Because I have nothing better to offer, here are crappy cellphone pics, taken at dusk, of my palatial tomato garden and herb bed (seven pots of basil & one oregano plant). Because I am an impulse buyer, and the New England winters are long, there are approximately five vines in each of the long white planters, and three in each gro-bag on the opposite side. (This is not best practice, as any knowlegeable gardener will tell you.) And, yes, this is the sunniest, south-facing exposure on our property (all 75×80 of it) — the time of day exaggerates the shadows, but I wouldn’t mind at all if some mad lumberjack were to run amok amidst the scrub oaks and weedy conifers dividing our yard from the rental storage facility just downhill.
The current arrangement is actually an improvement — until we could afford to ‘hardscape’ a chunk of the side yard into that asphalt driveway extension, each summer’s tomato planters stood in a perpendicular row against the west wall of the house, where they got even less sunshine. Miserable and jury-rigged as the whole setup looks, I do get tomatoes… you can’t see them, but just about every crowded, propped-up plant has multiple fat green fruit ripening.
Motto of the story is: Yes, you can grow your own vegetables, even if you live in a suboptimal setting (and are both lazy & impulsive, like me). But just as importantly: You members of the BJ community should send me jpgs (click on my name, near the top of the right-hand column), because, seriously, you can do better than this, right?