Sorry that things didn't go as planned. I have always had room, but my sil came to our town in North Carolina and decided to mostly grow in containers. Much of her 'farm' did well. She grew a decent crop of tomatoes and the smaller hot peppers. She also did well with herbs. She probably had more sun exposure.

Since you mentioned expense, I want to point out that while many may disagree with me, I have found that potting soil can be used over and over. I do add some fertilizer. I have used old potting soil for starts and larger landscape plants and pond plants; basically anything that needs to be in a pot. Many seeds will last for several years as well, although you should probably save them in a zip lock bag inside away from the high humidity.

Nice blog. Some things you can learn from forums and some things you learn from experience. Everything you did (successes and failures) are valuable. It's harder doing things in containers too. Anything that can go in the ground (or a raised bed open to the ground) is much easier.

Here are my new this year raised beds in front yard:

Here is a link that might be useful: Summer Vegetables