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

Here we grow again...

I have replanted, in many ways. We left behind a beautiful "yarden" in FL where around this time the aphids and ladybugs should be in full swarm. Well I have replanted our garden, in a way. We don't have a yard but we do have patios that even have small beds around the walls and in between the cement slabs. So a few weeks ago I got to planting and seeding every available space that I had, and I am now proud to say that everyone is sprouting and growing well. Oh and I am not done yet. I have wall space that I want to put window boxes up on for shallow rooted plants like lettuce or herbs. It is very exciting to see what is sprouting up next, yesterday it was corn, today it is the "Bolivian fat ass" pepper seeds a friend gave us. That is just one of our patios there are still two more to plant and plan. Just think, no yard but fresh veggies as the seasons go, pretty good trade off for me, I never did like mowing the lawn.

Scrubbing the dirt from my nails,

Head Bather