Container gardening is a great way to grow veggies in small spaces
Yes, you. Even though it’s mid-June, even if you don’t have a garden plot and the only seeds in your house are salted sunflower seeds, you can still grow some vegetables this summer. Think container gardening.
Head down to your local hardware store to pick up a couple of pots and a bag or two of potting soil. Heck, if you’re really in a hurry, forget the pots. You can cut holes in bags of soil and place bedding plants directly in the soil! Get pots large enough to grow vegetable plants; mine in the photo are about 13 1/2 inches across at the top and 10 1/2 inches tall. They work well for tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, and lettuces. Make sure they have a drainage hole in the bottom.
Now head to the greenhouse for plants. Though it’s late in the season, the nurseries still have a decent selection of plants. Dakota Greens here in Custer still has several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, and cukes on hand, and Jolly Lane Greenhouse in Rapid (and the others, too, I’m sure) still had a plethora of vegetable plants. If you’re craving salads, pick up some seeds. Lettuce and greens are easily grown in containers. The pot in the lower left corner of the picture has micro-greens sown in it, and they’re growing like mad.
Take everything home and plant it. Don’t fill the whole pots with soil, put something in the bottoms to assist with drainage. I’ve used a mish-mash of items over the years, including rocks, which work fine but make the pots heavy, packing peanuts (look at it as a way of recycling them), old pine cones, and yes, the 6-pack containers your bedding plants come in, just crush them a little bit. Water them, give them sun and a little love and you’ll be rewarded with homegrown produce.
Maybe you only have room to grow one potted tomato, but it’s a start. Taking responsibility for growing anything you eat is an important step.
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