Growing vegetables in container gardens

Nothing beats a delicious home-grown tomato, or a zucchini, or some exotic fresh peppers snipped only moments before lunch. This can all be yours if you grow vegetables in your container garden. Growing vegetables in containers makes a lot of sense. The growing medium in containers warms up faster in spring, giving you a head start on planting. Containers also protect your plants from marauding pests.

Rule number one: choose to plant vegetables that your family actually likes! There is no point in dedicating precious space in the garden to a vegetable unless you enjoy cultivating, eating, and sharing it.

You will need a spot with six good hours of sunlight. Fill your container with good soil and mix in an organic fertilizer or compost. Organic fertilizer can be supplemented with a boost of fish emulsion every few weeks. Don’t let the soil dry out completely because water is the key to vegetable growth. Water at the soil level so that water droplets don’t stay on the leaves and cause them to rot.

Vegetables can be started either from seed or small plants. Some vegetables do better with one or the other. Once your plants begin to produce vegetables, keep them harvested! Picking the vegetables will encourage the plant to develop more vegetables!