Hello there!

Yep, which would you choose if you had to for this prize position and why? Carrots? Broccoli? Cauliflower? Gems? Tomatoes? ... and again, do several vye for tie first place? Have you grown your favourites in a container?

Here I would choose (under duress mind you and whispering so the others do not hear) a CUCUMBER. I love it when I am as cool as one and when I am calm and collected (not often!). I love them in sandwiches and salads and as face and eyepacks and juiced on a hot day - there is nothing quite as refreshing.

Ah well, maybe there are a few others that could also come first but then they would not really be a favourite favourites would it?

Cukes United - sounds like a personal sports team I own - now that would be good and fit fun!

Tell us all which and why you would you choose what you would choose if I asked for your favourite favourite vege? I have a niece of sorts who loves the flower but not so much the 'cauli' bit!

Cheers now

Hi Lestie,

Is today National Favorite, er, I mean National Favourite Day in South Africa?

My favorite vegetable is the bell pepper, especially the orange and red ones. I like them for their somewhat sweet flavor, their crunchy texture, their versatility and the bright color that they add to virtually all of the dishes that I prepare such as last night's preparation, Szechuan Chicken. We are fortunate that they are available in our part of Mexico year round and often at about 1/3-1/2 the cost in the U.S.

Hello Les,

No, I am in a favourite favorite mood so I thought I would ask favorite favourite questions! Memories are made of this don't you know ... smiling!

Sweet bell Peppers and Szechuan Chicken - sounds really delish. Isn't Szcheuan cooking hot and spicy? AND Sweet bell peppers are easy to grow in containers too! Now you tell me, what more could a girl want?

Cheers now

This one is easy - garlic! Or does that not count, being a corm?

I love all vegetables really, hard to pick a favorite! I even like bitter gourd but my current fav are fresh green chickpeas! These are a seasonal item available usually only in the springtime:

Fresh Chickpeas

I try to enjoy fresh seasonal vegetables as they come into their peak & are at their best, then they're gone until next time :-(

I have a few favorite vegetables--carrots, cucumbers, and fresh corn.

Hello Vege-eaters and all and all,

Seasonal choices are always best we all know but life has kind of taught us to want things when we want them and not necessarily when we need them and so if we have the budget to go, well then you can pretty much find anything 'in season' and available because the world is so instant these days, and produce can mostly be found pretty much anytime of the year because of demand etc.

Costs are skyrocketing all the time (we mortals have to fuel our greedy sectors) and just this past December in SA (out of season for avocados) there was a shop selling nice looking imported Fuerte avos. for R25 - R30 each. Divide that by 7 and you get around $4 per palm-sized fruit. Well now, I just smiled and walked past. I couldn't afford to pay that no matter how pressing my need, but I have to say too that I wouldn't pay that for an avo, even if I were wealthy. But then if I were that wealthy, I wouldn't be doing the shopping now would I! Ah, we just have to grin.

Chickpeas in a container? I must do some homework and see if the effort is worth the yield of growing them for more than just pleasure. I followed that link you supplied Sadhana an found it most interesting to see. Gosh, I feel like a city kid who thinks milk comes from the supermarket! I didn't realise that the brownish beige tinned chickpeas looked that that in the au naturel. Ah well, thanks for that and all and all.

Remember in the movie the Silence of the Lambs when that psychopath ate somebody with Fava beans ... some how that line has stuck in my brain, but it's just as well they chose that bean. I mean, it wouldn't have sounded quite the same if Anthony Hopkins had said he was going to supper to eat chickpeas with his main dish!

Ah Jill, now garlic is soooo special and yes, if really pressed I would have to agree with you, Garlic is certainly a favourite -cooking and salads just would not be the same. It is also so easy to grow in containers.

I am working on some articles for more unusual fruits and vegetables that are possible for containers, so will be sure to see what I can do to fill the oh-so-many-gaps the CG site has.

My vote for favourites has to include broccoli and cauliflower for me though I know as a kid I hated them!

