good reason. The tiny aromatic leaves awaken the senses, adding bright flavor to pesto, salad dressings and more. There are more than 80 varieties of basil, including a few "miniature" types that are perfect for small-scale gardens. A variety called Pistou is the most diminutive form of sweet basil, ideal for planters or windowboxes. The tight green mounds can be used for edging in a larger planter.

Basil is easy to grow from seed, and available from most seed catalogs.  Learn how to grow basil.

"Cut-and-come-again" is a welcome quality in any garden plant. Harvesting leaves actually encourages more growth. With an upright growth habit and brightly colored stems, rainbow chard works well in tight spaces.

Because chard is in the beet family, it is easy to grow from seed, but note that the seedlings will need to be thinned to ensure proper spacing. For small containers, it is easier to start with transplants instead of seeds — no thinning required. Learn how to grow Swiss chard.

Oriental eggplants are known for their compact habit, making them a good choice for pots and planters. Choosing a favorite among the dozens of varieties is difficult. Gwenael Engelskirchen, trials manager at High Mowing Organic Seeds, says Ping Tung Long eggplant earns a spot at the top of her list. "Slender purple eggplants hang from compact plants of this lovely heirloom variety, " she says. "The plant stays small but has the potential of producing a lot of eggplants." Because the 10"-long fruit is narrow, it's ideal for slicing and cubing; skin is tender and the flavor is mild.

Hot peppers are the ultimate ornamental edible for window boxes and compact gardens. The plants are ornamental and the fruit is long-lasting. "It's hard to pick a favorite," says Nina Burokas of Sustainable Seed Company, who admits that she is crazy about all hot peppers. "Black Hungarian pepper is so colorful that it not only belongs in the garden, but on the patio in pots as well." Purple flowers highlight the emerald-green foliage. During the season, the fruit turns green, then black and finally red. The plants can grow to about 30-36", which makes them a little big for a window box, but fine for larger containers. For smaller plants, try their Patio Fire pepper seeds. The narrow fruit grows upward, resembling flames. Color goes from yellow to orange and matures red.

For instance, Cherry Cascade grows happily in a hanging basket and produces hundreds of tomatoes. The variety is recommended by Susan Romanoff of Gardener's Supply Company, who grows them in an elevated raised bed in her northern Vermont garden. "Perfect scale! Slightly draping but not so long or heavy that they reach low to the ground," she says. Fruit ranges from the size of a marble up to a golf ball. It has good tomato flavor — not candy-sweet like some cherry tomatoes. Plants are relatively tolerant of drought and the fruit is less prone to the cracking and blossom-end rot, which frequently afflicts the full-sized tomato varieties.

The word mesclun means miscellaneous greens, attributed to wild weeds once foraged by peasants in Europe to supplement their limited diets. Many of the mixtures found today are made up of quick-growing arugula and mustards, and are not ideal for containers. However, you can create your own container-friendly mesclun. Consider Italian endives and escaroles, which can be harvested leaf by leaf. Or, try purslane, which has unusual, succulent leaves that are high in omega 3 fatty acids. Seed companies offer mixes that are suited to the season, so you can start with a spring mix. After harvest, replant with a blend that can withstand summer heat, followed by a third planting of fall greens, such as cold-tolerant kale and collards.

Lettuce comes in all shapes, sizes and colors, and the key to a great-looking container garden is to mix it up. Plant different types of lettuce, starting with Little Gem, a mini romaine that forms a sweet, dense heart. Add some Merlot, a striking red butterhead, and Lolla Rossa, a loose-leaf type with frilly leaves.

Lettuce typically grows from seed to salad in 45 days. Plan to harvest leaf-by-leaf to stretch out season, or have a successive crop ready to fill in the gap. Learn how to grow lettuce.Lolla Rossa lettuce. Photo: High Mowing Organic Seeds

A natural choice for containers and small-space gardens, edible flowers add unmistakable charm. My favorites include nasturtiums, violas, and calendula, which can be planted early in the season and will continue blooming all summer long if kept picked. The signet marigold, Lemon Gem, is a mainstay in my garden because of the aromatic ferny foliage that releases a lemon scent.

If you don't find transplants, most edible flowers are easy to grow from seed. Just push the seeds into the soil where they are to grow. Learn how to grow calendula.

Another way to make use of space: grow vertical. Choose a vine, such as pole beans, which will happily climb a trellis. My favorite is the Italian heirloom Trionfo Violetto. This ornamental and edible plant has lush green foliage with purple undersides. By midsummer, a multitude of lavender flowers appear, followed by thin, purple-podded beans.

Pole beans are easy to start from seed, planted right where they are to grow. Learn how to grow beans.