For those living in apartments, having a garden is only a dream. But what if you could grow your own vegetables and herbs at home in your windowsill, or on a balcony? By building these easy mini-greenhouses, you can have fresh produce year round.

To get started you'll need some sturdy cardboard boxes. You can use old packing boxes from your last move or go to a supermarket or grocer and ask for a couple of their boxes. You will want them to be at least six inches deep, more if you plan to grow root vegetables such as carrots or radishes. Save up all those bent metal wire coat hangers for this project too, and get some sturdy plastic, the kind used to cover insulation works well for the base of your greenhouse and thinner clear stuff like grocer bags will work for the top.

Using the heavy plastic, line the inside of your box. Make certain that the edges of the plastic come at least to the edge of the box to prevent leaks that will make your box soggy later on. The last thing you want is to have dirt and water seeping onto the carpet! Trim the plastic if necessary and tape the edges to the box. Fill up your new planter with soil. You can go out and dig up lots of dirt if you like, but the stuff you buy at nurseries is free of weed seeds and contains the nutrients your plants will need.

Now use wire cutters to snip the hook and twist part of the coat hanger off. Bend the rest of the hanger into a U shape and invert. Stick the upside-down U into the soil at one end of your box. These will be the supports for the greenhouse roof. Add another one at the other end of the planter and if it's a long box, another in the middle.

Decide what seeds you would like to plant (see the list below) and follow the directions on the package as to planting depth and spacing. You can plant more than one type of plant in a box, but I suggest that you stick to one per planter. Label the outside of the box with a marker so you won't forget what's growing where. It can get really confusing when you have several types of herbs that you've only seen dried before. Labelling clarifies everything and keeps you from having to guess.

Now water the seeds. Not too much, just enough to dampen the soil and stick a finger in to make sure it's all damp, not just the surface. And now you're ready to put a top on the greenhouse. Spread your thinner plastic over the top of the planter, so it covers the supports. Staple one side to the inside of the box (not the outside, or it will drip water) and tuck the other edges into the soil at the edge of the planter. Set the greenhouse in sunlight and watch your veggies grow!

If you notice that the soil is looking soggy, lift the edge of the plastic and let it dry out a bit. The water in the soil should evaporate and condense on the plastic where it drips back into the soil and rewaters it. If you notice there is no condensation on the plastic, you might need to mist a bit of water inside the greenhouse. Good luck and enjoy!

 Good Vegetables For Mini-Greenhouses: Carrots (deep box), Radishes, Lettuce, Mini tomatoes (may need to raise roof plastic), strawberries, spinach and mustard greens.

Good Herbs For Mini-Greenhouses: Parsley, sage, mint, thyme, rosemary, lemon balm