Although I love the Palm Trees adorning my near coastal Southern California home, I also embrace a vegetable garden every spring. Of course our tract homes are on smaller lots, and the plants have to share. Palm Trees don’t like that. They want to dominate their space, and their roots prove it.

Each year I would add some topsoil to my "best space" for a garden, cultivate it, and then plant some nice seeds. I do this hoping to get a crop that will impress my grandkids. It doesn’t take much. A few mellons, some cucumbers, strawberries, some peppers, and the tomatoes they refuse to eat. Beans are OK, but they don’t like peas.

As spring started, and the ground warmed up, the seeds germinated, and pretty leaves would shoot up. Soon the plants would spread out, buds appeared, the bees went to work, and small fruit would appear. Then the evil Palm Tree roots went to work and sucked up all the water, the soil hardened, the plants withered, and my hopes were dashed.

I don’t give up.

This year I collected some nice small redwood tubs. The local hardware store sells them with flowers, and when those no longer bloom, the neighbors would toss out the whole thing. Thus, I was able to re-purpose them. Having seen all those ads for container gardening ( and after failing to get a thriving upside down tomato plant ), I decided on a new approach. I put fresh soil into the planters, sowed my seeds, and now I’m seeing some very impressive growth.

I’m hoping the Palm is not named Audrey ( think Little Shop Of Horrors ), and that my plan works. The grandkids will be excited ( and impressed ) and a few extra veggies and mellons would be a nice treat this summer. Of course the wooden bottoms on these containers will keep the roots at bay, and just maybe I’ll have a small, but productive, garden.

For those of you who have small yards ( the norm in all of our Southern California tract homes ), you can maximize your blooms in minimum space using containers. Look around for various types you can re-purpose. Its fun, colorful, and a great way to divert from a very busy schedule.

Hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to post some photos of a plentiful harvest. If not, well there is always the Farmer’s Market.