So, I was right in the middle of trying to transform my wilderness garden (full of rocks, prickly weeds, poison ivy, and hornets) into a usable vegetable garden when the pandemic hit. Result - the garden is now an impassible wilderness. BUT I still dream of homegrown tomatoes and chilies. So, this year I am going to try and get as much produce out of containers on my deck as possible. We're in PA and we get hot summers with lots of sun (I hope I haven't just jinxed that - weather's been weird for a few years), so I have my fingers crossed. Here's a picture of the deck (you can just see the frame of the greenhouse without its plastic cover in the corner) - potential, right?



Pretty sure I will be here often with lots of questions, but for the moment - any words of caution with any of these varieties? Anyone else growing them in a similar climate or in containers?

Lettuce: crisp mint romaine, apollo arugala, spicy greens mix, garlic chives, chinese chives, merlot, and pea shoots - all as cut and come again.
Chilies: Fatalii, Aji Charapita, Puma, Lemon Drop, and some seeds saved from the west indian chili that is a staple in our household but can seemingly no longer be imported to the US (weri-weri).
Tomatoes: Siberian, Black strawberry, and Orange Hat Micro
Other: Zucchini Golden, De Jours 18 radish, Norfolk spinach, Boothby's blond cucumber
Also: assorted random flowers and herbs (definitely lavendar and sweet williams!)

Things I really miss from when I gardened in the UK:
1. Absence of poison ivy
2. Gooseberry bushes
3. Ability to pick nettles (for homemade fertilizer) and elderflowers (for homemade cordial)

Plenty of room to grow lots of veggies! What are you using for containers? Don't forget to use plastic shims to keep the containers from touching the deck boards.
Good Luck!!

Our garden area is about 200 feet from the house & has been ignored for many years. For the last couple years I have been trying to clear it up So I can have a large garden again. (I have pictures on my blog here as well as in posts). Meanwhile, I have a yearning for growing something of my own that we can eat. My husband has developed a ton of health issues including COPD & is now on oxygen. He also wants to have a garden, something he can tend to close to the house, where his oxygen line will reach. He has portable oxygen but we prefer to not use that unless it's necessary since he needs those for trips to the doctor & when our electricity goes off. So for the last couple years I've picked up anything I thought would make a good container.

These blue totes were $5 each at Family Dollar.



To the far left is one of those Rubbermaid type totes. I've gotten a few from yard sales, thrift stores, & from the side of the road😁. I learned the hard way to stay away from the clear plastic ones. After a few months they become brittle & break if you try to move them. I've also picked up 5 gallon buckets on the side of the road but am leery of doing that ever since I picked up one that smelled like old fish.

Our back patio area is a concrete slab & then there's a small area I can use for a garden area for him. The issue with this area is that it once had a redbud tree & a catalpa tree that we had removed but there are still tree roots everywhere.

Since you have a wooden deck I would definitely put something underneath any container to protect your deck, as well as allow excess water to drain out & away. Since I'm putting my containers over either concrete or ground, I don't have any wood to protect but I still want any excess water to be able to run out & away from the containers so plants aren't sitting in water. Luckily, we still have tons of plastic bread trays that I can use for this.

You have the perfect deck for a container garden. It's beautiful. yes, make sure to protect your decking from the draining water. You can put your containers on bricks instead of using "pot feet" as long as you don't block the drainage holes. Just make sure the decking is protected..seems like everything you want to pant is sun loving. I see no problems. a word of caution-one tomato plant per pot and plant them deep. Good luck and try to post an update when you can.

One of the things I figured out over my years of making planters is to put the drain holes on the sides of container right at the bottom.
When you have them on the bottom they tend to get plugged very easily