Hydroponic Gardens for Small Spaces

1.  This indoor/outdoor hydroponic garden comes from  Zero Mile Farms and is called a Fizzy Farm. It is compact and perfect fro small spaces and beginning gardeners.   When temperatures get too cold, you can attach an energy efficient bulb and move the farm indoors.

2. For the do-it-yourself group, there is a the Eliooo Manual with step-by-step instructions on how to build a hydroponic garden from Ikea products.

3. Modern Sprout offers beautiful and stylish hydroponic boxes that would be great for growing herbs in a window sill.

Micro-Gardening

Great article by NPR about the potential of micro-gardening and, specifically, a product known as Nourishmat. "The Nourishmat makes it easy to grow a lot of food in a 4-foot by 6-foot space by turning a plastic mat into a garden planting guide. The mat comes with seedballs (seeds mixed with clay and worm castings to enrich the soil, and chili powder to keep pests away). To plant, you simply lay out the mat on top of a bed of soil, then stick the seedballs for the 18 different vegetables and herbs in their respective holes." 
The inventor of the Nourishmat estimates that users can grow $200 worth of produce in one season and 25 to 30 pounds of food in a year. The mats can be replanted for three to five years.