Cheers now

P S Oranges have just come into season, it being winter here in SA, so off I am to buy a pocket or two!

Hi VintageGS,

Do you grow anything in containers yourself?

I smile as I type that question thinking about my last attempt at container carrots. Those darn seeds are so fine and therefore so many, that trying to thin them out suitably was difficult and then my end result were stunted and knbbly and squat and short carrots that, and finally with an OH DEAR, sort of tasteless! As a work of art they may have made it in the funny carrot category, but as a vege-non yield would have taken first prize! Needless to say, I haven't tried again, though that is no very sporting of me. I love carrots freshly juiced, that nutty flavour is to die for and they say juice is a fine natural medicine for cancer treatment.

I tried a fresh corn salad recently and all that was there was it was served in a sharp vinaigrette dressing with very finely chopped fresh white onion. Delish I say and worth a try, I was a braai/barbecue and my friend was serving it like that as a stand alone salad or poured over hot baked potatoes in their skins.

Anyway, I guess all veges are great served and prepared well - I sometimes wish I had the wherewithal to grow them all in containers big and small!

Cheers for now

I am also a huge fan of tomatoes!

My goodness.....this one is tough because I like pretty much every vegetable.

I would have to say that broccoli is my ultimate favorite.......

Tomatoes, peppers, onions, squash, cauliflower, green beans, and eggplant are right up there near the top of the list too.

Hello everyone,

So nice to read about your favourites, does everyone grow them by chance?

So far I have grown them all except for eggplant and not tried squash, cauli or broccoli in containers - to my mind they need space, mainly 'cos I don't only want to grow one, eat it for a couple of meals and that's it! And I just do not talk Cabbage. I don't know, but I swear that plant has it in for me ... it just will not grow for me no matter what I say!

Some people have, I have just never been lucky from seed so some I buy from the farmer's markets and others I grow when I can. Tomatoes are really easy and great to eat off the vine! And as for all the good recipes out there for veges - it just makes me want to go into market gardening!

Anyway, I am going to carry on writing up articles on slightly different foods and containers so maybe a few people will try something different sometime soon.

Cheers now

I have only grown tomatoes and herbs in pots.

I am good at houseplants but tend to kill herbs and veggies in pots. Probably because of the aridity here in the southwest.

Hi Jill and Debbie and all,

What particular veges or herbs do you think you would like to grow Jill?

Which have you tried?

Are you interested in trying again or are you kinda cabbaged out?

Must say, that watering for vegetables is vital but so is too much or too little sun, compacted soils, not enough of the right fertiliser AND to repeat, watering is really important. Not everyone has the time for the fuss in a way.

Still if you think I can help with advice with a particular edible, I will certainly chatter about what you can try.

Cheers

To Lestie,

my favorite vegetable is..... mashed potatoes.Not a joke.

loong

Loong, that's a good one. I think you can do those in pots, if it's a big one. Like using a trashcan, i think. Add holes to the bottom.

Lestie, When I tried the hanging tomatoes the wind blew the pot down and killed the plant. We get random big winds here regularly so i gave up on that. I just grow them in my plot now.

Potted rosemary always dies on me - they dry out once and then it's all over. I can't get thyme to stay alive in a pot either, or basil, or mint, or oregano or marjoram. None of these are forgiving enough for the dryness here. I do well with these in the ground, though. Things dry out too fast for me in pots.

I do well with potted geraniums, but that's not a food!

Hi Loong,

I have grown mashed potato with much success so can see why it would be one of your favourites.

It's is just that you need different gardening tools (like boiling water; a source of high heat - either gas or electricity or even open coals/fire; a peeler and your hands) and not everyone has these on tap.

Anyway, that plant is an exotic in many places in the world and for sensible use is often not mixed with pasta or sweet fruits like apricots and mangoes. Combining it with the right other fruit and vegetables is a must for health reasons I hear.

