Katherine wrote:
I have a small backyard (30' x 8') in my condo. I am in zone 6b
(Vancouver, BC) and get an average 8 hours of sun/day.

The first 10' is covered in patio paver stones, for the bbq and dining
area. For the other 20', I'm planning on either purchasing floor
decking (see http://www.ikea.ca/webapp/wcs/stores...&cattype= sub)
or make the decking myself if its quite a bit cheaper. I'll leave a
few spots open in between the decking squares for planting the odd
thing, and using containers for other things.

Because my area is so tiny I've decided to grow cucumbers using a
trellis, I did this last year and it worked great. My tomatoes I'll
try in tubs this year, possibly with wheels so I can move them around
if they need a more sunnier spot. What other things can I try in such
a small space? Peas perhaps? What about squash?

I'd love to hear from urbanites that have small city gardens such as
myself and photos of what they have done would really be wonderful!

Shaynelle

There is a vining squash, Tromboncino, that is suitable for trellising
and can save you lots of space. There are several varieties of
miniature tomatoes that are bred specifically for small containers and
hanging baskets, Red Robin, Patio, Tumbler, Window Box Roma and others.
I grow Red Robins in 6" pots and always have more tomatoes then I can
eat. There are also miniature eggplants such as Bambino that do well in
small pots. Most peppers do well in containers. I grow cayenne and
jalapeno types four or five to a 15" pot, bells types three to a 15"
pot. There is a miniature bell pepper, Jingle Bells that will do well in
a 6" pot. Most herbs will do fine in hanging baskets, freeing up deck
space. The main thing is, don't limit yourself to standard varieties.
Look for dwarf and miniature types. You can often get more pounds of
fruit per pound of soil from a miniature variety then from a standard.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”
Cicero