Compost bins, mulch, timing of planting are for outdoor yard gardens; you won't need them for plants growing in containers on a patio.

There is a container gardening forum and a veggie growing forum you should check out.

When you say "enclosed patio" do you mean a balcony with a roof? Veggies need six to eight hours of full sun daily to grow well, they will not thrive in part sun or part shade. It is too late for veggies now, but you can plan for next spring.

To grow tomatoes, broccoli or other large vegetable plants in containers you will need to have large (18 inch to 24 inch diameter) plastic, fiberglass or ceramic pots. You can buy them in garden centres, department stores, hardware stores. The pots should be at least 2 ft deep and have drainage holes. Built in saucers are better, otherwise you will need to buy saucers too. You will need enough container soil to fill the pot to within 1.5 inches of the top. Buy container soil, not triple mix or garden soil. You will also need a good vegetable fertilizer, either granular or liquid.

Smaller plants like lettuce, peppers, onions, leeks can be grown in smaller pots, but do not use pots smaller than 12 inches in diameter.

If you are new to gardening, buy seedlings, don't start from seed. Garden centres sell veggies seedlings in the spring. Get a book about veggie gardening and container gardening. Ortho publishes good, low cost books that are sold at many garden centres. Read them over the winter and plan what you want to grow.

Next spring, buy the pots, soil, fertilizer and soil. Go to a good garden centre, not a big box store and ask the staff to recommend varieties suitable for containers. Tomatoes, potatoes, squash, cucumber get large -- plant one per pot. You can plant 2-4 peppers and lettuces per pot. Spring onions, radishes, parsley can be planted along with them as they will be harvested before the other plants mature. Carrots, snow peas, beans can be planted as seeds, space them as directed on the packages.

You will also need cages or stakes for the tomatoes, and stick "tee pees" or trellis for the climbers like beans, peas and cukes.

Once planted, place in full sun, keep moist(containers can dry out quickly) fertilize every other week with half strength fertilizer.

Check out
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/hil-8105.html

in addition to the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Container Veggies

Very good info in the previous message.
Here are the basics:
Buy lightweight containers, there are pretty ones that look like real stone or terra cotta, but are plastic and easier to lift and move. You can find deals at stores like Big Lots, Fred's, if you are on a budget. Buy "potting soil" which is very lightweight. Some popular brands are Miracle Gro and Schultz's but there are others. I always feel the bags and make sure they are lightweight. it is more expensive but can make it easier on you to buy the potting soil with fertilizer (plant food) already in it which will feed the plants for abut 3-4 months, and some poting soil has "water retaining' crystals in it which helps the soil hold water. These will all help alot. Container plantings need water often. Most people buy little tomato, pepper, eggplant plants. They need sun. I grew okra very easily from seed. I grew the dwarf plants. In zone 8, you probably have your last frost around the end of March, so you can plant then. For fruits you can grow strawberries in pots or hanging baskets, you can grow small citrus trees in large pots but may have to cover them or bring them inside during cold snaps in winter. You will want to look for fruits and veggies that are meant for containers, I'll bet there are blueberries too. Blueberries are really pretty shrubs. You need 2 kinds to pollinate each other. If I were you, I would probably start looking for containers maybe on sale and do some reading, and maybe get a good book specific for your state or region about container gardening. I think you will be very successful.
laurie

If your patio is warm and sunny and traps the warmth then you may have what's called a 'microclimate' which can be different/higher than the general local one.

This can be really useful for you as a grower. You can maybe start growing earlier and expect plants to carry on growing for longer - just because you have a sunny, warm, and sheltered site.

If you have room on your patio for a long table, not too wide - and not too scruffy(!) - you can put your containers up at a height where you can tend them more easily. One with a metal frame would be good.

It would be possible to make a small 'tent' frame to go over the containers and sit on the table top, too. If you then covered this with horticultural fleece/frost cloth - or thick, clear glasshouse type plastic - you'd protect your plants from frost and could grow on for longer.

Right now, even without having that protection you could plant up fancy lettuces or a mesclun mix (posh name for lots of different leafy plants picked regularly as a mixture) for salad greens and just cover them at night with either bubble wrap or cardboard to protect from early frost.

Another plant that will probably tough it out through winter with a bit of shelter - and can be cut a stalk at a time - is Swiss chard. It comes in plain white stem/green leaf - and varieties with coloured stems which lets it double as decoration.

What to do with the soil after a crop has finished? Unless you had a diseased crop, you can reuse the mix. Add some slow release fertiliser which looks like little balls, mix it through - and plant something different. If you grew peas - use the mix next time to grow lettuce. If you grew lettuce - move on to carrots. Just don't feed the carrots too much. There'll likely be enough goodness left over after the lettuces have finished. (This is what the books are talking about with 'crop rotation'. It helps to keep bugs and diseases at low levels.) From time to time - add some fresh mix. Say every time you take out plants you've finished with.

When you come to grow tomatoes - they are hungry plants and have big root systems - even the little cherry tomatoes. They drink heaps, too, so acquire bigger containers - four gallons is probably useful. Those dear little plants simply shoot up - and down.

If there's only you, or just two people in your household - go for the 'baby' varieties unless you love lots of coleslaw, for example. There are plenty of just-for-one varieties now.

You can mulch to keep the soil cooler and hold in moisture by using 'dead' things - like pebbles and big glass beads that are about half to one inch wide. Big enough for you to easily take them off the surface to wash in a bucket and reuse on the next crop. (Keeping things clean is more important with containers than in gardens. There aren't so many friendly microbes in a bag of sterile potting mix.)

If your local plant supply places are selling strawberry plants now plant them up in a container of their own. Don't buy the cream just yet because they'll need to grow on for a year (unless your local conditions say otherwise) and you'll actually have to take off any young fruit before it ripens. It's worth it, though. And you can use the tent to protect your crop from strawberry-hungry birds if you cover it with some nylon netting.

Thanks laurie for the additional info. I didn't even think we had any frost here in San Jose. I live right next to a Big Lots. I'll keep my eyes open for sale prices. I do need to watch the budget closely.

You folks are great!

And vetivert, i was thinking of using a table, since I can't lift heavy things. I'll follow up on the baby sized veg. It's just for me. Thanks for explaining what mulching means and also that the crops "finish". Well, it will take me awhile to digest this info. I need to find large containers and lightweight soil first i guess.

Thanks everyone.