14 Crazy Places to Grow Edibles

We asked for them, and you gave them to us. From a tractor tire to a toilet tank, you’ve shown us unusual places where, with the right soil, some water and maybe a drain, edibles will grow. Lack of landscaping doesn’t seem to stand in the way of your edible gardening efforts. Check out these 14 alternative places where Houzzers are growing crops and see if you get inspired to finally make use of those old blue jeans.

1. In a toilet. Not to let any good vessel go to waste, Houzzer drewsigner shared photos of a friend’s old toilet that now has carrots growing in its water tank.


2. In a vintage ice chest. Though it’s winter now, user dordesign’s herb garden takes full advantage of a vintage cooler in summer. If only all raised beds came with their own bottle opener.


3. In a concrete sink. Houzz user Shari showed us how she grows basil and other edibles in four vintage concrete sinks scattered around the yard. “They are great planters,” she says, because they already have a hole for drainage.





4. On a lattice fence panel. Limited outdoor space hasn’t curbed Houzz user giacometta’s edible gardening efforts. With a discarded wood lattice panel mounted to the wall, a narrow brick courtyard has become a convenient side-yard herb garden.


5. In a kiddie pool. I’m sure we’ve all seen our fair share of these ubiquitous plastic pools over the years, but with tomatoes growing out them? User brunettebohemian has created her own mini greenhouse outside of her Tuscon, Arizona, home — complete with misting system and plastic tent. The crop has even survived a couple of freezes, “thanks to a clip-on shop light with a 75-watt bulb and plastic bottles filled with hot water,” she says.


6. In the middle of the street. User mimadre and her neighbors converted the dead end of their Bogotá, Colombia, road into a community-tended garden. Now that’s taking farming to the streets.



7. Off a wall. Another way of growing vertically? Metal rain gutters. User zsuzsikonyha showed us how even a wall can be good for growing food. Parsley and other herbs thrive on this terrace in warmer months.


8. In a pair of jeans. Instead of throwing out that old pair of Levis, plant some tomatoes and strawberries in them, like user addunbar has done.


9. In an old tire. Houzzer sylviadncn’s husband and his uncle own a used-tire shop, so naturally she did what any gardener would do — she turned some surplus stock into raised beds. “These old tractor tires filled with horse manure raised a bumper crop of tomatoes this year,” she says.

Note: Tires are popular raised-bed containers for ornamentals and edibles, but some gardeners warn against planting edibles, particularly root edibles, in tires due to chemical leaching caused by the tire’s degradation over time. It’s important to research any container’s material before planting edibles in it.


10. Hidden among ornamentals. Planting edibles where you wouldn’t expect to find them can be just as engaging as planting them in an unusual container — maybe a little subtler than a toilet, though.

User lilion planted cucumbers and spinach along with trailing pink flowers on her home’s front landing.


11. In rain gutters. Houzz user cathymesser already showed us how she grows leaf lettuce and microgreens in rain gutters off the deck; here we see how she’s implemented this gutter-growing method elsewhere.


“We have a very long one along a fence rail by the raised beds and a couple along the rabbit hutch, both for them and for us,” cathymesser says.


Growing edibles above the ground keeps unwanted garden critters away. Here the family rabbit freely munches on its own trough of mesclun.


12. On a compost heap. User tsudhonimh plants trailing edibles in compost bins. “I do no-turn slow composting, and the full bins sit for a year or so until I need the compost,” writes tsudhonimh, who grows beans, squash, tomatoes and lettuce in a mound of dirt on top of the filled compost bins.


13. In a plastic bottle. Marisa Acevedo is attempting lettuce and spinach in her kitchen window this year. We all know that trial and error is a big part of gardening, but she sounds optimistic.


14. Underneath a sink. Skooterji may be growing edibles in one of the most unusual and inhospitable places I’ve seen yet, saying, “I grow Belgium endives under my bathroom sink all winter.”

Tell us: What other crazy containers are you growing your veggies in?

More edible gardening ideas

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