Container Gardening

Last year I did not own my own home.  One of the major drawbacks to this was that I was unable to plant a garden for the first time in years.  This was, for me, horrible.  I love fresh vegetables but even more I love getting to play in the dirt.  It is soothing.  As my last post on meditation may have shown, this is where I get my major relaxation throughout the spring, summer, and fall.  I did the next best thing to planting a garden, I planted containers and it worked much better than I thought it would.

First, I went to my local Tuesday Morning.  There I found huge flower pots that were dirt cheap (pun intended).  I didn't mind that they were mismatched.  That actually gave the garden a bit of whimsy.

After that I found very inexpensive top soil to fill the pots about a half to 3/4 full.  On top of that I put the really good potting soil.  In my estimation, the potting soil is good for getting the plant started, but once it roots I always feel that the top soil is just fine.

For last year's garden, we had tomatoes, peppers, basil, peas, green beans, mint, and cucumbers.  Those were the plants that grew.  I tried to plant other herbs like thyme and other lower plants but the herbs did not do well.  I realized that at least for me, starting herbs from seeds does not work.  The basil grew very well because it was a seedling when I got it and the mint was a transplant.  The herbs were just too tiny for me to get to grow right.

I then mixed the plants in the containers, a "tall" plant and a "short" plant.  The tomatoes and basil went together, the green beans and the cucumbers, and the peas and mint.  I put cages in the pots for the tall plants to grow up and the short plants cascaded over the sides of the containers.  My yield out of my garden was pretty decent.  I must say that learning about mixing the plants, tall and short, in the containers was the piece of the puzzle that made it work.  It is a very simple idea that holds a lot of power.

This year, I own my own home so I will be able to plant in the ground.  However, I am searching for small garden ideas.  I don't have a lot of ground, but enough that my family will get fresh vegetables and maybe some fruit if I can pull it off.  And the herbs are a must.  I miss my herb garden; it has been far too long since I have had one.  I am looking forward to collecting new herbs as time progresses.  And, you can be sure that the tight space gardening will be posted here!