apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

4 Tomatos (2 cherry/2 Roma)
Cilantro
Mint
Parsley
Dill
Rosemary
Jalapenos

over 20 varieties of vegetables and fruit (strawberry) and about half a dozen herbs on a small back deck in bklyn. I won't bore with a list, but the lettuce and tomatoes from seed are currently the highlight, almost ready for their first harvest. the why-not-give-it-a-shot include beets and broccoli - we'll see.

In 4 raised beds (4x16) 6 kinds of lettuce, arugula, spinach, 2 kinds of radishes, 2 kinds of beets, green and wax beans, zucchini, yellow squash, round green squash, 4 kinds of tomatoes (21 plants) sugar snap peas, tomatillos, butternut squash, potatoes, 2 kinds of hot peppers. In a separate bed just for them, a bunch of annual and perennial herbs. There's about a billion other things I want to grow but I've run out of space.

entering 3rd balcony garden season:

-sweet 100 tomato
-patio tomato
-parsley, thyme, dill, rosemary, lavender, mint
-lettuces, radishes, dwarf kale
-pimiento and padron peppers
-petunias
-gardenias
-fuschia

Pumpkins, butternut and spaghetti squash, zuchinni, two kinds of tomotoes, pole beans, bush beans, two kinds of peas, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, eggplant, three kinds of peppers, watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, leeks, onions, pototoes, carrots, kale, cabbage, and enough basil, cilantro, and dill to kill a guy. I'm pretty sure our garden in bigger than our house. Our goal is to use our yard space to produce all the veggies we need in a year... and we're not far off.

Oh man, I've got too many things growing. Tomatoes, lettuce, beets, onions, carrots, peas, potatoes, greens, kale, collards, eggplants, strawberries, herbs, and so on.

Actually, I just did a round-up of my spring crops here looking at what worked and what didn't. Now, onto summer!

I moved from 7 yr apartment dweller to first time house/yard owner this year too--and going buck wild with the garden y'all.
Two 3x6 raised beds (square foot technique):
tomatoes (2 pink, 2 black, one golden cherry)
tomatillos
lima beans
radishes
carrots
cucumbers
cantaloupe (an experiment)
mesclun
peppers (1 red, 2 yellow)
onion (ornamental--for flower and seed, not for harvest--I planted an onion that had sprouted just to see what would happen)
sunflowers, nasturtium, marigold
chives, mint, oregano, thyme, basil, rosemary

This is my first indoor garden, so I'm taking it easy and growing some stuff from the Don't Throw it, Grow it! book... Onions, chives, basil, parsley, garlic....

I'll grow more stuff throughout the year as I have ends of veggies and stuff, and hopefully, the cats will leave them be!

we have a rooftop garden in chicago and are growing: sweet cherries, watermelons, strawberries, hardy kiwi, concord grapes, ground cherries, wonderberries, tomatoe (53), arugula, spinach, various lettuces, zucchini, cucumbers (including lemon and pickling cukes), four different kinds of radishes, three kinds of beets, six kinds of carrots, snap peas, bush beans, runner beans, sweet corn, popcorn, hot peppers, sweet peppers, tomatillos, cilantro, sage, basil, oregano, parsley, red onions, garlic, chives, shallots, red cabbage, broccoli, three colors of cauliflower, swiss chard, kale, hops, mustard greens, rosemary, celery, okra, and i think that's it. it's a little over 500 square feet. i also just got back from vacation and found a 6" tall portobello growing in a jar! this is my second year of growing food and as you can tell, i'm super excited by all of our hard work.

forgot the eggplant!

My duplex apartment is the first place of my own, and I have a (relatively) huge, west-facing front porch that gets a great amount of sun. I have nine pots ranging in size from 8" to 20" and have planted (as a mix of seeds and transplants): tomato, pepper, yellow squash, pickling cucumber, radish, carrot, bush bean, calendula, nasturtium, two basils, two thymes, mint, rosemary and sunflower.

I've only been able to harvest herbs so far, but I'm having SO much fun watching everything grow! I got the book "Bountiful Container," which has been a fantastic resource. I love my garden!

