Someone was asking me about vegetables types and varieties for patio
gardening.. here is the list I compliled for a few possibilities..

Artichoke:
You will need a whiskey barrel sized pot. May I suggest "Violetto"?
http://www.territorial-seed.com/

Bean: Pole -
Get a 5 gallon bucket or a window box and set it on the deck. Run
rough string (baling twice type) from the rim of the bucket up the
wall and tack it there well. I dont know about your
apartment/building, but I could potentially have 2 window boxes side
by side and that would give me 4 feet of space and then run string
to the roof overhang of my balcony deck. You might as well have
colour as you wont have quantity. I suggest "Dragon Tongue" which is
cream with pruple stripes as we may not get ALOT from our balconies
and porches, but we may as well have unusual and c olourful.
http://www.territorial-seed.com/ and http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
has them. A couple catalogs have a bean seed mix and get muliple
colours from one planting.. you might plant 5-6 of them in a 5
gallon bucket or 3-4 inches apart in window boxes.

Beets:
It would probably be in your better interest to grow them for the
tops rather than the root. You can get crop after crop of the tops..
and I cant see 'wasting space' for the few beets you will get until
you pull them at the end of the season and then you will get a meal
out of them. I would rather use the space for carrots or something.
Beet varieties suggested for tops (which will hold better than
spinich and wont bolt) are
"Bull's Blood" http://www.territorial-seed.com/ or
http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp or "McGregors Favorite".

Celery: I have grown "Ventura" for years from http://www.territorial-
seed.com/ and they did excellent on my balcony last summer. There
are also red and yellow varieties of celery.. I would suggest
checking out http://seedsofchange.com as well.

Cucumbers:
Choices... Choices.. For green ones.. "Homemade Pickles"
http://www.territorial-seed.com/
for white ones "White Wonder" http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp or
yellow "Lemon" http://www.cooksgarden.com
See if you can use a tomato cage (or stack 2 cages.. top ring to top
ring and wire them together well, which is what I did last year) or
chicken wire.. or build a rustic twig trellis to let them climb on.

Corn:
Yes, there is a variety you can grow in containers "Blue Jade (aka
Baby Blue)" http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp it grows 2-3 ft tall
and produces 3-6 ears per plant.

Eggplant:
OK, you gotta grow this one.. it is just gorgeous!! "Listada de
Gandia" it made the cover of SSE catalog this year. But I have
grown the glamorous "Rosita" both are in
http://www.seedsavers.org/Home.asp

Lettuce.. which one CAN'T you grow in a pot. I like SSE for the rich
variety they have in their catalog. There are well over 350 kinds of
lettuce. My personal favorite is "Yugoslavian Red Butterhead" but
try lettuce mixes from Cooks Garden. http://www.cooksgarden.com/

Pea:
"Tom Thumb" from SSE http://www.seedsavers.org great for pots and
containers. Cold tolerant down to 20F. can be grown for a table
centerpiece.

Tomato - Try it.. whatever variety you have. I have had great
results with "Stupice", "Large Red Cherry" and "Silvery Fir Tree"..
try cherry tomatoes. I am growing about 8 kinds this year.

Flowers: I have tulips, daffodils, sweet william.. butterfly mix,
hostas, nastursiums and calundula on the go on my balcony.

Watermelon or other melons.. I did it last summer.. try one.. keep
them to 3 fruits per plant. I did "Moon & Stars". Try a muskmelon.
How about "Charantais"?

My mom raises lemons, oranges, limes and pineapples in her home in
Oregon. I have a friend here in zone 2/3 in BC who has oranges in
pots in her kitchen as well as 40 pineapple plants after I taught
her how to grow them. I have only a mere 4 on the go.


If you think it might work.. try it.. be creative.,. use odd
containers., I am saving my olive oil cans for pepper plants. How
about a old watering can? a Boot for herbs? use sets of 3.. 3 sizes
of terra cotta.... 3 concrete tiles of various sizes...put the
taller ones in the back. Use an old teapot and glasses or pitcher
and glasses. Look through flea markets, garage sales .. junk at the
dump..


tenzicut
Upper BC Canada