Back Deck Vegetable Garden

Ok, I am coming to terms with the limitations of my own nature.  This is what I have learned: I'm not terribly organized, I don't like to clean, (but I like a clean house), and I am not good at weeding the garden.

I also like fresh vegetables and I want to grow my own.  Since I don't do weeding well, I decided to do my vegetables in pots, on my deck.  I got flowers and herbs to grow on the deck last year, so I should be able to grow some veggies.

I went with some of the easier vegetables to grow.  I got tomatoes, basil, cucumbers, peppers, and zucchini.

When the hubby and I were looking for pots, we priced out quite a few.  Now, I would love to tell you that I got top-of-the-line porcelain, but the large pots like that were very expensive.  Instead, we went with, very simple, plastic pots that look like terracotta but were a quarter of the cost.

Just for perspective here is a shot with my toes, so you can see just how large the pots really are.  They need to be pretty big for the vegetables to grow (and I think my toes are cute).

Terracotta would be better because it holds the moisture and keeps the plants' roots cool.  If you can, go with terracotta.  Maybe next year we will get one or two and build up our collection.

I took the base off our pots and made them into little stands to keep the pots off the deck.  I did this because the pots were not draining well with them attached.  With any potted plants, you want to make sure the water drains well.

I lined the pots with rocks because just as important as drainage is, you have to be careful not to lose your dirt while the water drains.

I then added organic potting soil.  I'm not always crazy about my soil being organic, but because I'm growing food to eat, I want my plants to have good organic soil.  (FYI, for flowers I actually like Miracle Grow, they do a great job with flowers).

This soil has a nice combination of nutrients and whatever else soil needs.  I just think it looks good.

I decided to put a few plants in each pot.  I had to try out my groupings.

I gave the zucchini a pot all to it's self.  Those plants get big.  I then planted the little plants, gave them water, and let them so their thing.

Now, these plants have been pretty tortured by the time I got them in the soil.  A couple of days later, and they perked right up.

Here is a couple shots of the plants about a week or two after I planted them.

You can see that the zucchini above is doing very well.  Even with out being watered for a couple of days, this plant has lots of blossoms which means lots of zucchini too.

Above and bellow are my tomato and basil.  They are both doing well.  This is so exciting.  I'm kind of an urban farmer in the country.  You know, because I have a deck garden but I do actually live in the country. Maybe one day I will be up for a real vegetable garden in the ground (or maybe my big sister will come and do one for me.).  hehe

I'm really looking forward to picking my own home grown tomatoes and making a quick salad with the basil that goes with it.  Hubby is excited about his peppers, and I hope to get a least one large zucchini for zucchini fritters (if I can stop myself from eating all the flowers, hehe)