Square Foot Gardening -- Patio Style

We like fresh produce.  I mean, does anything compare to a fresh grown tomato?  The tomatoes at the grocery store certainly don't.  But we have a small problem.  Actually, we have two small problems.

  Issue #1 -- No dirt.  I know.  It's pretty green around here, so there should be dirt for all those trees to grow in, right.  But nope.  Our land slopes down to the lake (or careens down, depending on how you look at it.)  It consists of rocks held together by tiny bits of red clay.  If we started removing the rocks, we might find China before we got to the end of the rocks and found some dirt.

Issue #2 -- We have deer.  Lots and lots of deer.  And our deer like to eat.  May-May calls them "The Resident Deer Mowing Team".  They come in herds and mow down anything pretty and green.  Planting "deer resistant" plants is a joke.  But I know what they are trying to do.  They plan to take over my neighborhood one deer resistant plant at a time.  First my neighborhood, then the world.  Watch out.  They may be coming to your hood next.

So what's a girl to do?

Here we have tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers,
radishes, carrots, pole beans,
eggplants, beets, etc.

Go up, of course.  Deer can't climb.  (At least, not yet.  That may be part of their plan, too...)  By gardening on the deck, I get to choose the perfect soil, and I get to look down on those deer and mock them.  It's fun.  You should try it.

Our Strawberry Bed.

More tomato plants, because there really is
 nothing like a home grown tomato.

If you want to mount a resistance against the evil plans of the deer, then I recommend Mel Bartholomew's book  "All New Square Foot Gardening".  We have used his methods for the last several years and can vouch for him.  It works.  There are virtually no weeds, almost no pests and great yields for the size of our garden.  You don't have to do it on the patio, either.  You can start your garden right on the ground -- if you have dirt and don't have deer, that is.

Happy Gardening,

Angela