BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Container Gardening Veggies in containers

This is excellent - thanks Mary Ellen and Megan! I'd just been wondering whether I could/should start growing fruit and veges in pots because I'm so fed up with the prices and lousy quality of the veges at the supermarket. We're renting, so I keep saying once we buy our own house we'll plant veges - but I want fresh veges *now*! I could easily become addicted to strawberries if I allowed myself to buy them more than a few times a year. Now if I grow them myself...

That's one of the very nice things about container gardening---you don't have to leave beloved plants behind if you do move. They wave good-bye to their friends and go right along with you.

Just tell them what's going on. Plants hate to be kept in the dark.

There are two kinds of strawberries, June ripening and everblooming. If you plant both kinds, you should have a pretty steady supply.

I have some growing, but I also have chipmunks. Chipmunks just love strawberries, so I have to share. I *could* net them, but I just love chipmunks (ALVIN!) and I'm willing to lose a few berries to have the chipmunk look in the kitchen window at me for a few minutes.

I adore Swiss Chard, but it took the family awhile to like it. It outlasts lettuce and even spinach and grows beautifully in containers!

My container gardens did so well in Delaware that I got fresh vegetables straight through the year! When I had to move, a neighbor begged me to sell my large to him for $50 each and the smaller ones for $30! These were those large green rectangular plastic containers. Had one for herbs, one for greens, one for beans, squash, etc., and one for tomatoes. Yummy!

We're starting to like Swiss Chard. I guess I always found it a little scary in the supermarket, but it's moving up on the list of preferred veggies. I'll have to look into finding some nice recipes. It sure does well in soup. It's a powerhouse of vitamins, so it's well worth some space in this year's garden. I like that it could go year 'round.

How did you do it in Delaware? Large, green rectangular containers are perfect for growing veggies, even better than my spackle buckets (though I do like them!). How is it that we like to use such humble containers for our "farming?"<G>

Do tell us more about these containers of yours, please, Oh Mighty Sage. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Oh, never thought of veggies in containers. Living in an apartment at the moment and the roomy is sorely feeling lack of a garden.

We are going to grow herbs in a window box- can't make up our mind about which.

Any suggestions on what grows well in summer- we live near Washington DC?
Thanks

Virtually all of the herbs---basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, mint, etc.---will do well in containers in the D.C. area. Some are annuals and will only last one season, but others can be wintered over indoors and live to serve another year.

Good luck whichever you choose.

All right! I'm getting ready and set to go; I bought all of my supplies and seeds today. I've got several long low plastic storage containers for herbs (and I get to play with the SCREWGUN tomorrow! LOL), a few large clay pots, several smaller plastic pots and a couple of deep plastic storage containers.

I also got a new vacuum... which would be a digression, except for it's going to be very important now that I'll be tracking all sorts of dirt into the house.

So, I'm in Zone 1 (but I'm a born and bred Zone 4 girl), so this will all be a total experiment for me. I'm not getting my hopes up for a single thing. If bugs eat everything, or all the roots rot out, I'm ready to take it like a grown-up.

Here are my planned veggies:

Zucchini
Summer Squash (Yellow Crookneck)
Cucumber
Peas
Radishes (Early Scarlet Globe and Sparkler White Tip)
Hot Peppers (Cayenne, Banana, Jalapeno)
Scallions (White Lisbon Bunching)
Spinach (Bloomsdale Long-Standing)
Cabbage (Copenhagen Market Early)
Tomatoes (Large Red Cherry, Roma, Beefsteak)
Herbs: Curly Parsley, Cilantro, Lavender, Sweet Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Chives, Sweet Basil, Spearmint

There are lots more things that I WANT, I'm just not quite ready to go for: green beans being one of the major ones. I'd also like to do some lettuces, but I've heard that they really don't fare well in the summer down here. Maybe I'll run back to the store and get one or two anyway.... we'll see.

The weather here is already warm and sunny, we're well past any risk of frost (although Hurricane season is coming fast). I'm excited about the fact that theoretically, there are the equivalent of 3 full growing seasons for most summer veggies down here (versus back home in upstate NY) and several things can grow in the winter, too. So when the first round of stuff is gone, it'll still be early summer.

Mary Ellen, have you ever grown horseradish in a container? I'm curious as to what the conditions would need to be, how deep the container would need to be, etc.

My sister and her boyfriend are the superior gardeners in our household. They put a cloche on one of the raised beds, to guard against these frosts we seem to keep having and got the February seedlings in on time. With the occasional sunny day we're getting now the cloche is very tropical feeling inside and the seeds are shooting up like crazy. Parsnips, green onions, beets, squash. We've got seed trays inside with two kinds of tomatoes, peppers, chamomile, and several varieties of flowers.

Horseradish is generally grown in the North! Illinois is the major horseradish production state. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Still, it's worth a try if you have room in a deep pot. Maybe you'll have a relatively cool summer. Whiskey barrels are about right depthwise.

I used to wonder why people went to such lengths to put old storm windows over flats and such, but now I see where it gives the seedlings just that little bit of protection they need to be able to handle the chill. It's not just about temperature, either, wind will damage the little darlin's.

There's great satisfaction in growing a plant all the way from seed, even more if you can do it from the seed of a plant you grew last year!