GET
GROWING
For the names of
seed companies
that offer the veg-
etables mentioned
in this article, go
to Almanac.com/
garden.

– W. Atlee Burpee & Co.

‘Little Chicago’ beet

MAKE YOUR OWN
MINIS

With good timing and careful planning, you can harvest tiny vegetables from full-size plants. Try these tricks: ■ Pick when petite. Many

“baby” vegetables are grown on standard plants and harvested while they are still tiny. Baby beets, served greens and all, or petite summer squash picked with the flower still attached are ideal for eating long before they reach maturity.

■ Cramp their style. Some small produce, such as mini-cabbages, come from standard plants grown closely together to keep them from reaching full size.

small as 1 inch in diameter or after they have been allowed to grow to their full size, 3 to 4 inches across.

■ ‘Tiny Tim’ and AAS winner ‘Small Fry’ are a couple of the cherry tomato varieties that are suitable for containers. ‘Tumbler’ was bred specifically for growing in a hanging basket. ‘Micro Tom’, which grows to be only 6 to 8 inches tall, is thought to be the world’s smallest tomato plant. It bears a profusion of 1-inch red fruits and will thrive on a windowsill. ‘Small Fry’ tomato

–Totally Tomatoes

■ For larger tomatoes on small plants, look at ‘Bush Celebrity’and ‘Bush Early Girl’. For something new, try ‘Bush Champion’, which produces 8- to 12-ounce fruits on 24-inch-tall plants.

These and other little giants promise huge success in a small garden.

■■

Robin Sweetser uses intensive gardening techniques to grow as much as she can in her postage stamp–size garden in Hillsboro, New Hampshire.