Not everyone has a Back 40. Many urban gardeners are working with aggressive space constraints (“Patio 4?” anyone?) but still want the joy of planting, harvesting and cooking homegrown veg. For these gardeners, container growing is sometimes the best or only option.
Nearly every crop that can be grown in ground can also be grown in containers. I grow a container demo garden every year at the front of my house to show passers-by what can be done and have successfully harvested broccoli, kale, summer squash, beans, herbs, strawberries and greens of all kinds from a few pots at the front of the driveway.
In my cool-summer, maritime climate I find that real heat lovers like eggplant often do better – a lot better – in containers than in-ground, and so even though I have a large (by urban standards) garden, I still choose to grow some crops in containers.
The trick to container gardening is in knowing which varieties of each crop are going to thrive in that environment, and setting up your containers well. This means using appropriate size pots and potting mixes, and providing the right water and nutrition for your plants. Container growing also means taking responsibility for more of the plants needs as compared to in-ground growing – that little seedling is counting on you for food and water because it can’t seek out deeper, moisture-retentive soil.
With those considerations in mind, growing a whole garden worth of food from containers isn’t hard – it just requires a little know-how.
Giveaway!
High Mowing Organic Seeds (my favorite seed house and a sponsor of this blog) is offering one NW Edible reader the book The Bountiful Container plus the High Mowing Organic Seeds Container Garden Collection.
The Bountiful Container is a real classic in the How To category of garden books. It covers soil and potting mixes, sizes of pots needed for various edibles, best varieties, how to combine edibles in containers and talks about the full range of fruit and veg you can grow in a pot and a lot more. It’s an information rich book.
High Mowing’s Container Garden Collection combines ten of the best varieties of vegetables for container culture into one pack. It includes one packet each of:
- Nasturtium Mix
- Genovese Basil
- Santo Cilantro
- Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato
- Ring-o-Fire Pepper
- Sugar Ann Snap Pea
- High Mowing Mesclun Mix
- Dinosaur Lacinato Kale
- H-19 Little Leaf Cucumber
- Yaya Carrot
And because these are High Mowing Seeds, everything is certified organic. These varieties make a nice collection for a warm-weather container garden, but several (the cilantro, peas, mesclun, kale and carrots) will continue to thrive deep into fall or even overwinter in mild climates like the Pacific Northwest.
Together, these two items have a retail value of $45 and will give you the knowledge and varieties you need to grow hundreds of dollars worth of organic vegetables in a small space. High Mowing will be giving both of them to one lucky container-gardening winner.
To enter to win, sign up for the monthly High Mowing Newsletter, The Seed Bin, then come back here and leave a comment below letting me know what fruit or veggies you grow in containers.
About the High Mowing Newsletter: this is not some schlocky spam email thing, guys, I promise. Every month High Mowing sends out one newsletter with great, truly useful garden information. I learn a ton from the newsletter.
In the past they’ve sent along tips for doing at-home seed germination tests, information and great stories on specific varieties of vegetables, how to care for garden tools, how to jump-start the potato growing season and even tips for container gardening. They also run periodic giveaways for stuff you’d actually want – like gardening books and gift certificates for organic seeds.
High Mowing follows best practices for emailing, so you don’t need to worry about them selling or trading your info, and of course you can unsubscribe at any time. But honestly, I don’t think you’ll want to. I look forward to the helpful tips in The Seed Bin every month and I bet you’ll feel the same.
This contest is sponsored by High Mowing Organic Seeds and is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. Contest open until Wednesday, April 16th, 8 PM PST. Winner will be notified by email. If the winner fails to respond within 24 hours, a new winner shall be drawn. Good luck everyone!
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We’ve grown tabasco peppers, tomatoes, and a variety of herbs in containers. Whatever didn’t fit in the beds, if appropriate, goes into a pot. Since we turned our lawn into a farmette last year, we have had a lot of visitors come by to check it out. The plants in containers are usually gifted to any of the families that come by to discuss growing food and gardening – esp. if they have children.
