Urban and Suburban gardening: growing in your patio

So in O-town I guess because of the "seediness" of Lee Rd. some would call that area urban. It was great in some ways and not so great in others. I was able to tear up the entire front yard and put in an organic "yarden", but driving by the drug deals on the corner not so great. So when we moved we wanted a place where neither of us was worried about walking down the street, which landed us in suburbia (that wasn't the only reason though to be fair). While we don't have a yard we do have patios with walls, so you bet I have things growing.

I almost missed the growing season out here but I seemed to have squeezed out a few summer veggies. I got a handful of black eye peas (didn't plant enough, I'll do better next year), One or two yellow crook neck squash, half a dozen under ripe tomatoes (kid needs to learn her colors, green growing, red ready) some lettuce, thyme, basil, stevia, and eggplant. You can see from the pictures there isn't that much ground but if you know what you want and it's growing habit it is just a matter of feeding and watering. Shallow roots get pots like window boxes so they can be mounted on the walls. Taller deep rooted plants like the eggplant or tomatoes go in the back against the wall so shorter plants like the squash and herbs can be in front. Climbers take center stage and help green up the walls. So if you have the desire but only a patio, with a little light and some creative planning you can eat home grown veggies.

Turning the old bath tub into a planter,

Head bather