For the past half dozen years, I have been using Earth Boxes and a home made version to grow selected delectables.
Once setup, they take almost no maintenance other than refilling the water reservoir every few days.
I have had great success with tomatoes, peppers, cukes growing over 5' tall this way.
The yard I now have is mostly hilly and very bony and doesn't lend itself to in the ground crops. that being said, I have pretty good luck with mint, chives, dill and some shallow rooted crops, even in a raised bed. Too many moles/voles to invest heavily in root crops here.