I’m trying beets and carrots in containers this year, I have my fingers crossed!
At home we grow strawberries in a few containers/raised beds and onions, chives, and lettuce/salad stuff in another. I also run my kids’ school garden and everything is in raised beds: Peas, beans, radishes, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower, cabbage. But I really could use some guidance/direction because I’m just winging it here 🙂
Hello all,
I would love to try the high mowing seeds. I have tried the normal container veggies, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce. Thought I would try an eggplant for some reason. It was a bad idea, Lesson learned. The poor plant looked like it was being torture.
Love you column
Already receiving The Seed Bin. Purchased and are moving to an apartment in the fall of 2015….will be transitioning to container gardening to supplement the community garden plot we’ll be using in place of the garden space at our house. At least whoever buys this place will get nice rich soil that has been organically amended for the past 40 years.
My mom & I have a vegie garden we just transitioned into a container garden using rubbermade stock tanks. Gophers invaded the old vegie garden (and my mom can’t bend over as easily anymore). We are starting with golden beets, celery root, bok choy, swiss chard, 2 tomatoes & a new variety of broccoli (romanesco?). We also have plum trees (yellow, purple & santa rosa), 2 apples & 2 pears. I want to add an apriot and a white nectarine. I am lucky we have a pretty big lot. The gophers are a huge problem, so we are looking at containers. Thanks
We grow everything except root veggies in our vertical aeroponic container garden – year round in Marblehead MA. There are 28 plants in 6.5sf of floor space. Love the High Mowing parthenocarpic and greenhouse varieties of squash, cucs, and tomatoes for indoor growing, then move the whole container outside for summer. The plants keep on trucking until November! Wild turkeys love the HM Red Russian kale in our soil garden, but don’t dare come near the plants on the patio! Thanks for the post!
Right now mint, so it does not take over! We are going to get a couple more varieties for the herb portion of our garden. Last year I tried a cherry tomato, but was not successful…..
I grow bell peppers in a big pot. Last year I had a purple, red and yellow pepper plant all together – worked like a charm.
I grow horseradish in the biggest nursery pot I find. I get a good crop and it’s contained rather than the wild child in a far flung corner. Also much easier to dump out on a tarp to harvest, then refill with the smaller roots for next year.
I grow fruit trees and berries in containers. I’d like to learn more about growing veggies because I haven’t had good luck. They always seem sub-par. What’s the trick?!
Veggies grown in my containers…tomatoes, all sorts of herbs, tried eggplant last year (didn’t go so well), kale, hot peppers, and okra.
I mostly grow herbs in containers, but I am experimenting with 5 gal bucket tomatoes this year because of the need for rotation and the limited amount of space in my garden.
I’ve grown cherry tomatoes successfully in pots, ideal to provide fresh soil and be on wheels to seek the sun. Right now there are small pots with lettuce on the deck (helps keep away greedy slugs), herbs (Greek oregano, chocolate mint) and basil will go into pots once it’s warmer.
I grow herbs in a large pot on my upper deck so they are close to the kitchen. I am considering trying tomato plants in large containers on my patio so they can be integrated into the drip watering system I use for my hanging baskets and patio containers.
Signed up for the newsletter. I have a window box with thyme, rosemary, oregano, basil, and chives. Outside, I’ve mostly grown tomatoes in containers, which do well, though it can be tough to keep them moist in this hot, dry climate.
This would be perfect for me. I’m new to the Pacific NW and would like to start gardening.
I was already subscribed. I like to grow herbs, tomatoes and peppers in containers. Summer is short here, so I can bring them in when frost threatens.
Signed up for the newsletter thanks . Love to gardening , have been successful with tomatoes , cucumbers , rosemary and peppers in planters . Always trying something new things and love all the ideas .
