The Small-Space Harvest

A sunny balcony or a small patio can produce far more than a pot of basil, as long as the plants match the light and the containers are big enough. The Small-Space Harvest is Hannah Reyes’s guide to growing vegetables, herbs and fruit in pots: how many hours of sun each crop needs, how many gallons of mix it wants, and how to water without being home every evening.

It starts with reading the space: hours of direct sun, wind at height, and weight, since a 20-gallon planter of wet mix can top 100 pounds. Then containers, with minimum sizes for 40 crops, from 1 gallon for chives to 20 for a full-size tomato, followed by potting mixes, self-watering pots and a drip kit on a timer. The crop chapters cover tomatoes, peppers and eggplant, salad greens, beans and cucumbers trained upward, herbs for sun and for shade, and strawberries, blueberries, figs and Meyer lemons in pots. Six worked plans, from a 4-foot balcony to a rooftop, show what fits where.

Containers are less forgiving than beds. They dry out faster, run short of nutrients sooner and overheat in afternoon sun, so in July a tomato in a small pot may need water twice a day; the book shows how bigger pots, mulch and drip avoid that. Before loading a balcony, check its weight limit with your building.