Over the summer I moved from San Francisco to Portland, OR. When I left I had a pretty healthy garden set up with a couple peppers, tomatoes, and herbs. Since the move hit right in the middle of the season, I had to spread the plants around with some friends and prepare to start a new garden further north.

This time around I would be working with a south facing patio (hooray!) measuring about 5 feet by 20 feet. Because it faces south with minimal shade, its perfect for a lot of my potential crops. We’re on the second floor of a 4 story building, as well, so my plants get a lot of additional warmth reflected and a fair bit of wind protection. Both nice through the winter.

I decided not use use the self watering planters I had used in my previous gardens and went with some inexpensive felt planter bags. I’ve never used them before, but for about $20 a five pack I felt they were worth the risk. No problems so far.

In addition to the planter bags I got a couple of felt planters meant to be hung on a wall. I strung them up to the railing with paracord and planted a couple of tests in each side.

The current crops are:

• Swiss chard
• Collard greens
• Purple broccoli
• Spinach
• Lettuce mix
• Beets
• Onions
• Carrots
• Parsley
• Green onion
• Oregano
• Catnip

As for the succulents, they’ll get another post soon.