The COVID-19 pandemic has more and more people concerned about food security. I’ve seen a lot of sentiment online from people who want to start gardening for the first time, but don’t know where to start or don’t have a space in which to garden. I’m really lucky in that I do have a full blown garden with ten raised beds at my disposal, but they’re all on the other side of the city at my dad’s house. At my house, I have a beautiful yard and a contractual obligation to not kill the grass, so there’s very limited space in which to have a traditional garden. I’m determined to still have a killer yield this year at my house, and I’m going to use a few creative solutions to make that happen.

Who Needs Patio Furniture?

When I first moved to this property, I saw the huge patio and could easily imagine buying patio furniture and a grill for cookouts and gatherings. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I would realistically only utilize the space a couple times a year at most, as I am an introvert who generally prefers plants to people (kidding, but not really). Therefore, I’m converting the patio into a container garden.

I can’t pass up a good deal on a growing receptacle, so I have amassed a wide collection of pots and containers. Since it’s such a wide assortment of shapes, sizes, and colors, it’s not going to be an aesthetically pleasing container garden, but I don’t care! I’m not doing this to live in a picturesque food forest; I’m doing this to hone my gardening skills and produce a bunch of food.

It’s early in the season so not much can be planted outside just yet, but I have planted a few pots with radishes, peas, and herbs. Once it warms up and the patio can be populated with more plants, I’ll arrange the containers in the most logical way possible. There will need to be rows and pathways so that I can access each individual plant for watering and harvest purposes. Additionally, some parts of the patio receive more sunlight than others (based on the way the house blocks the sun in the morning) so it will be important to make sure the sun-loving plants are in the sunniest spots.