Hi wannabegrower and welcome! I have had 2 lilacs on my balcony for going on 9 and 12 years and I would disagree about them being "gangly and awkward". There are many hundreds of types of very hardy lilacs and in particular, the koreans like S. meyeri and S. patula (like "Miss Kim") have unique, dark green foliage and a mounding habit as well as no powdery mildew worries, making them a beautiful and fragrant addition to a garden - whether in-ground or on-balcony. My lilacs are part of my quest to have something blooming through most of the growing season and are my favorite for the couple weeks that they are blooming. The fragrance is well worth it and the privacy/shade that they provide to my bedroom is wonderful. This was my "Miss Kim" last spring: I also have a "James McFarlane" (S. x prestonae - thought I had a pic of it from last year but this is from 2005). The nice thing about "Miss Kim" is that she gets fall coloration as well, with the green leaves turning to a reddish wine and/or bright yellow (example of that below): With respect to your aloe - it's funny but one of my brother-in-laws had a potted (and very potbound) aloe for years and finally had one of the local nurseries repot it for him a couple years ago. They divided into 3, ~12" (~60 cm) containers. The 3 ended up completely potbound by the end of that summer and last year, he had them repot them again - resulting in 6 pots of them. Now all of those are starting to get potbound, with babies coming up everywhere, so they are obviously very happy. The pots aren't shallow either (although he originally grew a large one in a small aquarium with about 4" of sandy soil). The current pots are ceramic and about 60 cm deep as well. I think what helps is in summer, he puts them out on a south-facing deck in full blasting sun, so they get that "desert" feel. LOL As long as your soil is free-draining, they should be okay in a deeper pot and the heavier pot will keep them upright.

The best advice I can give is to read, ask questions and to read some more! So for the crops that you are growing, I'd try and gain as much info as I can about how they do in my zone; how do I know when they are ready to pick; what pests bother them; what disease resistance do they have; what diseases are they prone to get; how do I treat these diseases and or pests. Also, pump your Mom & Dad for as much info about their garden and what they did and what worked and what didn't. Going to buy a plant or going to a farmer's market? Ask the vender about what you're buying. Meet another gardener? Ask them questions about what they grow and why. Gardeners love talking about their gardens! If you are happy growing these varieties or even if your not but you want to try a different variety, I'd read about the different varieties of cabbages or onions etc that you might want to try next year. This will give you a starting point. It's lots of fun, although a little overwhelming at first, when you realize how much out there there is to learn.

First, in case you didn't know there is a Balcony Gardening forum here http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/balcony that could be really helpful to you as it is a very different form of gardening. Then, since you will be using containers, also be sure to check out the Container Gardening forum here http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/contain as that too is a very different form of gardening with different requirements. While I agree that gardening is trial and error activity in part you can save you self a lot of time and effort by first learning from others and so avoiding all the common errors new gardeners make. With balconies two biggies come to mind -(1) not nearly enough sun exposure due to the roof or floor above. South facing is often not enough. And (2) sometimes severe water draining problems for those who live below you every time you water. Since containers have to drain well that water has to go somewhere. So be sure to thoroughly explore those issues upfront. Then with containers the common mistakes are (1) using containers that are too small and/or too shallow. (2) filling those containers with dirt rather than a quality soil-less potting mix and that creates all sorts of problems. The potting mix is expensive so starting out with just a couple of containers instead of umpteen of them not only let's you learn as you go but also saves you a lot of wasted money. And (3) not understanding the very different feeding and watering regimens required for successful container gardening. So with your proposal I see a couple of issues. First, snowpeas as a container crop - take lots of room for minimal production and the trellis will shade the other plants so I'd suggest sipping them. Plus they have very different nutrient needs than broccoli and spinach. Put the broccoli and spinach in the same container as they are high nitrogen users and peas won't tolerate high nitrogen. Second, both basil and dill will need a much bigger container than 1 gallon. They are very tall plants with big root balls. Third, as already mentioned I think there are much less expensive and better functional containers available than the ones you have linked. Not that i am recommending them but for the price of 1 of your linked boxes you could buy 5 of these and have almost 3x the planting space. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-15-in-x-7-99-in-Plastic-Leonardo-Black-Bronze-Window-Box-WB100F-BB/203621275 Just some thoughts to consider. Enjoy your planning. Dave

My advice... don't bite off more than you can chew. 75 sqft sounds small to a lot of people, but I think it's a good start for a beginner. That's about 3 raised beds or 2 lasagna beds in my yard. Probably plenty for your first year while you are figuring things out... but watch it, garden expansion can be addictive :) So... is this space already a cleared garden space, or is this a patch you gotta start from scratch with? And since you said it's about 75sqft and circular- is it because there used to be a 10 foot swimming pool there? If it's an already cleared space, you will probably want to get the soil tested before amending to see what you need to amend. You will probably need to add compost anyway, but you might need other stuff or not. If you are starting from scratch, there are different methods to clearing the area out or building on top of what's there. Personally, I'm a big fan of lasagna and raised beds. But I also have regular ground beds and do a lot of container growing too. If the circle is where a swimming pool was- you might have to do some extra digging and tilling to help loosen up what is likely compacted ground from the weight of the pool that used to be there. And for sure have that soil test done. Must have plants depend on your household. How many people in the house? What are some favorite veggies? Herbs are always must-haves here, as well as a couple flowers- nasturtiums and marigolds are faves, and I manage to tuck a couple zinnias or other small flowers that the beneficial bugs like around the veggies. Do square foot gardening research. Don't be tempted to try packing that 75 sqft to the max because the guides tell you you can get that dense. Use the looser spacing side of the guides to start with. And don't forget to leave walking path spaces in there so you can get to your plants :) Do research on the plants themselves. You are probably going to want smaller plants or plants that train well vertically. Not all varieties of something fit the same way- for example, tomatoes. In a 4x6' box I can grow 6 dwarf tomatoes, but leggier romans or most standard cherry tomatoes max out at 4 per box. With peppers I've had little ones that easily went 12 per box, and big ones where 6 in the box was almost tight for harvesting. Be prepared with mulch. And weeding time. When your plants first go in, they will look small in the vast space surrounded with mulch. Don't be tempted to crowd or squeeze a couple more plants in because it looks like there is a lot of space. If you grow something that needs support, make sure you have the supports in place before you plant. And regular tomato cages suck for most tomatoes. The biggest and sturdiest ones can cage a smaller dwarf tomato. Tomato cages are great for supporting pepper plants and can be handy for helping keep leggy bush beans more upright.