Vegetable Garden on a Concrete Yard

kaatlomini

As a hobby I've made small vegetable gardens for my own personal use. Even on Concrete yards and Rooftops.

I've been able to grow extensive varieties of vegetables in a limited space using Styrofoam boxes and mixture of dirt, cow manure and sand. 

I've even had good success with peanuts, potatoes, sweet potatoes, jeruselum artichoke, ginger, etc.

Other vegetables were relatively easy, like, green beans, long beans, cucumber, bitter melon, etc.

Strawberries and Melons needed a bit more care.

For whatever reason I've never had success with Cilantro or Pandan plant. Tried it repeatedly and failed.

pansyface

This is a British based website. We get our peanuts from the supermarket.

debs64

I have never heard of bitter melons or cilantro?  Or Pandan???? 

B3

Cilantro is coriander. Don't fancy growing vegetables in dirt😕

WeaveyDavey

@Kaatlomini: I do so admire your perseverence & ingenuity in the face of what seems at first a major difficulty! BRAVO!! Btw: Fish boxes & beer crates play a (minor) part in my home gardening scheme also! *Lumps of limestone are an adequate substitute for breeze blocks 'wiv 'oles in them! & readily available when builderly types are demolishing outhouses nearby....More strength to your elbow, wherever you are.

kaatlomini

Bitter Melon (Bitter Gourd), Sponge Gourd and Egg Plant from my garden.

Fire

Very inspiring. We have such different conditions here, I'm not sure we can advise much on growing year round cilantro

madpenguin

That is amazing and inspirational @kaatlomini
Just goes to show what you can do if you put your mind to it!
Wondering what part of the world you are in?

madpenguin

B3 said:

Cilantro is coriander. Don't fancy growing vegetables in dirt😕

Surely dirt is just another name for earth?

Joyce Goldenlily

I have grown coriander in the garden every year since moving to Cornwall. It doesn't seem to like be grown indoors or transplanted. I let it self sow as the seedlings seem to be stronger. A hard winter usually kills it off. 

pansyface

Surely dirt is just another name for earth?

“Dirt” is an American name for earth, it’s true. But the British English language, as opposed to the American language, is more nuanced. 

To a British person, “My hands were covered in dirt” offers a completely different mental image to “My hands were covered in earth”.

In the first case, I am telling you that I had been involved in an unpleasant “dirty” job. There is a sense of revulsion associated with what I might have been doing.

In British English, the word “dirt” always has unpleasant connotations. A dirty joke, to dish the dirt on someone, to be dirty,soiled or stained, dirt cheap, to wash one’s dirty linen in public, a dirty look, a dirty weekend, a dirty old man, dirty tricks etc. In Sheffield, there is an expression “a dirty stop-out”, which is a plain speaking way (one might almost say an “earthy” way) to describe a woman who is no better than she should be.

In the second sentence however,  I had been busy in the garden. There is a suggestion of a job well done, some tiredness but not discomfort.