Adventures in Container Gardening

The idea of being able to grow my own vegetables and herbs is very appealing to me.  Unfortunately, living in an apartment in an urban area isn't exactly conducive to gardening.  Or so I thought.  Little did I know that you can grow a wide variety of vegetables  in containers on your porch/patio/balcony.


I'm really happy that this is the case, because I really like growing my own herbs and whatnot.  I started growing basil and parsley during the summers when I was in college, and just last summer tried my hand at cherry tomatoes.  It was a pretty successful venture, and as a result, I've decided to branch out a bit and try my hand at growing some new things.

A disclaimer: Now, I do not profess to be some sort of expert in this area. Any of my successes can be attributed to some combination of: 1) luck; 2) fortuitous Googling; and 3) good advice from my Dad. However, I still wanted to share with you some of my adventures and misadventures in container gardening.

Oh, also, I don't have enough confidence in my gardening abilities just yet to start my plants from seed. I cheat a bit and go pick up the plants from Lowe's or Walmart. 

What I'll be growing this spring/summer:

Herbs
Basil (LOTS of it)
Flat leaf parsley
Rosemary
Cilantro

Vegetables
Husky Cherry Red tomatoes
Better Bush tomatoes
Bell peppers (still looking for these in stores!)

This is what I'm working with.  Nothing too fancy.

I decided to fill my flower box with basil this year rather than pansies or petunias or something.  Can't wait for this to start growing out of control.  I have so many recipes that use tons of basil bookmarked.

Rosemary, with too much soil
in the pot.  Whoops.

Parsley (left) and cilantro (right).  Looking a
little droopy before I watered them.

Better Bush tomato plant that already has...

TINY TOMATOES ON IT!

I didn't include a picture of my Husky Cherry Reds because I ran out of potting soil and haven't had the chance to plant them.  Also, like I said, I'm still on the lookout for bell pepper plants.  Aaaand... as anyone who follows me or this blog on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/HeyWhoCutTheCheese) might know, I just bought a dwarf Meyer lemon tree!  It should be shipping this weekend.  Can't wait to see what it's like when it arrives.


Check it out: http://www.starkbros.com/products/fruit-trees/additional-fruit-trees/meyeri-lemon

But anyway, this is what I'm working with this season.  Stay tuned and I'll try to bring you weekly updates on how my vegetables and herbs (and lemons, eventually!) are progressing, as well as some tips that I've found to be helpful.


What are you planning to grow this season?