When growing edible crops, it is essential to use your plot efficiently, especially if space is limited. It’s no good growing an unusual variety with a tiny yield if it takes up space that could be used for a more productive crop – particularly if you have a family to feed.

I don’t have the luxury of a large allotment, so I’m keen to grow as much as I can in my garden. It’s probably larger than average, but then gardening is my passion, and my job!

Fruit trees and cane fruits grow around the edges to cover fences, and are used to divide areas of the garden. I have a greenhouse where I can squeeze in about eight tomato plants, a couple of cucumbers, plus pots of aubergine, sweet peppers and chillies. And pots of strawberries too, as grown outside they simply become bird food!

Crops are planted in beds about 1m wide with a narrow paved path between each for easy access. I’ve just finished digging the beds, adding plenty of homemade compost deep down in the process, and now I’m planning what to grow.

An inspiring book I often turn to for ideas is a small paperback by Joy Larkcom called Vegetables from Small Gardens, first published in 1976 – I’m not even sure if it’s still in print. Joy introduced me to a lovely concept – the Value for Space Rating (VSR) – and produced a value for every crop. The main factors she considered were:

1.  The length of time a crop is in the ground before being harvested.

2.  The number of helpings you’d pick per square metre.

Crops that grew quickly and produced high yields received a high VSR, while those that took up space for many months while producing low yields scored poorly.

So, for example, Jerusalem artichoke and cauliflowers scored a low VSR, while the best crops with high VSR’s included short carrots, many salads including rocket and claytonia, spinach beet, French and runner beans, and turnips.

Alan Titchmarsh had some helpful advice in the February issue of Gardeners’ World magazine, too, encouraging us all to grow more veg. His top four space-saving crops were spring onions, watercress (no you don’t need running water), runner beans and cut-and-come-again lettuce.

Which veg crops do you think offer the best return from the space devoted to them? For me it’s salads (a wide mix of tasty leaf types), herbs like parsley and chives, and tomatoes. Now that’s a crop I’d never be without. My only decision now – which varieties?

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