GardenersCardiff answers:

I usually see them advertised or available in stores around Christmas. Sometimes, however, you can find a few left on the shelves in discount stores like Wal-Mart, Target, or K-Mart. Drugstores may have them–the Walgreens in my area practically has a monopoly on them at Christmas so I’d bet that they have them year-round–especially something like the herbs. Have you tried the close-out type of stores–Big Lots,for instance?

GardenersCardiff answers:

Hi growing your own herbs is a fantastic idea, some herbs that do good indoors are lavender, basil, oregano, rosemary, chamomile, and mint.
Putting them in a window sill would be a good idea preferably a window facing south it will provide the best sunlight. Most herbs require a moderate amount of sunlight but if they don’t get enough sunlight you can supplement by using a “grow lamp” or fluorescent lighting.
When watering over watering can be bad you just need to keep the soil moist all you need to do is keep an eye on your herbs not let the soil dry.
Water about once a week should be ample. A sign of over watering is yellowing of the leaves.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Often the seeds in those things are not right for your climate, regardless of where you live. If you want a garden, go to your local nursery and ask for help. They will be glad to assist you in choosing plants and caring for them.

GardenersCardiff answers:

Often its cheaper to buy a mould an fill it with concrete. Depends where you buy it from i guess

GardenersCardiff answers:

Is the area walled or fenced off from oter property?

How large: length and width.

How much sun and shade?

And WHY can’t you till it?

Tell me those and I’ll get right back to you.

Edit: OK, thanks for the info. Three problems here: owner’s regulation on no tilling, a lot of shade, and very acid soil under the trees. Here’s an approach that might work.

Consider planting pea in theshady areas -early in the spring before the trees are fully leaved. I assume you are allowed to dig a hole for a plant, so, instead of a hole, scartch up the area with a garden rake, lay the peans on the ground, and cover them with a mix of sand and bagged garden/top soil to a level of about 1″. When they grow to 3″ or so, start gradually adding some top soil to give them some support. Don’t wory about planting them in neat straight rows, just scatter them up and down the planting areas defined by the width of your rake. Later, as they reach about 6″ put stakes along the row and tie strings between them to give the peas something to hold on to. With the peas, plant carrots. The peas will help loosen the soil for the carrots to take hold. Get short fat carrots, because the skinny ones just won’t penetrate the soil well in the first year. Let them grow right in there with the peas. As the the pea vines die off, the carrots will come in behind them. I would recommend snow peas or sugar pod peas -the ones you eat pod and all. Aside from being fairly adaptable, the peas will put nitrogen into the soil. Carrots actually take 2 years to mature -in the second year they put out attractive white blooms that look sort of like Queen Anne’s lace. So you can let them take the full 2 years. Maybe you can put in 2 rows instead of just 1.

Around the dog area (which I assume has some kind of fence of its own) plant cucumber, just along the outside of their fence. As the vines grow, train them to the fence, so the cucumbers will be suspended as they grow and easy to pcik. The dogs won’t eat them. Plant just by making a hole about 1/2″ deep and dropping in a seed or 2 -every 12″ along the fence.

INSIDE the doggies’ area, plant tomatoes and/or peppers in pots. The pots should be about 16″ deep. Use plants that have been started for you. You can use the nice, rich bagged soil and some fertilizer for these You’ll need to support them as they grow; either tie them to the dog fence or drive stakes in by the pots. Hint: it is easier to use wire to tie the plants, such as solid wire used for house wiring, because you can bend it around plant stems and branches -then use it again next year. In the base of the tomatoe pots you can plant lettuce and spinach from seed.

After the season is over, gather up the dead stems and vines, break them up or shred them as much as possible, and put them in a compost pile. Put vegetable waste (peelings, etc.) coffee grounds and broken egg shells in the pile from time to time, and toss on some soil. You can add some worms if you like. The following year, you’kll have some rich stuff and won’t need to import as much.

It is tough to create a vegetable garden on an elevated surface or flat, because you not only need adequate depth of soil, but must control drainage as well.

If possible, without getting into trouble, cut away some of the tree limbs hanging over your area to let in a bit more sun.

Good luck!

GardenersCardiff answers:

You wouldn’t need that much for two people–we have 4/10 of an acre, and we planted about 1/2 the back yard. We had enough left over that we were selling at the farmer’s market every week! No matter what you do, growing your own will be more environmentally friendly, because it saves the gas it would have taken to transport vegetables to and from the store and it uses less fertilizer. 5-6 tomato plants will do nicely, as well as just a packet of most types of vegetables. You can also grow an indoor herb garden year-round, and if you can and freeze vegetables, you’ll be set for most of the winter. (If you really want to lay back spaghetti sauce, etc., you may want to plant more tomatoes. Make sure you get a guide on how to can and freeze so you don’t waste food, too. If you really still want a greenhouse, it won’t need to be large, and even frozen fresh tomatoes are better than hothouse tomatoes any day.