Northwest Edible Life

urban homesteading in the pacific northwest

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{Giveaway} The Bountiful Container + High Mowing Container Gardening Seeds

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.

Bountiful Container

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.

Container Garden Collection

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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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Since we lived in an apartment, I grew everything in containers. Now that we have a backyard, we have raised beds, but I still grow quite a bit in containers (old habits die hard) including: Tomatoes, Potatoes in grow bags, Cilantro, Lettuce, Nasturtiums, Serrano peppers, Habanero peppers, Jalapeno M, assorted Eggplants, Strawberries, Dwarf Navel Orange, Dwarf Meyer Lemon, Dwarf Lime, Fig tree, Barbados Cherry, Thai basil, Lemon basil, Sweet basil, Cuban black peppers, Orange Thai peppers, Dill, Savory, Borage, Thyme, Banana peppers, Johnny jump-ups, Chile Piquin, Bush Cucumbers, Peter peppers, Parsley-Italian Flat leaf and Curly, Chamomile, Yarrow, Feverfew, Cuban Oregano, and a whole bunch more. I have all of these also planted in our raised beds and part of our edible landscaping since we can do pretty much do year-round gardening (zone 9b)…I believe in having back up plants for just about everything incase a hurricane would strike our area…then I’d bring all our containers to a covered area so that we do not lose our veggie and herb production!

  2. I signed up for the newsletter. For five years I had to do everything in containers…included tomatoes, squash and beans along with medicinal herbs and flowers. Now I use large containers to move around the garden according to sun patterns, so still grow beans and tomatoes in containers along with in beds.

  3. I have grown all my herbs and tomatoes in containers. I have signed up for the newsletter.

  4. Just signed up for the High Mowing Seeds newsletter! I had the same experience with eggplants grown in pots – I thought they were doing much better in the PNW than I expected my first summer here, so last year I grew them in the ground and was very disappointed. I am looking forward to trying more things in pots even though I am blessed with a large garden. Bulbing Fennel appeals – has anyone tried this? Would Sweet Potatoes do better in pots? I suppose anything that likes warm soil and can stand the constriction! I have to win this book 🙂

    Thnaks gofpor a great blog!

  5. I signed up for the newsletter. I currently have a huge stack of container and organic gardening library books that my fiancé and I are regularly consulting as we are planting our first garden together so this book and the newsletter both could be very useful to us. We will have tomatoes, herbs, potatoes, greens, zucchinis… and maybe more in pots.

  6. I grow hot peppers in pots. I always feel like I need extra time and by putting them in pots (and commandeering the kids wagon), I can pull them in the barn overnight if need be. I usually do cherry tomatoes in pots too (I don’t know why—space? habit? having them right by the back door?)

  7. In the past I have done snap peas and herbs, I love having easy access to herbs off of my kitchen deck!

  9. Strawberries and herbs. Thanks for all your hard work and excellent advice. Salt-preserved Meyer Lemons turned out great!

  10. All signed up! What DON’T I grow in containers? Rosemary, thyme, bay, parsley, dill, four kinds of mint, lemon balm, peas, beans, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, rhubarb, strawberries … just off the top of my head!

  11. Hey there!!! I LOVE YOUR SITE. I am currently doing a work share on an organic farm in Tiverton RI. I have little knowledge of gardening and I am committed and passionate about learning! I had been dreaming of starting a pot (container 😉 garden in my home and then by magic this giveaway appeared! Thanks for your hard work and commitment to spreading your knowledge to others! it is inspiring!

    Andrea

  12. Each year I add a new element to my garden. It’s an organic process that evolves as I get to know the land here where I live and how the soil responds to particular plants. I’d love to have a small fruit tree orchard someday and do some beekeeping, but for now I’m planting veggies and herbs and plants that are helpful to bees and birds.

  13. I do all my herbs in containers, as well as some edible flowers. I like being able to move them around to the best sunny spots as the season progresses (shade is a constant battle in my yard!). I also like being able to bring them inside and extend the harvest and cheer 🙂 What a wonderful giveaway!

