Any gardeners here? I want to grow food this summer

EastSideFluffy

I want to have a couple pots of vegetables this year.

I have a tiny backyard.  It gets a ton of sun, but I don't think the ground is good for growing things.  There's a ton of weird things growing out of the ground that I don't have an interest in dealing with and our landlord is BSC.   I tried growing arugula in the ground last year and it all died, and the rosemary I planted months ago has not taken off either.

So I'm thinking potted plants are the way to go.

I don't even know where to begin.  I'd like some tomatoes.  Perhaps a few varieties so I can can some.

And maybe something else that would grow well in pots.  I don't know what...green beans, maybe?  Do those grow in pots? 

I'm in Northern California.  I start seeing tomatoes at the farmers market in July.  When do I need to start this?  What sort of things do I need?

Does anyone buy seeds from Seed Savers?

Thanks!

 

uncannycanuck

Anything can grow in a pot if the pot is big enough. Green beans should not be a problem - they're pretty easy to grow. Tomatoes also grow well - look for varieties that are suited to "container gardening".

If you buy seeds, you need some small pots to start stuff inside (I use the little jiffy peat pellets). (Well, maybe in California, you don't?) Then some big pots for outside - I'd guess in the 2-4 gallon range for tomatoes, maybe 1 or 2 gallons for beans. Potting soil. A way to water them.

I can't help you with timing... that varies by local climate, and I only know mine.

uncannycanuck

Tomato Container Gardening

Mrs.A&J

Lots of things can do very well in containers, it's a matter of choosing the right varietals. If you search "best vegetables for containers" on google the first item to come up is a pdf link from Texas A&M extension service, it has a list of some specific varieties of veggies as well as recommended container size and density.

Things like cucumbers and beans you can get in bush varieties. I'd plant tomatoes and squash (if you dare! squash can spread like crazy) from starts rather than seed. I have used burpee seeds before, never seed savers. A package of seeds will be WAY more than you need for a little container garden, though, so I'd recommend trying to find as many starts as possible once they show up in stores.

CDMay2006

For a small garden starts should be ok (expensive for a larger garden), or you could share a packet of seeds with someone else.  I started my tomatoes today and i live near Seattle.  You could start them now and have a longer growing season, or you could wait and start them outside, since you can grow further into fall than we can.  Also, i've hear determinate varieties (which have one "crop" and then die) tend to do better in containers, but i don't know why that would be.  Determinate varieties continue producing until frost kills them.

juno

I live in the Bay Area, and I have lots of food containers.  Right now I'm growing peas, mustard, spinach, lettuce, garlic, raspberries, and strawberrries in pots on my patio (you can plant and harvest greens pretty much throughout the fall/winter/spring here).  I also have dwarf orange and peach trees in pots.  The oranges are ripening now (ate one this morning in fact), but I just planted the peach tree this week, so I can't vouch for that yet.  In the summer I've grown pickling cucumbers in a pot and they did very well.  I bet some of the non-woody herbs would be great smaller container plants here too.

I have grown tomatoes in pots before, but they do better in the ground for me   The cherries do fine in pots for me.  I couldn't get enough to can from my container tomatoes.  I usually put my tomatoes in the ground in April.  I'll probably start the seeds at the beginning of March and move them up in containers in my window until I'm ready to put them in the ground in late April.  This is also dependent on which microclimate you are in.  I'm guessing that if you're in Sonoma/Napa you might be able to put them out earlier?

I buy Seed Savers seeds and enjoy them, especially for tomatoes, beans and carrots, but I buy plants for all of my lettuces.  I can't get lettuce seeds to sprout at all.  My spinach (seeds) and garlic (cloves) are planted from last year's crop.  I get my peas at one of the bog box stores.

Mrs Manners

I love THIS book about square foot gardening. It teaches you how to make and properly plant what might be considered large containers. I've never done a garden so this will be my first year and I'm using the planting/growing/soil principles from the book. I built my raised bed last weekend and this weekend I'm going to finish getting the materials for the soil mixture. So far I think I'm going to start with one 4x4 bed and one 4x8 bed. The materials for building the beds and grids (untreated lumber) were about $60. I bought organic seed seperately ($1-2 per package) and I'll have the cost of the soil mixture components as well....but I won't incur those costs again for many years (until what I built falls apart).

I also started my own compost bin so that I'll have compost in time for the summer planting.

CarrieB.

I've had really good luck growing peppers in pots. I think I'm going to try eggplants in pots this year too.

juno

CarrieB.:

I've had really good luck growing peppers in pots. I think I'm going to try eggplants in pots this year too.

I forgot about peppers!  Bell peppers produce like crazy in containers for me here.  Peppers are another thing I can't get from seeds though, so I just buy the plants.

curlydoglover

Peppers, tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce, spinach, certain types of eggplant, etc. all grow well in pots.

We ordered seeds from Seed Savers this year.  I'm looking forward to getting my package!

ETA: They seem very good with customer service and integration between their catalog and online sales.  I ordered my seeds via mail with a check and they applied it to my online account that already existed and sent me a confirmation of shipping via email.  Pretty impressive, IMO.

ksdk

I have grown a few successful container gardens, with herbs, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc. I was either in an apt with a fire escape, or in a house with poor soil. I found that they required heavy watering, but on the bright side, the garden was mobile... when my tomatoes were getting fried in NJ August sun, I would move them to the other side of the house.
Oh and the rain can be too much, so I used umbrellas to protect the plants from damage and the pots from overflowing. Rain can pulverize a potted tomato faster than one planted in the ground.

treesapplaud

Containers are a great way to grow veg. Research what you want to grow so you get the right sized pot. Things like tomatoes and squash need a lot of space, but sallad and peppers need less.

Start small and approach gardening with a sense of humor. There's always one thing every year that does terrible and something which does well and surprises me.