Gardeners are Optimistic
April 2020 by Shelley Corey, Owner of The Mum Farm
It’s the truth. Gardeners make their annual spring treks to the garden centers in search of seeds, potting soil, vegetable transplants along with new plants that they haven’t seen before or old favorites that they grow every year. I’ve never had a customer tell me that they are calling it quits… they just can’t grow anything. What I might hear is "I didn’t have luck with growing xyz, what do you think happened? What shall I try instead?" But more often than not, I hear "my plants were amazing last year! I want the same ones this year!"
My specialty is container gardening and if you’ve read any of my articles, you have picked up the basics. Growing vegetables in containers can be just as enjoyable as growing flowers. It just takes a few more important steps. All vegetables need to be grown in a sunny location, that means a west or southern exposure. Just as with flowers, but more important for vegetables is the watering. Nothing will reduce your yield more than allowing the plants to repeatedly wilt. I often grow ONE Cherry tomato plant in a 20” diameter pot and I stake it. During the hot days of August it can easily take 3-4 gallons of water a DAY! So choose a place near a source of water so you don’t have to haul a watering can with you, unless you’d like to use that as part of your strength training! Knowing the size of the mature vegetable plants also helps in determining your container size.
It’s easier to grow plants in containers than in the ground…no rototiller or tractor necessary! You can be creative and build raised beds, large window boxes or simply use the biggest containers you might have at home such as an old bucket, a large laundry basket lined with burlap or a child’s wagon. The container should be sized for the mature plant. A full size tomato plant needs a minimum of a 5 gallon bucket. That’s just one tomato plant! It might be best to look for varieties that are bred for containers such as a “patio” tomato. It’s determinate, meaning that it grows more compactly and only gets so tall, unlike a traditional tomato that is indeterminate, meaning it continues to grow taller and taller! And remember tomato plants need to be supported by either tying it to a stake, or putting a “cage” around the plant.
Peppers work wonderfully in a container…they love to be planted close…planting 5-6 plants in a container about 14” wide and at least a foot deep will easily yield a market basket or two of peppers! And even if you don’t like peppers…WOW, theres nothing like a pepper you pick from your garden for flavor and crispness! Roasted and placed onto a homemade pizza might just get the kids eating more vegetables!
There are loads of small head lettuce varieties available now. Microgreens, spinach, kale can be all be started from seeds. A hanging cherry tomato plant might be a nice substitute for your flowering hanging basket this year to show the kids how tomatoes grow! The fun part is that you’ll pick hundreds and hundreds of fruit from one plant! Herbs that you will use in your cooking make great plants to grow, there’s nothing like fresh.
So this year might just be the one to try a few vegetables. We might all be sticking closer to home and learning to enjoy the simple things in life that truly make life worth living. We can’t all become agriculturalists overnight, just like we can’t become chefs in a month. We can start small and build on each try, ever hopeful that the next attempt will yield even better results. Remember that better results always come along bringing smiles of accomplishment! It’s gardening season once more!