Musings Thus Far

1. Sun - the only space I have for gardening gets about 5-6 hours of sun a day because it's in our back yard behind a fence and borderd in the back with a thick woodline, which is one of the reasons, besides depth, that I think my SFG isn't doing as well as my containers, but is that good enough for beans, peas and cucumbers in the intense GA summer heat?

2. Peas - Anyone know of a pea variety that grows in bushes instead of vines? Looking to maximize trellis space.

3. Trellis - Whatever I use can't be obtrusive and it's got to be something I can get at my local po-dunk Ace Hardware. It's got to be attached to the back of the box as the ground is like concrete, yet shiftable once something is in there, so it won't support a trellis in summer afternoon wind/thunder storms.

5. Since the man (husband) has agreed to let me build whatever amount of boxes I want since it goes along with the no-red clay philosophy, what obsure veggie couldn't you live without.

Containers vs. SFG

I know it's only been one week, but the same vegetables I put in at the same time in my containers are outgrowing the sqft garden 4-1. The container plants are MASSIVE and the ones in the garden are as scrawny as they were when I transplanted them. The only thing seeming to do well is the romaine lettuce and radishes. The soil mixture is the same in both. Not a great mix, but the best I could do at the time, and still the containers are groing like crazy in comparison so I don't think this is the problem. Sun exposure is about the same if not 2-3 hours LESS for the container plants. I tried fertilizing today to see if this will make a difference.
I was thinking that maybe the depth of the roots would make some sort of a difference....I had to put a weed fabric down as I put the beds right on top of grass. Could that be the problem?

Several months ago, I was posting on the GA gardener forum of GardenWeb about my potted vegetables causing me grief. An incredibly helpful member suggested I try square foot gardening instead. I've spent the last few months reading up, planning and listening. I gathered all of the ammunition I could and finally convinced the man (since it would cover some of his coveted grass in the dog-lot...I mean back yard)that this was what I wanted to do. I was a bit worried at first since the back yard is mostly a dog-lot and I don't think this is what is meant by "water frequently" but thank goodness they've left well enough alone.

We've made the boxes small so the boy can get in there and participate since he was the one who started all of this "I want to be a garden man" stuff this summer.

We're growing romaine lettuce, brussel sprouts, broccoli, red cabbage, dill and leeks, with a few raddishes sprinkled in throughout.

I KNOW the tomato bush in the back doesn't have enough spacing, but when a four year old's life apparently hinges on having a tomato plant RIGHT THERE and in no other place, I let him put it there since it's so late in the year anyway, it's doubtful it will produce anything. Regardless, some slug came by and chewed the top flowers off anyway, so it's basically a gonner.