Gardeners, I Need Your Help

Sometimes, I feel complacent with life. I'm assuming most of us feel that way.

You get into your routine—work, family, sleep. Repeat.

I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to challenge myself in my personal life. I've got a list of topics and activities bouncing around inside my head that I always considering pursuing but never follow through on them. That's the story of my life.

That changes now. Last week, I asked for help to get going on becoming a better griller. That was the first in what I plan to be a series of blog posts asking for Patch users to help improve their editor's life.

As for this week, I've always had an interest in where my food comes from and how it's grown. Growing up, we were hit over the head in school with the three Rs, environmental conservation and a minimalist lifestyle; I even attended an environmental high school for my last two years of K-12 education.

Confession: All along, I felt like I was pretending.

For one, I grew up in the suburbs playing video games and screwing around on this fancy new thing called the Internet. My thumbs only ever got dirty from the repeated strikes of my space bar.

We didn't have a garden. We bought our food from a chain grocery store and I was never involved in the process. Whatever my mom served that night, that's what I ate. No questions asked.

Now, I don't plan to go out and buy acreage and start tilling the land, but I'd like to start a modest (very modest) garden. Vegetables would be nice, but I'm not opposed to just beautifying the outside of my house with flowers.

This will be no easy undertaking. I don't have a lick of an idea where to even begin.

And now for the real challenge. I own a townhouse. While I have the opportunity to use some of my land that I own, I'd like to stick to using my second-level deck. Is that even considered a garden if it's some planters hanging on a railing?

So, readers, there's your challenge. Educate me on how to best approach building a garden on my deck. Vegetables, flowers, whatever. I'm open to ideas.