I also new to vegetable gardening, but started a few things in containers about 2 months ago and all seem to be doing well. I'm growing collard greens, bibb lettuce, tomatoes, jalepenos, bell peppers, spinach and a variety of herbs.

I use large containers all bought at walmart for the vegetables and use window boxes for my herbs.

You could grow dwarf variety carrots in a deep window box, but regular carrots will need more depth to develop. I just seeded eggplants and plant to put single healthy transplants in 5 gal containers.

good luck and when shopping for seeds and plants look for "compact", "container", "space saving" varieties.

oh I forgot to mention that my spinach also recently seeded and just sprouting is in a window box.

I have never ate fresh spinach.

Lettuces, mesculun salad mixes, micro-tom or tiny tim cherry tomato plant, herbs, green onions, radishes, mini-cabbage, dwarf varieties of cukes. I think squash and eggplant both might be too big but there is a eggplant called Morden-Midget that would work (doubt you'd find plants so you'd have to grow it from seed).

Be sure to check out the Container Gardening forum too for even more suggestions - lots of vege container growers hang out there.

Good luck! ;)

Dave

PS: and definitely spinach - nothing better than fresh spinach salad with hot bacon dressing.

Just about anything w. a shallow root sytem can be grown in a flower box. I wouldnt try something like potatoes obviously, but I have had success w. leaf lettuce (head lettuce needs more space to develop), onions, radishes, carrots, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, and cukes.

I even had a volunteer sunflower from rogue birdseed grow in a window box one year. Granted it was the same box my onions were in, and once the sunflower reached 3' tall, it became top heavy and tumbled the box off the railing of my deck. Needless to say, I was unimpressed as the onions all uprooted, but my wife wanted to see how long the flower would last.

Counting the cost of veggies in window boxes -- don't forget you're going to have expense of planting materials, nutritional elements & water. Don't forget time. Sure there are some things you can grow & have lots of fun doing it. Just don't expect to more than supplement with speedy things such greens, radishes, etc. which you can replant often.

For example, carrots alone will be in the ground over two months before you see any possible return. How many would you get out of a window box? The store prices won't look quite so bad when you have someone else take all the risk and effort.

I have many vegs plant in ground but I have a bunch of extra window boxs im not using thought it be good to grow something you could eat .my mother use to grow tomatoes on porch and she always had hundreds out of the 4 plants she had I cant buy 1 tomatoes at 1.50 its crazy and no way it will cost me much I grow so many flowers already and love to grow but I still think it has to be cheaper when I was younger we had a garden and alway had more than we could eat we gave tons to neighbors and a jar of pickle wow 3.00 we made our our pickles and had them all year all we could eat.I know we didnt have much money so no way it cost alot we didnt have it to spend.Now im older and I feel so sorry for younsters who cant eat right for its so expensive to eat vegs.