  14. This year I have tomatoes, peppers and lettuce in containers.
    In the past, when I lived onboard my sailboat at a marina, containers of tomatoes and peppers flourished nearby in the Florida winter and spring sun. So many tomatoes that my neig

  15. I already subscribe to High Mowing Seeds Newsletter. That’s where I heard about this giveaway! Please enter me. Anyway, I just helped my daughter plant a square foot garden using the HerbMat and NourishMat, and she planted some organic tomato and corn seeds we had in some buckets along the edge of her patio.

  18. I have grown cilantro, tomatoes, strawberries, cucumbers, mint, basil, oregano, chives, rosemary, and lettuce in pots. I have been in situations where I could only grow things in pots if I wanted a garden at all, so that’s how I grew my vegetables for awhile.

  19. I am going to try my hand with eggplants, cucumbers, edamamaes, snap peas, tomatoes (vertical) and I am really hoping there are still potatoes and garlic left with High Mowing so I can try that too in containers.

  21. My daughter and I will be starting our first organic container garden this year. : ) We have just recently started to eat healthier and are going organic and are excited about this new way of thinking and eating. We will be growing some herbs, like basil, parsley and mint. We know we have much to learn but we are eager and excited about this new lifestyle and the adventures of gardening together. With doing juicing now we are also excited about learning how to grow fruits and vegetables in containers also. We are excited about getting your newsletter and trying out our green thumbs. : ) Thanks

  23. I grow cherry tomatoes. I’ve had the most success with Washington Cherry, developed at WSU. This year I’m also trying Sun Gold.

  24. I grow tomatoes, potatoes and herbs in my containers. Hoping to do more now that I have a drip system set up!

  25. Let’s see. .. blueberries, strawberries, tomatoes, herbs, grass, trees, flowers, raspberries, and peas!

  26. We grow all our rot veggies by container- radishes, beets, onions all from high mowing!

  27. We grow all our root veggies by container- radishes, beets, onions all from high mowing!

  28. I mostly grow herbs (basil, chives, rosemary, oregano) but this year I’m trying strawberries!

  29. I’m making some large self-watering containers this year and trying out tomatoes and peppers in them, testing how they measure up against the same varieties grown in traditional raised beds. By the way, thanks go to High Mowing for the great seed stock I’m using for the experiment — awesome germination and seedling health so far!

  30. We are currently growing strawberries and blueberries in pots. Just at dinner tonight, we were talking about expanding our container garden as we have run out of room in the garden. I’m loving my High Mowing seeds this year and the monthly newsletter. Thanks for another great giveaway!

  31. I grow tomatoes, peppers, and mint. Right now I am living in the dorms at my university, so my container plants are all I’ve got and I’m looking to expand my range!

  32. I look forward to the garlic, tomatoes & squash I have growing. Normally I would have more, but the desert winds have killed off anything else.

  33. Not sure if my message had my email address attached when I sent it. Growing tomatoes & squash, I

  35. I grow raspberries in big whiskey barrels. I also grow small cherry tomatoes in pots, as well as marjoram, basil and cilantro.

  36. I grow herbs and little funny things my kids get me for mothers day-like neon colored nicotiana! I’d love to try more veggies ( I have a large garden so i’m not concerned about space but creating microclimates for heat loving veggies)

  37. I have grown thyme, parsley, basil, tomatoes (regular and cherry) and strawberries. Not sure what else I will add this year but I’m always open to adding more.

  38. We have grown both cherry tomatoes and large beefstake tomatoes in containers! And we always put a hot pepper plant in each container to keep the bugs off of the tomatoes!

  39. Thanks for posting a chance to win. I cant ever have enough seeds…a 10-step program might help. I grow Chile peppers in containers and I move them around to chase the sun as the summer light conditions change over the fleeting hot months. I also grow flowers like snapdragons for my two little girls.