Compact Vegetables Recommendations

Compact Vegetables for Small Spaces

These are my recommendations for a selection of high-yielding plants that thrive in tight spaces. These varieties can help you maximize your harvest without taking up too much room in your garden, making them a great choice for anyone looking to grow more in less space. 

Artichoke - Green Globe- Dark green with slightly purple base. Heavy bearing. Very few spines. 3 to 5 artichokes per plant. 

Asparagus - Mary Washington - perfect choice for home gardeners looking for high yields and disease resistance. A perennial. 

Root Veggies - beets, carrots, radish, green onions, lettuce and others. I personally like to direct-sow these rather than transplant. Checkout the Ultimate Growers Guide for more info. 

Eggplant - Patio Baby- Extremely prolific dwarf, 20 inch tall plant that produces throughout the season, yielding 25-50  2-3 inch purple/black fruit. Easy to pick because of the thorn less leaves.

Kohlrabi-  Konan- All American selection, pest resistant pale green fruit.

Okra- Clemson Spineless- High-yielding, disease resistant Heirloom. Dried okra pods are beautiful in floral arrangements

Cucumbers -

Diva- a variety that is thin skinned, sweet, crisp and mostly seedless. Disease resistant that produces 5-7 inch fruit on a 5 foot tall 2 foot vine that is self-pollinating burpless great for slicing and pickling.

Mexican Sour Gherkin- A fun little cucumber that looks like a small watermelon. Used in salads, stir fry or a garnish in a drink.

Parisian Gherkin-productive pickling cucumber that has fed generations of gardeners with perfect pickles! This is the famous, old French “gherkin or cornichon” pickler. Used for dill or sweet pickles!

Sweet Success-An English cucumber that is a All-America Selections winner that produces 12 inch sweet burpless fruit. Very disease resistant.

Tasty Green-A Japanese cucumber known for its 10-inch sweet fruit. Very disease resistant.

Hot Peppers -  too many to list so I picked some of my favorites


Chili de Arbol- Also known as birds beak, staple in a lot of Mexican dishes, 6 times hotter than jalapenos.

Gypsy- A sweet bell pepper also known as Cubanelle, a cross between Como di Toro and a bell pepper. It is a 2 foot tall, disease resistant plant that produces 4 inch, 3 lobed fruit.

Jalafuego- A jalapeno hybrid that is disease resistant and produces 5-6 inch fruit.

Poblano-Trident- A Poblano type pepper that is disease resistant and produces the largest poblano fruit.

More Hot peppers - Including some scorchers!- Ghost, Carolina Reaper, Habanero, Serrano, Siracha, Super Chili, Trinidad Scorpion, Hungarian hot wax, Cayenne, Pepperoncini, Anaheim Red Cherry, Jalapeno, Mariachi, Hatch and Shishito.

Sweet Peppers -


Como di Toro Red- Italian roasting pepper that resembles a bulls horn. Used fresh or roasted known for its large sweet meaty flesh.


Gong Bao- Pepper plant that can produce up to 200 long slim peppers that are used in most Asian dishes.

Holy Mole- Used fresh or better known for use in making mole sauce making.

Mama Mia Giallo- Large 8 inch yellow block pepper used fresh or grilling.

Big Bertha- One of the largest Bell peppers that produce 6 inch long thick walled fruit. Very disease resistant.

Giant Marconi-One of the biggest, sweetest disease resistant Italian roasting peppers.

Snackabelle Red-Small compact disease resistant plant that produces small bell peppers.

Better Bell IV- Early maturing, disease resistant, high yielding plant producing blocky green fruit that turns red.

Trail Blazer- Sweet medium sized yellow bell pepper, early maturing.

Pumpkins - 

Cherokee Bush- A bush pumpkin producing pie pumpkins.

Cinderella Carriage- An All-America Selections winner produces 7-8 large, flattened, pinkish-red fruits weighing 20-25 lbs. and 16 inches in diameter pumpkins on a vining plant

Warty Goblin- round to tall pumpkins have an orange hard shell rind and green warts that stay green for several weeks after harvest. The warted fruit are produced on a full vine that offers intermediate resistance to Powdery Mildew

Squash-

Early Butternut - Bush type Butternut Squash that produces regular sized squash on a 3x3 foot plant. It is recommended to plant 2 plants for better pollinization, Providing about 5 fruit from each plant. 

Taybelle Acorn - produces 3-4 regular sized  fruit on 2x2 foot bushes. It is recommended to plant 2 plants for better pollination.

Dark Green Zucchini - will produce 8-10 regular sized fruit on 3x3 foot plants. It is recommended to plant 2 plants for better pollination. . 

Enterprise Straightneck - will produce 5 yellow regular sized fruit per plant that will reach 3'x3' feet. Also recommended to plant 2 plants for better pollinization.

Tivoli Squash (is a type of spaghetti squash) that will produce 5-6 regular sized fruit on a 3'x3' foot plant. Recommended to plant 2 plants for better pollinization.

Tomatoes- 

Black Krim- Heirloom whose big leafy vines produce lots of slightly lobed deep purple/black fruits whose juicy rich red flesh offers sweet and delicious flavor.

Better Boy Plus- an even better Better Boy… You better believe it! Better Boy Plus has all the great characteristics of the classic Better Boy, plus more flavor, disease resistance and adaptability. 

Brandywine Red - heirloom

Bumblebee Sunrise- cheerful, marbled red and yellow cherry-type fruits, weighing just under an ounce, add a burst of color as they gleam on vigorous plants.

Candyland Red- easy to harvest, currant sized red fruit. Plant is disease resistant.

Carolina Gold- features a unique golden-yellow colored fruit that is low in acid and uniform ripening. This variety is adaptable, and its strong, determinate plant produces mostly extra-large and large fruit.

Celebrity Plus- everything you love about the original Celebrity plus more disease resistance and more vigor and crack resistance.

Champion III SD- very disease resistant, round 8oz red fruit.

Lemon Boy Plus- updated version of the classic Lemon Boy tomato with added disease resistance and sweet, tangy flavor--a marked improvement over typical yellow tomatoes.

Pineapple - large, wide, and round, with a ribbed exterior that resembles a pineapple. They are typically yellow with red streaks, but can also be dark green. The inside of the tomato has a sectioned appearance similar to a pineapple. Heirloom variety.

Pink Girl- heavy producer of pink fruits, averaging 6 to 8 oz. Fruits are extremely crack-resistant and low in acid. Rich flavor and superior quality in a disease resistant variety.

Jaune Flamme- deep orange fruit with unique flavor that can be used fresh, dried or roasted. Plant is highly disease resistant,

Supersonic- produces heavy yields of large, meaty tomatoes of excellent quality. Fruit are deeply oblate in shape, smooth and quite crack free.

San Marzano- high yielding, larger Roma type paste tomato, disease resistant and dependable



Miscelaneous Tomatoes - 

Cherry Varieties- Large Red Cherry, Chocolate Sprinkles, Juliet, Red Pear, Sun Gold, Super sweet 100.

Heirloom Varieties- Black Krim, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, Mr. Stripey, Stupice, Brandywine Red, Cherokee Purple, Old German,

Beefsteak Varieties- Beefmaster, Beefsteak, Champion II, Big Boy

Mid-sized Varieties- Early Girl, Patio, Super Fantastic, Roma.