Small Area

Goinpostal's idea has worked well against the hoa nazi enforcers......................I mean.........I heard from a guy who knew a guy. Try to get photo evidence and send it in anonymously. JBTs love busting people for frivolous crap.

 

Consider renting a gardent spot... it bypasses all of the agnst of the HOA.... or become a co-gardener with another person who has a garden.... swap labor for produce... win-win...

 

I am not a distributor. My wife and I have been on Juice Plus for years and our distributor turned on us on to the tower garden. I too would rather dig in the dirt as I grew up on a small farm but this was our best solution living in an apartment. So far it's easy, fun, and fast. No complaints yet

 

Boxes, baskets, tubs, etc. All good ideas. It might be a bad time to try and sell right now, but it's going to get worse again. My boss has been buying and selling for over 30 years, and she was right the last time the market crashed. Does the HOA allow flower gardens?

 

Here's an idea I'm considering. Container gardening, though using a little different "container". First, go to http://www.growerssupply.com and look up "Aero Soft Grow Containers" (without the quotes). These mesh style bags are supposed to work pretty well, and are inexpensive to purchase, especially compared to plastic or ceramic pots! They also come in sizes ranging from 3 to 30 gallons, so you should be able to grow pretty much anything out there.
Not sure how easy they'd be to move around, but I'm sure an enterprising person could figure out how to do it.

 

Aero Soft Grow Containers - Growers Supply

Might work out. I've got a local source of 'snap pools' they have a rigid outside, and a plastic bottom you can puncture, or remove. Not perfect, but cheap and easy.

 

I would do 4x8 raised beds with untreated pine lumber. The wood is cheap and won't kill you, the raised bed will allow you to use soil better than what's there (making better use of space), and weeding will be cut down.

Look for square foot gardening plans online for 4x8 planters. There is a ton of plans on what to plant.

 

I built mine, 3 years ago, using 2x6 pressure treated pine for the sides, and corner posts made from 4x4 pressure treated pine. So long as you ascertain that the pressure treating did NOT use certain chemicals (arsenic, etc), you're good to go.

So far, they're holding together really well. No idea whether they would do so if I tried to move them, though! LOL

I used stainless steel decking screws, 3-1/2 or 4 inches long, to hold everything together. Do yourself a favor, and spend a little more to find the ones that have the square hole driver, as they'll tend to drive all the way through without the bit skipping (like a Phillips head will). The containers I got, from Lowes, had the bit in the container, so I didn't have to go find or buy one.

 

All my flower boxes and planters have been turned into food gardens. I changed the dirt and now have kale planted in the boxes that used to hold marigolds and petunias. Purple kale is pretty. I have seen old wooden barrels cut in half growing peas and green beans,the barrels were placed in the flower garden so if you looked past the roses, you would see a pretty pea plant.

PS- I would never live in an HOA, people keep trying to start one in our neighborhood but keep failing to get the support. Most people don't care if their mailboxes match.