Posted in Home, Home Archive | Monday, May 17th, 2010
I have a deck in my backyard, and I was determined to actually grow food this year. I don’t exactly have a green thumb, but I do have friends and neighbors who are great gardeners, and are always willing to share their horticultural knowledge. I haven’t had much luck growing anything from seeds, so I a few weeks ago, I decided to check out the local farmer’s market and garden shop and pick up some seedlings. I bought lettuce, squash, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, celery and herbs.
The day that I planted everything I also added a couple of tablespoons of fertilizer to the soil in each pot. I used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil in all of my pots, and because of my schedule and occasional lack of attention, I used about 4 “Self-watering” planters so that I only had to water every other day. The regular pots I watered every day. If it was particularly hot out, I would water again after work in the evening. I forgot to take a pic when I first planted everything but here’s how it looks now.
2 tomato plants
Basil, parsley, mint and rosemary
3 red and 3 green leaf lettuces
4 cabbages
4 celery stalks
4 bell peppers
holes eaten in pepper leaves by slugs
I harvested the lettuce right after these pics were taken, by cutting them close to the top of the soil. Hopefully, they will grow more leaves for me. I have a bit of a slug problem that is obvious here from the holes they’ve eaten in the leaves of my peppers. slugs are the same things as snails. I have been dealing with the slug problem by using Ortho’s Bug Geta for Slugs. It’s been working well, but I’m still looking for a cheaper alternative since I have to reapply it every time it rains.
The containers I purchased last year for about $100, and this year all of the plants and herbs cost me less than $5 each. Considering the fact that the lettuce and herbs will continue to grow all summer, and I will have a bunch of tomatoes, celery, cabbage and squash. The garden will easily pay for itself in another month. If I can do this, anyone can do this.
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About Savvy Brown
I believe being healthy doesn't have to be complicated, being green can be easy and being broke isn't an option!
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You should see my father’s garden he has scotch bonnet peppers, tomatoes, bell peppers, pineapples, mangoes,rosemary, mint, etc growing in our yard he is a regular green thumb I hope that I can have a garden as gorgeous as his when I get my own place.
Hi SB,
So funny I should come here and read this post b/c I wanted to grow some herbs but I’m not sure if I get enough sunlight for them in my apartment. I love the idea of growing your own food and herbs. This entry just gave me the extra push to buy them. thx!
Try diatomaceous earth for your slug problem! It’s organic and will take care of other pests as well.
http://www.organicgardening.com/feature/0,7518,s1-2-9-1502,00.html
@Megan thanks! I’ll look for it…
@conscious Chick Great! come on back and let me know what you’re growing!
I’ve been looking at the herb containers that come with everything ready in them. Are those any good?
@Janel. Absolutely! You’re crop will be alittle smaller, because there will be less room th=for them to spread out, but those combo pots are just as good!
[...] presents Growing Vegetables in Containers | Savvy Brown posted at savvy [...]
I told the Good Husband a while back that I wanted a container garden to plant some hair-friendly herbs for my oil infusions. Rosemary, basil and a few others that I can’t think of at the moment. We picked up the plants last Saturday and when I got home from work Saturday night, he had everything planted in two huge containers! He used Miracle Grow Organic Potting Soil.
I’m kicking myself for making tomato planting so difficult. I’m going to try your container method!
This is great I’m sure those tomatoes will be very tasty. I have a little garden going on too can’t wait to start eating.
[...] presents Growing Vegetables in Containers | Savvy Brown posted at savvy [...]