7 Tomatoes (1 Lucky cross, 3 Costaluto Genovese, 3 Double Rich)
5 Jalapenos
Chocolate Mint
English Thyme
Orange Thyme
Pineapple Sage
Sage
Rosemary
Lavender
Oregano
Basil
Tarragon
Flat Leaf Parsley
4 Cucumbers
22 Yellow Finn Potatoes
Arugula
Spinach
Rainbow Chard
Brussel Sprouts
2 Eggplants
Candy onions

Yay! I'm glad to see we're on the same wavelength... here's our list:

- Oregano
- Spearmint
- Thyme
- Sage
- Chives
- Rosemary
- Tarragon
- Bell Peppers
- Tomatillos

All of which are growing in containers outside of our windows in a Minneapolis apartment. See pictures here: http://marthaandtom.com/2009/06/spring-planting/

My first year in a zone 5b-yikes! (Milwaukee) from a lovely zone 8 where I grew everything under the sun - and in the parking strip, too (Seattle)... we'll see how it goes. All organic, but tame because my family thinks I'm crazy if I suggest something like gai lan... or (gasp!) beets.
Tomatoes (yellow pear & cherry, a paste & sm. beefsteak)
Herbs (spearmint/oregano/thyme/basil/parsley/purple sage/rosemary/lavender)
Lettuce (romaine & leaf)
Radishes
Sugar snap peas
Snow peas
Pole & bush beans
Cucumbers
Assorted flowers- chinese lanterns, nasturtiums, etc.

My kids will probably eat them off the vines - if the rabbits & squirrels don't get to the veggies first.

I don't have much room in my back yard so its a container garden for me.

Fennel, sage, basil (hopefully), mint, lemon balm, rocket, tomatoes. And maintaining a Bay tree and thyme plants from last year.

would love to hear how your hops do @pedalpowered!

In 3 raised beds [(1) 4'X4' and (2) 6'X4'], I have 8 tomatoes, 8 peppers (cubanelle and bell), 6 swiss chard, 4 celery, 4 parsley, 4 oregano, 1 basil. I also have another random spot along the side of the house with 6 tomatoes and 1 zucchini.

This is actually scaled down since I am striving for more aesthetics since my past 6 yrs have produced amazing yields, but the aesthetics were not so great. :) Vanity garden, anyone? LOL!

Amazingly, I have a backyard in the city... so I have 6 tomato plants, 6 zucchini plants, a row of mixed lettuce, a row of radishes, and Italian Basil and Rosemary... so far so good!

I've planted my first container garden on my rooftop in Brooklyn. It's going very well but someone has been plucking out my herb seedlings that are up there! The containers are all in the section directly over my apartment so don't think I'm intruding on anyone else's space.

The other problem - I think whoever is doing this is coming up from the building next door which shares the roof. Any tips for getting these jerks to stop? It is so sad to see the plants you took good care of get ruined by a mean neighbor!

This is our first year in our new house and we've gone all out. We built one 8'x4' raised bed, one 4'x4' and one 8'x3'. We also have 6, or 7 standalone containers for tomatoes and one herb planter box by our back door. Altogether I have the following:
1 - Apple Tree
7 - Varieties of tomatoes from heirloom to roma to cherry
2- Broccoli plants
1 - Jalapeno
2 - Green bell pepers
2- Yellow bell pepers
1 - Peas
1 - Walla Walla onions
1 - Red onions
2 - Strawberry plants
1 - Rhubarb plant
3 - Cilantro
1 - Italian Parsley
2 - Zucchini
2 - Cucumbers
Many basil plants
3 - Blueberries. 2 of the same variety, one different.

First time gardener here, with a black thumb, going 1 basil plant and 1 tomato plant on porch. I am thinking of heading back to the nursery to try a few more herbs. We'll see how the season goes... :)

I have a small patio garden and this is the first season that I have been living in an apartment where I can plant something! I am so excited to have three varieties of tomatoes and some herbs (basil, sage, rosemary, and thyme) growing even though the sunlight is less than optimal.

It is also the first season I have had to deal with city gardening pests. I used to live where deer and rabbits were our biggest problem - now I think a rat ate my first attempt at basil (ew!) I hung my herb plants up (including a new basil plant) so rodents can't reach them, but I am worried about my tomatoes, which are too big to hang - I would love some advice about how to rat-proof a garden.

Ah, urban gardening...

Growing space: about 1 square foot of round planter, next to window.
Attempting to grow: opal basil, sweet basil, and spicy globe basil. The thyme already bit the dust. :( We'll see how that works out!

http://www.abreadaday.com

@rjb2003. Maybe your neighbors aren't plucking seedlings. This may sounds nuts but last year pigeons and starlings ate a TON of my herb and lettuce seedlings. I bet that if your neighbor wants your food, he will wait for you to raise it until it is ready, not pinch it before he can enjoy anything either. Try putting some mesh screen over the seedlings until they are more established - at least a few weeks along. This will help deter critters. If you see little holes and seedlings missing completely, not just nibbled, then your problem is squirrels.