And then of course the lumpy varietal is not as popular as the smooth one even though they grow under the same circumstances. I believe that the lumpy one is okay served with runner bean bits go figure! I read too that you can get an instant type as well but have I not tried to grow this one, it looked sloppy and grey to me the one time I saw it in the nursery.

Good luck with your next crop, I am sure you will enjoy the fruits of your labours.

Cheers

Hi Jill and all,

I can guess how the constant watering of your containers is too much especially where the alternative option is for plants to draw water from the ground once the vegetable patch has been planted out and watered deeply and well.

I grow a lot of herbs both in containers and an herb patch so enjoy it all. Want to experiment this year with new ones for me like curry leaves/herb St John's Wort and such so will report back another time.

I find too that mint is one of those thug garden plants that when happy, spread too easily and tend to suffocate and want to takeover the whole patch like a naughty kid needing any type of attention, even if negative! So, for that reason I grow mint in a container to contain its spread - BUT having said that, I also grow mint around my garden taps.

Mint particularly likes water and it does so well there oh thirsty one that it is ... it just laps up the extra H20. Have you got a dripping tap? Plant mint then maybe your favourite favourite vegetable will become mint sauce to go with Loong's mashed potato. And roast lamb/chops I guess. And green peas say.

Jill, Geraniums are edible - see this week's Container Gardening article coming up soon. Tra la.

Cheers now.

P S Do you bake cakes or scones etc? Simple stuff like sponge cakes and muffins and scones etc. Hmmm, use geranium leaves for that indefineable something that will drive your taste-testers crazy with guesses as to what you've done!

I don't actually cook. I am kind of a no-cook gal. I don't even have a stove or a counter top. Maybe i will in a few years, but there is simply no room in my studio.

People have all kinds of warnings about how invasive mint it. THose people do not live in the desert! lol. Our wild mint grows only around permanent water sources, which are infrequently found. I can barely keep it alive in the garden, actually. It certainly likes water.

I do have some i deliberately planted by my outdoor tap, but of course in the desert you never allow anything to drip and waste water. It costs too much! So when i use the outdoor tap i have to remind myself to sprinkle some extra water over the mint.

I want to know how to eat geranium!

I am growing tomatoes and peppers in pots. I don't have a greenhouse, so being able to move the plants as the temperatures get chilly during our short growing season helps.
It is dry where I live in the summers - probably not as dry as Jilly's area, but I can relate. I have used those soil crystals before with some success. I am wondering about putting some sort of paper crown or collar or cover over the pot with a hole in it for the plant to stick out of. The idea being that the water would be in the container for the plant to use, and would not evaporate from the soil that is covered rather than exposed. Has anyone tried this?

AKlisa, I actually have tried using carpet padding scraps for this. I have a tendency to rip up carpet where ever I am and I use the old carpet itself for the bottom of a mulched area. For the padding, it's really absorbent and retains water. I put little ripped up pieces around the holes of trees, bushes and veggies I plant. they will eventually decompose, but in the meantime they act like a sponge and keep the roots wet a bit longer.

Hi Jill,

Many, though not all Geraniums are edible in that they can be used for decoration (flowers sugared or plain) and flavouring (leaves)and then again the flowers in salads, but I have never come across a recipe for 'baked geranium lamb' or a side dish like 'roasted geranium a la fleur' or boiled in quantities like spinach etc.

So guess I misled you above by indicating they can be eaten like a full vegetable, but I didn't mean to, so have to apologise.

Sorry guys.

Cheers

Hello Lestie, Maybe it is because I'm British, I don't know, but taking a mixture of Cauliflower, Broccoli, onions, brussel sprouts and carrots, toss with some olive oil, season with Herbs and bake in the oven for 45 minutes. Oh my, that is good eats! I guess those would be my top picks. ___________________ Bettina Thomas-Smith Herbs Editor

Lestie, I like that about the flowers! If I grow geraniums again i will have to add them to my salads along with the other floral edibles from my garden.