Gardening in Containers

So many people want to garden, but don’t have the room to do it. They either don’t have a yard at all, or the yard they have is unsuitable for gardening. But if you have a desire to grow, if you want some fresh home-grown vegetables on your table this season, it’s possible to grow some things without a yard.

Potatoes

I read about this process last year, but it was too late in the season to do it. I’m so excited to try it, and to bring you on this trial-and-error journey with me.

You start with a large garbage can. Punch holes in the bottom of it for drainage.

Put a layer of soil in the bottom of it.

Take potatoes that are ready to seed.

Cut them at the sprouts and place them on the soil in the bottom of the garbage can.

Cover them with soil just to the tops of the plants.

From what I read, as the plants grow, I will cover them with soil to the tops of the plants. Then as they grow I’ll cover them with soil to the tops of the plants. When we get to the top of the garbage can with the soil and the plants, I’m to dump out the garbage can and it should be full of potatoes.

I’m excited to try!

Lettuce and Tomatoes

My friend, Lisa, has a paved yard. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea.

What she’s done is grow lettuce in containers. Intermixed with this beautiful lettuce mix are some herbs as well, but I didn’t take good enough pictures for you to see them.

She’ll be able to harvest from these lettuce containers all summer long.

She also took a hanging plant stand and hung tomatoes from it.

This is her first year doing it, so she’s not certain how successful it will be, but she has a friend who is an organic farmer who is certain that they’ll produce in abundance.

Herbs

I am going to grow my herbs this way this year. In fact, a shoe sleeve is on my shopping list today. I have a section of fence that will be perfect for this – it gets good light, it’s right next to the hose so watering them in the evening will be easy. Right now, I use a flower bed in my front yard – which has no water access – and the herbs haven’t done as well as I would like. I’m able to use them all summer, but never have enough left (other than rosemary and dill) to actually harvest. So, the rosemary and dill will stay where they are, because they do thrive, and the other herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, parsley, cilantro) will go into the shoe sleeve!

Apartment Balcony Gardening

I have a good friend, Mari, who live in an apartment near Los Angeles. She has limited space and she lives on an upper floor, so she has to be careful about water.

This is a picture of her porch. It think it’s pretty standard for most apartments.

Utilizing a wrought-iron plant stand, she was able to plant tomato plants, Italian eggplant and cilantro. To the left, a rose bush and in the squaw dish, hot pepper plants. To the right, a box of sage and rosemary, and a box of common mint.

She has the plants drain onto each other, and has a plastic tub collect the excess water.

She’s even able to grow tangerines in a big tub!

As you can see, with creativity, “Container Gardening” is very forgiving for a lack of space, earth, or even an actual yard. You can still enjoy this growing season and have some form of a harvest of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs, from even the smallest spaces.