Do you love garden fresh vegetables, but don't have a yard to start a garden? You can still grow a great patio garden using pots and various other containers. My wife and I have a small 10' x 5' patio, and last year we grew 2 tomatoes, 2 peppers, 2 lettuce plants, and a variety of herbs. It was all delicious and supplied us with fresh vegetables from the month June all the way up to October! If you would like to start your very own patio garden, this is all you need to do.

Start by deciding how much sun your patio actually receives. If your patio receives 6 of more hours of direct sunlight, than your patio will be perfect for growing fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. If your patio receives less than 6 hours of sunlight, then you may want to consider leafy or root vegetables such as kale, carrots and onions. The sunlight that a patio receives cannot be increased, but if you are getting too much sun for a particular vegetable, you could lessen the the intensity of the sun by shading your patio with a bamboo window blind, or maybe some netting with small holes in it.

Next, go to your local nursery or garden center and purchase tasty vegetable plants that are well suited for your patio's unique lighting conditions. You will also need to buy pots that are appropriate for each of your plants. Plants such a tomatoes require large pots.(5 gallon pots will do, but 10-15 gallon pots are better for tomatoes), and plants such as peppers and lettuce will need medium to small sized pots (1 gallon pots will be fine for these plants). If you are unsure what size pots to buy, I am sure that an employee where you are buying your plants can assist you with this. Then you may want to buy enough potting soil to fill your pots. If you would like to grow your plants hydroponically, then there is no need to buy any soil.

If you would like to grow your plants hydroponically... Great! There are many benefits to this method. Plants grown hydroponically are usually grown in a medium such as perlite (a volcanic rock) and nutrient rich water. Hydroponically grown vegetables usually produce bigger yields (more vegetables for you to eat!) and require less frequent watering (that's less work). Also, if you choose to grow a hydroponic garden, you won't have to feel so guilty about using fertilizer. Fertilizer used in a hydroponic garden can be reused over and over again, so you actually use fertilizer without polluting the environment!

If you decide to just grow a traditional container garden using soil and pots, plant all of your plants in their respective pots with the potting soil and water them until a little water comes out of the bottom of the pot. Be prepared to water your plants once a day until mid June, and then increase the watering to twice a day. Around the middle of August, or beginning of September, the outside temperature should start to lessen enough that you can start to water them once a day again. This watering of the plants may not sound like a big deal, but it tends to be a chore, especially when you have to increase the watering to twice a day. Just take this into consideration when you are deciding how many plants you want to grow.

If you planted your plants at the beginning of May (this is when I choose to plant mine since it is early in the planting season, but not so early that a frost might kill then), than you should start enjoying your very own fresh veggies buy the middle of June or start of July, depending on the vegetable. Now that you know what to do, get started on planning your garden and go for it. There is nothing like the taste of fresh vegetables, and the satisfaction of growing your own. Good luck, and let's all live a greener life!