City garden / growing veg and plants in pots

[YeahBut]

Apologies in advance if I am being really stupid!
We currently live in a house with a courtyard garden. Because we're renting, we can't dig anything up to create plots. My girls are so interested in plants and how things grow and I'd really like to encourage this. Beats Nick Jr! Is it possible to grow fruit or veg in pots? If so, what would you recommend? I grew up without a garden so have absolutely no idea what we can do or when to plant anything. Any advice greatly appreciated!

yes, yes, yes. will try and find more info for you.

for starters:

herbs
mint
rosemary
thyme
chives
marjoram
all hardy perennials

fruit
strawberries
blueberries

do you have any beds at all? if you you can simply incorporate fruit & veg in the existing borders, e.g. runner beans, cabbages whatever. courgettes would do brilliantly! spring onions would probably do well in a border - or a pot for that matter.

tomatoes in a grow bag of course.

will try and come back with some good links.

you can also put the tomatoes in a pot if you like

we have a courtyard garden and I'd say the children's favourites (all grown in pots) have been

• sunflowers
• mint (v v easy if you want somewhere simple to start!)
• tomatoes
• little rose bush
• geraniums (pretty colours!)

you can also get little fruit trees like lemon or orange (in a pot) but they are more expensive and need a bit more care

oh and little mini chillis/peppers

here are some for you

Dobies - click on container growing on the lhs.

BBC Guide

Mike's Garden

Gardeners Club - scroll down.

alas i would say this is prob not the best time of year to start, but have a look at the guides and see what they have to say about what could be sown round about now.

Thank you so much for that. I really didn't have a clue where to start.

my pleasure - good luck!

lettuce/spring onions/carrots in window boxes
we have special apple/pear trees that grow in pots

This summer my 2 yr old and i grew lettuces and carrots in pots and potatoes in a black sack. He loved it

A topic that hits home for me. We usually grow herbs in pots (rosemary, basil and lavender), but I'ld like to plant something "serious". Planning to pick a small garden tree from this list www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/trees/trees-for-small-gardens , currently tending to a Korean Fir as it is evergreen and doesn't require high maintenance.

We have just planted potatoes in bags ( bags from Wilkinson’s ).
The seed potatoes were special winter growing variety, from the garden centre and will be ready in time for Christmas Dinner!
You can also grow winter lettuce and Monty planted winter raddish on GW.

Just seen this is a very old thread!