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Talk to me about container veggie gardening.
Okay, I have an acre, but my old veggie garden was way down at the bottom of the property and so I sort of neglected it. Also, we have nasty clay here, so it didn't work well anyway. Well, with the prices of produce this year, I was thinking that maybe I can do some container veggie gardening instead. I know that I do much better taking care of my plants when they are just outside my door. I'm thinking I want to do tomatoes in my hanging baskets out front (where my rottweiler can't steal them), maybe some bell peppers, jalapenos, cucs, lettuce, banana peppers, and maybe something else? I may also turn just a little down the hill and throw some corn and watermelon in the ground since they were so so good last year and low maintenance.
Are these all things that I can do in pots instead of in the ground? (well, not the corn and melons of course) What do I need to look out for?
Re: Talk to me about container veggie gardening.
I put a square foot garden in my front flower bed, in front of the azaleas. I also have an acre, but most of the lot is wooded so sun space is at a premium.
I have a strawberry pot on the front porch, but that didn't produce well last year. We'll see how it goes this year.
I'm doing my tomatoes in topsy turvies this year (those bag things where the plant comes out the bottom) and bought a four prong shepherd's hook for it (hopefully it will hold the weight).
I have a multi container decorative thing that should be easily moveable, herbs are going in that. There will be a window box on our new shed's window (shed is under construction) and I'll probably put herbs or some small edible plant there.
I'm trying to landscape with things that are edible. My grandfather's philosophy was that if it couldn't feed you, it wasn't worth planting, so I'm trying to get back to that. We planted a fig tree as part of the landscaping, I just got a blackberry bush, and I have some kiwi vines I want to plant once I figure out a spot. Right now they are sitting in pots and grow quite a bit of foliage last year, but no fruit.
Rocky-
You should come see what I did in my small backyard. I have 6 raised beds right outside my back door. I have to walk past them to get to the swing set so I can't ignore them.
I would second the recommendation of doing raised beds right out the back door.
I've also done what RC has done. My yard is small, so I use small raised beds for my garden. I have two 3x3 beds, and some containers on my patio. Last year, I had great success growing okra in my containers.
I started out growing tomatoes in containers and had a lot of success with it, but the issue was that I had to water a couple of times a day during the summer. The summer heat here is brutal and you have to take extra care not to let containers dry out.
Container veggie gardening is all about watering. We had a really hot summer last year and my tomatoes just couldn't handle it when I wasn't home to water them a few times a day. I got some really great jalapenos though.
I'm going to do herbs in pots this year and am working on getting a raised bed for the veggies.
Jack