Even when I have had a huge garden my favorite thing to grow in a container was always Bambino eggplant. I put it with some nasturtiums or marigolds and some Thai basil with its lovely purple blooms. The whole thing is a lovely purpley, orangey painting and the tiny eggplants are so cute I can hardly pick them. Although they do produce prolifically in a container. Suddenly I am on a suburban lot with my best sun on my deck, more containers to come!!
I grow broccoli, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, herbs in containers
I’ve grown greens, herbs, and tomatoes in containers. Thanks for the newsletter tip!
My dream container garden:
Garlic Chives, Lemon Balm, Bee Balm, Tarragon, Sage,Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Chamomile, Mint or Yerba Buena.
Thanks, I’m looking forward to your newsletter.
-Danielle Cade
I already subscribe the Seed Bin–lots of good information there! I grow herbs in containers often. Occasionally I’ll do tomatoes (still searching for the perfect container tomato for my mother!) or sweet peppers. But my mother can ONLY do containers.
I tried to grow tomatoes, borage and some other edible flowers in a Smart Pot – but my lovely feathered ladies ATE all the blossoms. The plant continued to grow but it didn’t flower again successfully (or maybe they just kept eating them.) Reading above comments I think I’ll borrow the combination Neta Courcey has – but in a chicken free location.
I grow potatoes in containers and some tomatoes. I don’t have a lot of sunny spots in my extremely small yard and I place the containers on dollies so I can wheel them around to capture as much sunlight as possible.
…i grow PoTaToEs in wine barrels successfully. take that voles.
Tomatoes and herbs mostly.
This year, I’ve got a Roma tomato, two purple tomatillos, and a cayenne in pots. Then, there are the potted blueberries, lemongrass, Persian lime, various herbs. My yard doesn’t get much sun, so I have a lot of pots to supplement my little garden plot.
I’ve only grown herbs in pots, but I’d like to try other things. I just wasn’t sure what would work well. I’m really don’t have much in the way of gardening experience or knowledge; just trying to learn.
I have a couple of raised beds and large garden spot at a community garden so I don’t do as much container gardening now. But I still have some things I prefer to have in container. I currently have a raspberry bush, I grow all my herbs in containers; mint, oregano, chives, rosemary, basil, thyme, cilantro, parsley, marjoram, last year I did a fairly tale eggplant with great success. I have been trying to grow celery, last year I almost had it but then I went on vacation and it didn’t get enough water! Dangit!! Before I had my large garden I would do carrots, garlic, radishes, lettuce, spinach and tomatoes. Let’s just say I love gardening!
I love Northwest Edible Life newsletter, always lots of great tips! Can’t wait to see what in what I will learn from High Mowing newsletter. Happy Gardening!
I’m all signed up for the newsletter! I’ve tried growing various veggies in containers, last year it was tomatoes and squash. This year the tomatoes are staying in containers and going into the greenhouse (as soon as all my tender tropical plants are free to come out). I’m probably going to do squash in containers again too. I just finished moving all my herbs from containers into their own special bed.
I just planted lemon balm, oregano, basil, cilantro, and parsley in containers. I will put some tomatoes in pots soon. Thanks for the chance to win.
I have not tried container gardening yet but reading the list of what can be container gardened was a solution to our problem…we love sugar snap peas but our season between hard freezing and too hot is just too short to get much of a a a harvest. Next year, those plants are growing in a pot that I can move in or out as needed without disturbing thieir roots.
In planters I grow a number of things. Mint, chives, basil, sage, rosemary, oregano, jalapenos, romeo carrots, french breakfast radishes, tomatoes, pole beans, peas, kale, chard, lettuces and cucumbers. I tried tomatillos but they tended to take over everything the following year with their volunteers but if I ever have enough yard to put them in the ground I will again. I’d like to try potatoes but the patio is pretty full. I’ve tried ginger and got it started but it just didn’t make it through the winter.
