systlin:

You can grow practically anything in a pot on the porch, really. Maybe not corn, but I’ve grown peas, beans, squash (summer and winter) peppers, cucumbers, herbs, onions, beets, carrots, lettuce, spinach, garlic, and even potatoes. The trick is to use a big enough pot. 

Many vining plants like peas, beans, and squash have ‘bush’ or ‘compact’ varieties that do very well in pots. Look for those. 

Large cheap plastic totes with holes drilled in the bottom actually work very well. You can fill them halfway with ordinary dirt out of the ground, and top it with a few inches of cheap potting soil, and then top that off with Miracle Gro potting soil. (It’s the best, it just is.)