Fresh Veggies

One of my favorite parts of summer is the abundunce of fresh fruits and vegetables that are availbale at farmers markets and even from my own backyard.  Usually, I plant a large urban garden, but since we are in the process of moving that was not an option this year.

So, in lieu of my usual garden I have planted all my veggies in pots.  I have planted all my favorites, we are even seeing how corn and beans do in pots!  These pots will be easy to move and I don't have to give up the ability to walk out into my yard and pick a fresh cucumber or tomatoe.  I wanted as large of a variety as I could get so I went in on vegetable plants with my parents.  They have  a large garden on our family farm and they allowed me to pick out most of the vegetables for it.  Since they were willing I was able to take just one plant from each type of vegetable that I wanted to plant in pots at my house.  In my pots this year I have tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, corn, and beans. I am looking forward to some great meals later this summer!

I will say that even after I move and have re-established my large urban garden there are still some plants that I will be keeping in pots:

Yup, that is corn growing behind the tomato plant!

• Tomatoes are the big one.  I have found that it is easier to control them in a pot, plus I can move them when needed if I don't feel that they are getting enough sun.  

• Lettuce is another.  One of our local stores sells what they call living salad bowls.  These are great and supply me with enough lettuce that I can typically pick from it every couple of days and have few salads each time.  I will probably plant a more of these myself next year and stagger the planting of them so that they are at different stages through the summer and I have more to pick from.  The living salad bowl alone saves me tons of money since we eat a lot of salad and it is one of the easiest pots to care for.  

The other great advantage to pot gardening is that it virtually eliminates weeding making it low maintenance.  Yes every so often a little weed gets into the pots and attempts to grow, but nothing like what can happen with large in the ground gardens.  The biggest thing you have to remember with gardening in pots is to water and water often! The dirt in the pots dries out a lot quicker then the ground does.

So for those who love the convenience and freshness of growing your own veggies, but don't have the time or maybe even the desire to manage a full scale garden I highly recommend gardening in pots.  You pick your favorites and have just one or two plants of each.  Plus, if you have kids this is something fun for them to watch as the plants grown and then produce veggies.  I know my daughter has enjoyed watching the corn and beans grow and if fasinated when we pick the lettuce and then eat it!  I can't wait till all the vegetables really starts to grow!

As you can see I tucked the pots right in my flower beds!

Grub's On!