[countryrabbit]

Hi, I am new to the forum.  I have not grown anything since being a child but in a week's time am moving to Devon and as a family we are determined to eat local produce and hopefully grow some of our own and thus reduce our town focussed dependency on supermarkets.  

As we are moving into rented we cannot dig up part of the (lovely) garden we are taking on, but have plenty of concrete space.  Is there anything we can grow in either grow bag type set ups or by creating a small bed set on a concrete base ?  I have seen the 'square foot' link that was posted earlier and that looks interesting but was wondering if anyone, anywhere had any tips !

[milkman]

Friends of mine in somerset have a garden which is on the track bed of a disused railway which has very little top soil.  They have made beds out of link-a-board stuff and filled them with manure and compost, and are getting all the usual crops out of them.
Good luck with the move.

[James]

There are all sorts of things that can be grown in the flower garden too.  Runner beans up a teepee.  Globe artichokes.  A small space in which to grow an elegant lettuce or two - dotted around among the flowers.

Potatoes work well in tubs.  Growbags for tomatoes.  Herbs go well in pots.  You might be better going for special patio vegetables.  Can you rent a corner of a nearby field off the farmer?

[Heather_S]

Look in your library for The Edible Container Garden by Michael Guerra
It'll tell you everything you need to know about growing fruit, veg, herbs and edible flowers in containers and raised beds. This was the first gardening book I ever bought as we containergardened lots of vegetables for a few years before getting an allotment.

[countryrabbit]

Thanks for the tips - I had never thought about growing in amongst the flowers and I will definitely look up 'the edible container garden'

It sounds sad but the things I am looking forward to growing most are potatoes and carrots so I may well try them in tubs as suggested.

[Heather_S]

See the little round carrots in my icon over <---- there? Those were grown in a container about 4-6 inches deep.
I've also grown potatoes in a double-bin-liner. See photos of the harvest here: http://www.stargazy.org/plants/2006/binpotatoes/ There wasn't a very good harvest of the reds because we had some huge gusts of wind that broke the foliage off the plants. That whole harvest was only from 2 seed potatoes, though.

[Oliver]

the things I am looking forward to growing most are potatoes and carrots

Many of the experts suggest growing carrots in containeers about a foot off the ground anyway because, supposedly, carrot fly don't fly that high. So get yourself some tall containers - (she will be using recycled white buckets that the detergent comes in, from the local cloth nappy laundry - got 6 so far). They will also do, probably, for spuds, parships and all sorts of other things). O