@ScienceandtheCity: I live in Chicago and my problems on a rooftop garden are pigeons, starlings, squirrels, and the occasional insect. Luckily, most insects do not make it up to the second story (I have no idea why but pollination can also be a problem up here). Last year we noticed nibble marks - underground) on many of our root vegetables. I figured mice were burrowing and nibbling but then I found out it's a larvae. So now I cover root vegetables with frost cloth to prevent insects from laying eggs on the greens for a few weeks. To deter pigeons and starlings, we have a motion-sensing, hooting robot owl that seems to work. To deter squirrels, I sprayed vegetable oil around my containers and ground fresh black pepper over them to stick. So far they have gone through three rainfalls and are still there, and the squirrels have not been back. As for rats, I don't know what to do about them but I think generally they are a little lazy. They are scavengers after all. I can't imagine them eating your basil but I can imagine them eating your fallen, ripe tomatoes. If you keep the area fairly clean of debris and rotting vegetables I doubt they will visit too often.

Fun question!
Living in Boise we miss out on many aspects of the city life, but at least can afford a small house with a good garden space. Whatever is ripe is what we have for dinner (plus maybe happy local meat from the freezer). This is my fourth garden at my house.
We have several kinds of heirloom tomatoes and peppers (sweet and hot). We've already eaten radishes, broccoli and broccoli rabe from the garden, and scads of greens (arugala, spinach, lettuce, mustard, to name a few).
We have winter squash, melon and cuke starts, loads of onions, carrots, shallots and garlic just going nuts, and our purple podded beans are about 3" tall.
Edemame fresh from the garden is a DELIGHT and I've added lots more of it this year. Can't wait to eat it steamed with a cold beer.
The snap peas have just started to flower.
New this year: sunchokes, horseradish and ground cherries (in separate beds far from the main garden).
I'm crazy for herbs and now have: a variety of basils, two kinds of oregano, winter savory, sage, cilantro, tarragon, dill, 2 kinds of thyme, chocolate mint, pineapple mint, spearamint and peppermint, horehound, lemon balm, lemon verbena, parsley, sorrel, lavender and one or two I can't identify.
I'm sure I'm forgetting something!

@ScienceandtheCity and @pedalpowered: I have serious problems with squirrels preying on seedlings. I really like Bonide's Repells-All. It's safe for critters, safe in organic gardens and works like a champ (though smells horrid when freshly sprayed). Squirrels are just rats with better tailors, so I say: try it!

I'm doing a full crop this year:

Tomatoes: black krim, green zebra, san marzano, red currant cherry

Lettuces: arugula, mizuna, Boston lettuce, red leaf

radishes: red and black
Peppers: red jalapeno, regular jalapeno, red chillies

Beans: filet and heirloom bush

Herbs: basil, rosemary, dill, oregano, rosemary, sage

And, lastly, I'm giving pumpkins a try in a new way:
http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/05/20/how-to-grow-a-great-pumpkin-even-if-you-arent-charlie-brown

hope it works!

I'm just starting slowly, so I don't have that much stuff and it is all in containers, but I have:

-'patio' tomatoes (with first little green specimen)
-basil
-rosemary
-lemon thyme
-cilantro (though it's bolted, so soon to be coriander)
-lavender
-chives
-mesclun lettuces

There are a lot more things I wanted to grow, like spinach and fennel, but just had to restrain myself.

Also been doing lentil and alfalfa sprouts, but that's simple stuff.

Spinach, arugula, lettuce, quinoa greens, amaranthus greens, nasturtiums, swiss chard, 8 different kinds of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, butternut squash, chocolate mint, 3 kinds of basil and lemon verbena.

To keep birds and other critters from eating the seedlings, I cover them with netting. When they're bigger I take off the netting. It can be reused many times. I just bought it at a fabric store.

We have tomatoes, peppers (anaheim and serrano), spinach, lettuce, carrots, green beans, sugarsnap peas, pumpkins, zucchini, crookneck squash, butternut squash, basil, parsley, oregano, dill, cilantro, thyme.

