"Brooklyn1" wrote

lived in town I'd have the same. The only alternative I know of is to
drill your own well (if permitted), but if you're heavily into

I need to get mine checked out. I think the well is fine but the pump needs
servicing I bet.

Meantime, we haven't used it in the past 3 years.

off all your give-away crops. It's best to grow only what you can
use. Contrary to what so many think the home vegetable garden over
time offers no savings, it's a big expense, it's strictly a hobby...

Actually, it depends on how you go about it and it can be cheap indeed to do
for a few small things for a family of 3 with a few gifted items when there
is a surplus.

My findings are that once you are past the initial outlay for containers and
soil to fill them (if you need to purchase) then there are certain things
you can crop quite efficiently and cheaply even in an apartment porch.

Here's my list in order of 'easy' (containers 4ft x 12 inch by 8 deep mostly
but some taller or longer):

-Lettuce, especially baby or butter but any loose leaf type like romaine
works. 'Iceberg' not easy. Seed used, have 2 containers and multi-crop by
planting seed (can mix types in same container) every 6-7 weeks while
rotating containers. Works from April to November here.

- Green onions and chives, you can get the bulbs just off grocery store
plants you get in spring and plant the bottoms with a little of the top
sticking up. They will proliferate over time so you can use the bulbs too.
It's an invest once, crop for YEARS item. 1 container planted 2007 still
going strong.

- Parsley and many other herbs, seed planted. Most have to be reseeded each
year. a 2 ft section of container gets whatever herb I want more of that
year. Dehydrator used to preserve a years worth of our use.

- Cucumbers, if you don't mind them sprawling out of the container on the
ground. 1 end of a container gets these. 3 plants in a 2ft section fits us
but then, we aren't trying to make a bunch for pickling. 89cents for 3
plants (about the cost of a cucumber here is same as a plant seedling)

- Green Bell Peppers, we often go a whole container here with 6 plant
seedlings. Again, about 89cents a seedling and more than that for store
bought bells. I go heirloom here for the better more intense flavor. A few
stakes needed but easy to do.

- Tomatoes, types vary. I list these later only because you have to replace
the soil if you don't have the organic mulch to get a good crop year after
year. You also have to 'tree' them a bit more than peppers and that's not
as easy in a container. First year crop will be great then degrade until
you replace the soil (which can be rotated nicely to the lettuce containers
and onion set).

- Straight neck summer yellow squash, 1 plant can be pretty prolific and
crop up 1 8 inch squash every week for 2 months or more. These work better
in a deeper container. A left over kitty litter plastic container is a good
option is you have them collecting. Make a hole in the bottom-side about 2
inches up so it can drain.

There are others easy that I don't commonly do such as spinach (fits with
lettuce in ease) and eggplant (needs a deeper container) and carrots (again,
deeper container). Potatoes can be dead easy if you have a deep container
but i've not tried them as it sounds more work than I'd get back in produce.

Watering is done with a combination of hose or a gallon jar and in some
climates, I've used a drip system from a milk jug with fishtank air tubing.
If you line the pots correctly, there is little water loss on watering.

Total expense this year, about 15$. Water use, nominal, maybe 2$? Total
return as opposed to buying at the grocery, only 40$ profit but that's
because this year the bunnies from hell got my garden before all of it
cropped up fully. Most years, I do far better.