Apartment/City Gardening--Ideas?

[runrunruneateateat]

It seems like many ERE readers are also avid gardeners so I'm hoping one of you will be able to give me some ideas. I live in a one bedroom apartment that has 4 large windows--two get lots of sun and the other two get a moderate amount. My question is--if I want to grow vegetables and herbs, which ones are my best bets? Obviously, it'd be great if I could trim my food budget through gardening, but I realize that my lack of land may prohibit that. So far I've been pretty successful with growing parsley (which is easy) but my basil kicked the bucket when I went camping for 4 days and left it in the blazing sun on my windowsill. I just bought a small basil plant yesterday from the farmer's market and put it in a pot on the floor, rather than on the windowsill, so hopefully this one won't get scorched.

[photoguy]

Basil grows really well in a sunny window, but dies if you don't water it regularly. I remember my parents grew chili peppers in our apartment which was great.
Maybe you could try an upside down tomato grower? that way you could take advantage of the entire window area.

[S]

Look for a community garden near where you live. I was fortunate enough to find one 6 blocks away when I lived in an apartment. Not only did I get a big sunny plot with soil that was already well amended, but I also got a lot of help learning how to garden. The lady who ran the garden created a 3 page guide to what plants grew well in our region, when to plant them, how much mulch to put down, when to harvest, how often to water, etc. You also get the opportunity to see what the other gardeners are doing right and wrong and learn from each other. We swapped extra seeds and seedlings too. The plot was $25/year which was spent on water and community tools.

[Marius]

This article from the June 2010 issue of Wired Magazine is about urban gardening on larger surfaces, but maybe it contains something useful for you anyway: Geek Gardening: A Wired Guide to Domestic Terraforming

[runrunruneateateat]

Thanks for your comments. I love the upside-down tomato plant idea. They'd probably look really pretty in the window. I tried to get into the community garden in my neighborhood last spring but the waiting list was huge. Apparently there aren't enough community gardens in Brooklyn to satisfy demand so I'll have to bring the garden to my apartment!

[George the original one]

For apartments, it's about growing things vertically. Whether that means pots on hangers or shelving or runner beans is up to you.

[George the original one]

Next thought: efficiency dictates that you should grow whatever is expensive/rare in terms of the veggies you purchase. For instance, you can grow a couple tubs of potatoes, but you'll want to make sure they're a more unusual variety than bakers.
Tomatoes are always a good value, bring them indoors as the weather cools and they'll produce until the sunlight is too weak (until about Thanksgiving or early December in Oregon).
Cucumbers and melons can grow suspended.
Do not underestimate the amount of potting soil you need. Larger pots are better than small ones so the roots develop properly.

[Q]

We've been experimenting with different things, but mainly the "seedling" start is where we fall into trouble.
That and consistency - but since SO isn't working, I think we will get better.