By Jennifer E. Beaver
OK, no excuses.
No matter where you live, you can grow fresh vegetables. Maybe not enough to continually refill the salad bowl at Soup Plantation, but enough to enjoy a sprinkle of tangy parsley or a few tasty, bud-popping tomatoes. Go for quality, not quantity.
Container gardens deliver edibles to those in condos, apartments and other dwellings without a patch of dirt for an in-ground garden. They’re perfect for seniors, kids, and those who simply want some crisp lettuce leaves at the ready.
Even though I’ve got plenty of land (well!by Long Beach standards), I’ve always grown vegetables in pots. And I finally figured out why. You know the phrase, “Her creativity knows no bounds” ? Well, mine does. My creativity has a 24-inch diameter. I can design a Project Runway-worthy container garden of merrily bobbing tomatoes, lacy parsley, colorful (and edible) nasturtium flowers and trailing alyssum!but only if I keep it in a 2-feet wide pot.
To grow vegetables, you’ll need these basics: a plastic or terra cotta pot 8 to 24 inches wide with drainage holes; potting soil; fertilizer; and vegetable plants. Keep in mind that plastic is lighter and therefore easier to move, and that any 24-inch container full of dirt will be very heavy. My favorite potting soil of the moment is Kellogg’s Patio Plus. For fertilizer, try Osmocote. Simply sprinkle the dry pellets in the planting hole.
The best vegetables for containers, according to Ohio State University, are salad greens, spinach, eggplant, Swiss chard, beets, radish, carrots, peppers, bush beans, determinate tomatoes, bush varieties of summer squash and cucumbers, green onions, and herbs. I mostly agree, but I’ve also had good luck with indeterminate tomatoes— the kind that ripen progressively. Just use a large pot.
Here’s a handy chart from Gardening Life magazine (www.gardeninglife.ca). Remember that smaller pots will dry out quicker. All vegetables need consistent moisture for good flavor and performance.
Pot size: 8″
Veggies: lettuce (2-3 plants), spinach (2-3 plants), radishes (1 dozen plants), green onions (1 dozen plants)
10″
dwarf tomato (1 plant), bell pepper (1 plant), Swiss chard (1 plant), bush beans (1-2 plants)
12″
carrots (12 plants), broccoli (1-3 plants)
24″
cabbage (3 plants), cucumbers (3 plants), tomatoes (3 plants)
Most vegetables prefer six hours of sun a day. Got a shady balcony? Position your pots where they will receive reflected heat and light, or grow crops like parsley or lettuce that require less sun.
For more container inspiration, check out the book Bountiful Container (McGee & Stuckey) and lifeonthebalcony.com, a website/blog by a smart, innovative and entertaining local gardener.