I have a few raised beds, where I mainly grow things I use in canning. Tomatoes (Dutchmen, Gold Medal, and Pink Ponderosa’s), peppers (Anaheim, Orange bells, and jalapeno’s), celery, broccoli (if I have room), onions, lettuce, and spinach, and kale (in the cooler months).
I adore your website. I have taken so much advice from the articles I’ve read. I recently purchased grow lights, and this is the first spring that I’ve successfully had healthy, strong seedlings. So…THANK YOU!
Signed up for newsletter! I started growing tomatoes in an earthbox last year and had stunning results. I had gallons of grape tomatoes over many weeks. Will expand the earthbox garden on the deck this summer. Found great YouTube tutorials showing how to make an earthbox for about $10-$15 dollars (or less if you have the parts).
I have not grown anything in containers yet but I really would like to and I had thought of trying it this year but did not know where to start so it would be perfect for me if I win! I do keep a small garden and this year I starting all my planet from seed High Mowing Seeds! Thanks for the chance to win.
Almost everything- on my deck alone – I have a bay tree, pomegranate tree, 2 caper bushes, snap peas, lettuce, & a pathetic little basil plant & a hot pepper plant that over wintered (under cut off water jugs)… Wheeee
I grow tomatoes in containers. I’m in the Pacific Northwest and they grow so much better lined up in large buckets along the warm west facing wall of my house, much better than they did in my raised beds. I love container gardening for its manageability, though remembering to water is a must!
I am SO excited to know of this company! We had a big house & yard, and fall before last, made the decision to downsize, after we came very close to the burn area in the first of the two big fires here in Colorado Springs. We now have a tiny house & a tiny yard, but with big potential. I have been back & forth to the library dozens of times to check out container gardening books before buying.
Now, it is all one great experiment in how much I can do this first real full season! My old yard was gardened to the max, so I have a reputation to live up to 🙂 I still could use all the help I can get! Tomatoes & cucumbers made it through last year, this year, I hope to grow all the veggies possible, along with our favorite herbs, to preserve in as many ways possible for winter use. Hint: we infuse much to use in cocktails. I hope to get berries & cherries in large containers for that purpose!
we grow flowers, kale, chard, tomatoes, sedum and semper vivums, japanese maples and lettuce gardens.
I grow all my fruit in containers since I’m a renter so strawberries, figs, lime, lemons and even some potatoes.
Our strawberries are definitely the most successful things we grow in containers but every summer I get over excited and buy a bunch of starts (tomatoes, peppers, cauliflower, etc.) that don’t do well. I would love to know which varieties to use and what else I’m doing wrong so we can get more out of our containers!
Lettuce, chard and herbs so far. I love having fresh ingredients right outside my kitchen door.
We just moved into a rental house with a yard, so we’ve mostly done our gardening in containers and are only spreading our wings to in-the-ground gardening in the last few months. But we still grow mint in containers to prevent creating a garden solely comprising mint! Also have some strawberries in containers.
Hi Erica – thank you for this opportunity and for the info re The Seed Bin. I am now signed up. I can see there is considerable competition/interest in your give-away – very interesting reading I would say. Due to deer, I have a small area fenced off and grow in raised beds and pots a variety of tomatoes, peas, carrots, eggplants, raspberries, mesculin, spinach, lettuces. I grow herbs, cilantro, parsley, mint, sage, etc. only in the pots. It works, and each year I learn more, and I certainly have a lot more to learn. This is where your blog, and I anticipate the Seed Bin blog will provide a wealth of information. Thanks again.
I am very new to all this. I just started with some strawberry starts that we got in trade; a few onions, and I am planning on some potatoes.
What an exciting time of year! Since I’ve been moving a bit lately, containers make keeping my perennials with me. I’ve got a couple different lavenders, and my tomatos, some of my beans and peas, and lettuces will go into containers this year. Can’t wait!
I’m currently growing most of my herbs in containers….thyme, peppermint, lemon balm, and oregano!