So maybe calling it a "pot" garden doesn't quite have the right connotation but I'm talking about growing vegetable gardens in flower pots.
There are a lot of products and guides on how to do this so before I make container garden gift suggestions, here's how my "pot" garden is growing.
There are a lot of products and guides on how to do this so before I make container garden gift suggestions, here's how my "pot" garden is growing.
I have been gardening in pots for years, keeping large soil-filled and compost-enriched pots on my deck so I can keep them watered and away from maurading wildlife. I leave them on the deck over winter, adding compost late fall so it can slowly trickle through.
Not that wildlife don't find the pots; I saw a raccoon checking one pot last night, and a squirrel took a nap on a bed of spinach last spring but all in all, I can at least protect the containers faster when they're sitting outside my deck door.
To make these large pots easier to move around, I put half a dozen soda cans in the bottom before adding soil; and each pot is on metal casters, which ran $4 each at a local liquidation store.
This year my little "pot" garden included lettuce, radishes and onions, some of my favorite salad fixings, and a sprig of dill that came up from last year.
It was still cold and damp when I started late March. I seeded the pots directly and watered well.
Our frost date in mid-Missouri is middle May so there was still a good chance seedlings might be hurt.
When weather turned colder, I used a large pot saucer over the top to keep seedlings protected.
Now more than a month later, you can see lettuce around pot edge, and radishes forming a necklace around onion sets. (Yes, I like my little gardens to look pretty!)
It was still cold and damp when I started late March. I seeded the pots directly and watered well.
Our frost date in mid-Missouri is middle May so there was still a good chance seedlings might be hurt.
When weather turned colder, I used a large pot saucer over the top to keep seedlings protected.
Now more than a month later, you can see lettuce around pot edge, and radishes forming a necklace around onion sets. (Yes, I like my little gardens to look pretty!)
I picked my first salad a few days before Mother's Day, our last frost date in Missouri.
If weather stays cool, I'll have a few more before it's time to plant something else.
If you would like to make a - well, let's call it a garden gift in a pot - for someone, herbs are a wonderful choice. Basil, dill, any of the mints, catnip, parsley, chives and oregano all do well in pots in direct sun in Missouri. Although most of these are annuals, some do come up next year.
Want something more interesting?
Plant a tomato or pepper in the center and surround with marigolds, nasturtiums and onions, or chives. The onions and marigolds will keep bugs away and nasturtium flowers make a lovely salad garnish.
Charlotte
Making life easier: custom quilts, gifts, gardening
Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts Blog
Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts on Facebook
Bluebird Gardens Etsy Shop
Bluebird Gardens Chirps!
Gardening to Distraction on a MO Hill
If weather stays cool, I'll have a few more before it's time to plant something else.
If you would like to make a - well, let's call it a garden gift in a pot - for someone, herbs are a wonderful choice. Basil, dill, any of the mints, catnip, parsley, chives and oregano all do well in pots in direct sun in Missouri. Although most of these are annuals, some do come up next year.
Want something more interesting?
Plant a tomato or pepper in the center and surround with marigolds, nasturtiums and onions, or chives. The onions and marigolds will keep bugs away and nasturtium flowers make a lovely salad garnish.
CharlotteMaking life easier: custom quilts, gifts, gardening
Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts Blog
Bluebird Gardens Quilts and Gifts on Facebook
Bluebird Gardens Etsy Shop
Bluebird Gardens Chirps!
Gardening to Distraction on a MO Hill
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