Kingsley Corner

We've made our vegetable garden into a demonstration garden using several gardening techniques. The rock garden is the best looking part of the garden. It was the most labor-intensive approach to gardening, but it was also free. We collected the rocks from a cemetery in Austin and the dirt was our high-quality dirt from our original garden plot. The only part we paid anything for was the gas to go pick up rocks. We usually picked up rocks when we were in the area for other things, such as dental appointments, so the gas calculations would be tricky to figure out.
Pros- low cost(free), nice aesthetics, the most space efficient approach to gardening, water efficient
Cons- high labor cost, permanent structure

The square box gardens cost about $25 for the wood. The dividers are from sections of Venetian blinds that were falling apart in our toy room (who needs window treatments in the toy room, anyway? Dumb.). The dirt was about $50 per box garden. The dirt could be free, but for us it wasn't. I now have an arrangement to get free dirt, so that won't be a cost factor in the future.
Pros- could be low cost, space efficient, water efficient, nice aesthetics with the grid layout
Cons- Walls need to be rebuilt periodically as wood rots, not well suited for large plants like squash or tomatoes, need access space on all sides

The Earthbox gardens are practically fool-proof. There's a water reservoir in the bottom fo the box, so there's constant water access to the plants. The overflow holes let out excess water, so it's impossible to over-water these plants. It's great for a beginner gardener and one box can happily fit a large tomato plant coupled with some basil. It's not a permanent fixture in the garden, so it can be moved (although it's VERY heavy) if needed. It's great for a patio garden or apartment-dwellers with no yard. Our boxes were given to us by some friends at work, although to buy one is extremely expensive. They go for around $50. I have building plans made by the Travis county master gardener's association to build your own Earthbox for around $10-15.
Pros- portable, small, beginner-friendly, no soil pests, water efficient
Cons- can be expensive

Some other fun developments: we've found a dozen 'volunteer' tomato seedlings that grew spontaneously from last year's plants. I found out that tomato seedlings can be pulled-just like you would pull a weed- and replanted in a pot. They grow just fine and don't struggle at all after that harsh treatment. We've been potting them and giving them away as gifts to students of my gardening class. It's been lots of fun and we keep finding more tomato seedlings as time goes by. We even had one growing out of the side of our compost pile.

We LOVE the lettuce variety we grew this year. It's Mignonette Bronze lettuce. It's a compact variety perfect for small gardens, and we've been devouring it with gusto for weeks. I planted 9 heads of lettuce and we've been eating the same plants for weeks. They are very vigorous growers, so when we harvest all the leaves, they just pop back with a full head in 2-3 days. We've really loved it. The leaves are a beautiful bronzed color and the flavor is sweet and crispy. was surprised that they grew back so well and we've decided this variety is DEFINITELY a keeper. This species of lettuce is an heirloom variety discovered in a French monastery garden. This species is over a thousand years old. We love it!