Square garden foot in the City

Living in the city you might think you can’t have a vegetable garden.  Think again.  As long as you can water and provide light/sun you can have a bountiful garden in a very small space.  How about that six foot by 8 foot balcony, you could grow four tomato plants, four pepper plants, fourteen lettuce, two cucumber or zucchini, fourteen scallions, fourteen carrots or radishes and even about 50lbs of potatoes and still have enough room to lounge.

We are talking about square foot planting, with the exception of potatoes, which need a two square foot space.  Below is the list of how much can fit in a 12”x 12” planter.

• Bok Choy 9
• Broccoli 1
• Brussel Sprouts 1
• Butterhead Lettuce 4
• Carrots 14
• Collard Greens 1
• Cucumbers 1
• Kale 1
• Lettuce mixed 14
• Peppers 1
• Radishes 13
• Romaine lettuce 4
• Scallions 14
• Spinach 4
• Swiss Chard 9
• Tomatoes 1
• Zucchini 1

Some tips:
Do not try to plant more than one plant per container if it calls for just one.  These need room for their roots and they tend to grow tall, but you might want to consider companion planting.  Add scallions to the lettuce, peppers and tomatoes.  Scallions help control pests and require very little space.  Also remember those that require pollination to develop or set fruit by keeping those containers of tomatoes together or the peppers together, it will help in propagation.

With the potatoes they require height so with a 24”x 24” container that is about 24” high, plant your starter eyes in about 6” of dirt.  Once the plants get about 6” above the dirt pour more dirt in just leaving a few of the top leaves exposed.  The buried leaves will die but potatoes will grow in their place.  It takes on an average 90 days till harvest for potatoes and they will keep in the bin through the winter so you can harvest as needed.