Peppers (jalepeno, anaheim and pimento), summer squash, brussels sprouts, bush beans, broccoli (2 kinds), tomatoes (4 kinds), kale, chard (2 kinds), spinach, lettuces, basil (mexican, purple & giant), marjoram, thyme, parsley (flat & curly), dill. And we convinced our neighbor to put a small patch in her yard adjacent to ours for kohlrabi since it's her favorite thing.

this is the first time i've tried gardening on my balcony. i bought one of those Topsy Turvy upside-down tomato planters and have one roma and one cherry plant in it. it's still early days, but they're growing like crazy so far.

i get all the afternoon and evening sun, so i'm a little cautious about picking things to grow out there. they'd have to love the heat.

We have 3 pots on our screened in balcony, 2 with herbs (a few types of basil, cilantro, rosemary, oregano, chives, and dill) and one with a beefsteak tomato plant. It's still too cold in upstate New York, so they currently live indoors.

Built a salad table featured on Martha Stewart and have 7 different kinds of lettuces growing. Started thinning the leaves last night and will have enough for a week of salads. We staggered the planting so we'll have lettuce all summer

All in pots: Basil, rosemary, pineapple mint, oregano, chives, cherry tomato, various hot peppers

Pots and salad table necessary to keep the dogs from trampling the veggies in our small Minnesota back yard

Hey Violete222 I'm in Boise, too. One of these years I'll get some edamame, I assume it's too late now.
The only time in my life I haven't had a garden was last year when my dogs decided they wanted to eat all the goods. This year we have fenced in a new area and have strawberries, artichoke, peas, beans, radishes, cabbage, carrots, onions, winter & summer squash, pumpkins, thai peppers, jalapenos, red, purple, orange and green bell peppers, eggplant, sweet corn, and eight tomato plants and a few edible flowers. We also have grapes, pears, quince, and apricots that were all planted years ago by the Basque family that used to own our tiny house. My herbs (fortunately the dogs leave them alone so they are in the old raised 4x8 veggie beds) are rosemary, parsley, pineapple & regular sage, winter and summer savory, regular and mauve fennel, epazote, taragon, four kinds of basil, Vietnamese coriander, spearmint, oregano, regular and garlic chives, two types of thyme, and dill.
Shew! I didn't realize how much we had going this year until I listed it all out. What a great post!

Wow! So many great gardens!

This year we decided to turn our 20'x20' garden plot in the yard into 3 6'x6' raised boxes... plus a potato patch big enough to feed the neighbourhood.

We have planted (and starting to poke through!) the following:
Lettuce
Italian lettuce mix
Parsley
Dill
Thyme
Oregano
Chives
Basil
6 Tomato plants
Rainbow Chard
Parsnip
Beets (2 varieties)
Carrots
Spanish Onions
Red Onions
Red Potatoes
White (baker) Potatoes
Cauliflower
Red Cabbage
Scarlet Runner beans
Green bush beans
Yellow wax beans
Sugar Snap peas
Zucchini
Spaghetti Squash
Butternut Squash

I'm doing a bit of container gardening on my soil-less patio:

big boy & cherry tomatoes
stringless green beans
shell peas
sugar snap peas
lettuce mix
dill
rosemary
carrots
pickling cucumbers

can you see what's happening up there? dill pickling cucumbers? OH YES. i'm making pickles later this summer (i hope)! Everything but the big boy tomato plant was started from seed, and so far so good!

I've joined my university's brand new community garden.
I'm sharing an 8x10 plot. We are growing beans, peppers, tomatoes, cukes, zuchs, kale, lettuce, carrots, tomatillos, beets, and more. We are hoping to preserve loads of yummies for the winter!

I'm doing my usual balcony garden with tomatoes, herbs (basil, thai basil, thyme, lemon thyme, chives, oregano, parsley, mint, dill), and some flowers.

Wow, I thought I planted a lot this year but it looks like nothing compared to some of the veg gardens listed here. I have:
rhubarb, raspberries, leeks, onions, garlic, asparagus, carrots, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes (assorted colours), pole beans, snap peas, zucchini, yellow squash, sunburst squash, broccoli, spinach, assorted lettuces, and herbs (cilantro, basil, thai basil, italian parsley, oregano, chives, tarragon, sage, rosemary, thyme)
Whew, that's still quite a lot....

Looking at my list, I forgot cucumbers, potatoes, jalapeno peppers and chili peppers...

Wow those are some looong lists!
I have just started some zucchini and basil from seed, couple chili plants (of seriously high spice quotient) are thriving despite couple of plant murder attempts by my two year old, i have manged to get a bit of ginger to bud off and it looks beautiful in a round squat pot - almost like some kind of bamboo... having just one huge east facing window in my apartment doesnt give me too much scope or space as yet... getting quite jealous of those with indipendent houses and backyards...