Best Vegetables for a Hot Porch + Small Box?

I am going to build a raised garden box (2 x 4) so we can grow a vegetable garden this year. We live in a townhome in Utah (dry and hot late June - mid August), and our porch faces west such that it gets full sun from noon all the way to sunset. The porch is concrete and is next to our stucco exterior, which makes the porch quite a bit hotter during the summer time. I fear the extra heat is going to make growing a basic vegetable garden very, very difficult, because high heat + small space seems to limit options. Ideas?

Ben Mac wrote:I am going to build a raised garden box (2 x 4) so we can grow a vegetable garden this year. We live in a townhome in Utah (dry and hot late June - mid August), and our porch faces west such that it gets full sun from noon all the way to sunset. The porch is concrete and is next to our stucco exterior, which makes the porch quite a bit hotter during the summer time. I fear the extra heat is going to make growing a basic vegetable garden very, very difficult, because high heat + small space seems to limit options. Ideas?

If your HOA will allow it I'd consider using shade-cloth and or line-misters to keep temps down.    In addition, you could plant some kind of heat-tolerant vine, or tree in a pot to help cool things down.  Cover as much of that concrete as you can with greenery.



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