Small gardens are made most productive by having a continuous supply of replacement plants. Use the current space for the plants to be swapped in and out, like greens, and brassicas..(Even chard, which is a wonder green that I have never had bolt, will fall prey to aphids as the plant gets older and weaker. ) Sprawling, or running plants could go into hills outside of the main garden. Grow your perennial herbs in pots. Basil can be grown indoors in the winter, if you have a sunny spot. Chard, also does fine in pots. Do you have any places for hanging plants? If so, there are smaller varieties of tomatoes and cukes that willl do well in baskets, as will mints and stawberries,providing your potting mix has a moisture holding element like coir, and of course, as long as they do not get full sun in the summer. Think about microclimates in general, and how to take advantage of them.. My greens are in earthboxes in the shade of a mesquite tree. If you have access to materials to build similar self watering containers you will be pleased with the results. (Search GW for earthtainer, or look for"global buckets" on the web) Row covers will give you a few degrees more heat in the winter and critical shade in the summer. A row cover, by the way can be any translucent light weight material. 4" of mulch will keep roots cool, preserve moisture, suppress weeds and feed the soil. Moving pots near an earthmass like a house or a wall will add a few weeks to their spring an fall seasons. And, of course, you will need to plant flowers for pollinating and benefical insects. I grow mostly parthenocarpic cucurbits now, hybrids that are self fertile, but if you don't you will definitately need to bring in some pollinators. My watermelons were overlooked last year, until I hung a humming bird feeder in the middle of the patch. And finally, try to figure out what your optimum growing seasons are. For growing in your kind of summer, think African...sweet potatoes, okra, etc.As a general principle, fruiting veggies produce best with night time temperatures above 50 and daytimes less than 90, but, again, you can help them along with shade and mulch. Good luck, Jan

This is such a great question as I have pondered it myself while gardening. It is true I get so much more out of gardening than just the monetary cost, but in today's economy, every dollar counts in a young family like ours. In an effort to have more organic produce available at a "sustainable" price (LOL), I decided to try growing my own. The following are my challenges and what I've done. Hopefully it can help you: Poor soil = Raised Beds: We have clay marl in this area, not conducive to veggie gardening. So I decided to do a raised bed. Cedar lumber, railroad ties, and pavers (recommended for raised beds) are all quite expensive so I went on www.freecycle.com and craigslist.com. I was able to get 200 pavers / bricks for $20. Droughts in Central FL = Expensive Water: The raised beds help conserve H20 bc you are watering a smaller area more efficiently. I added soaker hoses I found in a neighbor's trash (really). Cost was zero. Mulch is free at a local park where the county gov't shreds it, puts it in a pile and you just have to bring your own container. I'm sure your county has a similar set-up. Soil: Now this was expensive. A 2.5 cf bag of garden or potting soil is about $10 here and the bed I have takes about 10 bags. So I scoured the net for Home Depot and Lowes coupons. I found several $10 off of $25 purchase. So I methodically bought my soil in $25 purchase increments in order to get the $10 savings. I spent some more on compost because I don't have a compost pile. I add calcium to my tomatoes by saving egg shells. Transplants vs. Seeds: It's nice to have an instant garden with transplants but inflation has hit them too. They are much more costly now. You can get seeds for 1/3 the price and have 20 to 50 more plants. Plus transplants often have diseases and pests from the nursery which you are INTRODUCING to your new 'virgin' garden! So, I buy the seeds and follow the french intensive/sq. foot garden method. Jiffy mix + pots works too but that was too costly this year. Pests and Diseases: Unfortunately, here in FL we have year round bugs, fungus and blights. I have tried very hard to go homegrown organic, but so far I have failed. I had to resort to buying Organocide ($15) in order to treat blight in my tomatoes. Today I found corn earworms in my corn and fruitworms in my tomatoes. A cursory net search revealed that the preferred organic control (a predatory wasp) is $90. Yeah, who can afford that? So, tomorrow I am going to buy some BT at $9 a bottle at Home Depot. It's not conventional pesticide, true....but I'd rather get the wasps! So far, the major costs have been pest / disease control. If you want to plant a garden on the cheap- you definitely can....just think outside of the box and ignore all of the glossy Lowes/Ace/HD ads...they just want your $$$$$$$...scour the net/eBay for coupons, check out freecycle and craigslist. You can even rent power tools for FREE from local libraries (check out swap and borrow sites). GOOD LUCK!!!!

Thank you, Butch. Lots of very good information here. I'll print this off and read it several times so I'll know what needs to happen in the soil for maximum root development. Don

People in England are really into gardening. Someone I work with is in our London branch. She just has a tiny apartment, Two of the windows have flower boxes in which she grows radishes and lettuce. At one time she and some friends had a little plot outside the city. She just marvels at pictures of my yard and how many vegetables and berries I grow. And it's only 1/4 acre! This past Saturday one of the local shows featured a local guy and his book that came out recently. It's called Straw Bale Gardening and the author is Joel Karsten. People from Alaska, Dubai, Saudi Arabia - everywhere have shown interest in it. It lengthens the growing season and is perfect for places like Dubai that don't have good soil. Joel grew up on a farm and moved to the cities and bought a house with really bad soil. That is what led him to come up with this idea. That and sometimes the growing season in Minnesota can be considerably shorter than others. Basically you treat a bale of straw with nitrogen for two weeks to condition it. Then you dig holes in the top and side and put in plants. The bale starts to decompose feeding the plants. In addition the bale is 35 degrees warmer than the temp outside because of the composting affect. You can start your plants earlier and tent on chilly nights. I ordered the book. I might try 1 or 2 bales this year seeing as our season is late getting started. I think I will plant tomatoes and compare the plants to my ones in pots on my deck. Tricia - seeing that your soil was damaged by Sandy this might be something you want to try. As soon as I pick up the book I'd be happy to share the info with you if you are interested. Two words ......... heirloom tomatoes!