Are you starting a garden this spring? For the last several years, the only gardens we've been planting have been in containers. But growing food in containers shouldn't be a drawback; urban gardening in pots, containers, and windowboxes can yield quite a lot of food. Take a look at this gallery of ten different containers and good ideas for gardening in small spaces. TOP ROW
• 1 NYC Garden from Flickr member Tashian. Is there a more perfect shot of a city garden happily thriving in the sun while the world rushes by underneath?
• 2 How to grow veggies in pots at Sunset. A great introduction to growing vegetables in pots. Also see their article on the best crops for pots.
• 3 Cauliflower! by Flickr member LollyKnit. Container gardening doesn't just mean tiny peppers and cherry tomatoes. How about a whole cauliflower?
• 4 An urban garden box by Flickr member Yozza. What a great container garden design! There is a deep box for larger vegetables to dig their roots deep, then smaller boxes for greens, and a top box with a trellis for climbing beans and tomatoes.
• 5 Easy-grow micro greens at Sunset. Another good guide to growing easy baby greens, which are often ready to eat in as little as ten days.
BOTTOM ROW
• 6 Baby kale inside by Flickr member briannaorg. This is an impressive little experiment. Brianna threw a few kale seeds into a bare 1" of dirt and less than a month later had enough baby kale for a salad. And this was indoors...in February! Never underestimate kale. You can see more about her indoor gardening projects at her blog.
• 7 Beautifying a concrete corner from Flickr member treefell. Look what a few flowers and herbs can do to an otherwise drab urban concrete alley.
• 8 Self-watering containers by Flickr member Sugar Pond. Step-by-step instructions on making a self-watering container out of a few inexpensive objects. Watering creates a lot of extra work with containers, since they can't draw up water from the earth, and they often have to be protected from rain that could flood them. Self-watering containers help them get water more naturally and with less work.
• 9 Scarlet runner beans growing UP by Flickr member Strata Chalup. When you have a small space, go up instead, and you'll be amazed at how much you can grow. If you have a sunny patio or deck, put up a trellis against one wall, or create an inexpensive version with nylon cord strung taut between screws or hooks in the floor and pergola.
• 10 Romaines on a deck by Flickr member liza31337. Leaf lettuces grow very quickly and in little space. If you succession plant, sowing seeds every week in a few different planters, you'll create a supply of greens that will be ready in a steady stream all summer. Greens like these are also good for sheltered decks or patios that don't get much sun, since lettuce doesn't like a lot of heat and will grow better during the summer in cool shade.
Do you have any plans for a container garden this summer?
Related: Kitchen Gallery: Living Plants in the Kitchen
(Images: from Flickr member Tashian, licensed under Creative Commons; Thomas J. Story for Sunset; ; Flickr member Yozza licensed for use under Creative Commons; licensed for use under Creative Commons; Linda Lamb Peters for Sunset; Flickr member briannaorg licensed for use under Creative Commons; Flickr member licensed for use under Creative Commons; Flickr member Sugar Pond licensed for use under Creative Commons; Flickr member Strata Chalup licensed for use under Creative Commons; Flickr member liza31337 licensed for use under Creative Commons)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
these are absolutely inspirational--now i'm going to have to plant pattypan squashes. what a great idea!
gives me lots of hope for my container garden... we had our first salad on Earth Day: http://sustainablediet.blogspot.com/2009/04/earth-day.html
view amber77's profile
That picture makes me long for my old New York apartment, where the containers that inhabited my fire escape grew random seedlings that were blown in by the wind. And the Hatch Show Print schmatte on the fire escape in the picture taunts me, because I live in Nashville (home of Hatch) now, with no such space for a mini-garden. is that irony?
view gourmandizzy's profile
How illegal is that first garden on the fire escape?? That goes a little too far past "window sill" gardening for me. I might be paranoid, but fires do happen!
view Marie's profile
We're giving our porch container garden another go this year. Last year it was sabotaged by a ruthless squirrel.
view Damfino's profile
Marie, I totally agree. Let's hope the fire escape isn't quite as crowded as it looks from that one photo. :/
view Elizabeth B's profile
We're lucky to have a loft on the highest floor with a skylight that provides a lot of light. We have purple / green basil, mint, jalapeno / habanero peppers, cherry / regular tomatoes and other spices growing inside our place so there's no need to worry about insects and animals. http://megramey.blogspot.com/2009/04/making-our-nest.html
view urbanchiccyclist's profile
Lettuces are great to grow indoors. I plan on starting a little lettuce container soon! These are all great for small spaces, but the unfortunate apartment dweller who doesn't even have a door to the outside still must garden indoors.
view Nolann's profile
We literally just planted three pots of veggies on our porch. Carrots, cucumber and okra. Should be interesting :)
view Staar84's profile
my seedlings are growing, but i started late, so they aren't ready for the big self watering containers outside yet. Redskin dwarf red pepper plants, snow peas, dwarf cherry tomatoes, and probably basil this year.
view jmorey's profile
These are nice. I'm documenting my container garden adventure at http://the6x8garden.blogspot.com
So far, so good. The weather just needs to dry up (it's rained the last 4/5 days and supposed to rain the rest of the week) and warm up!
view erinpeace's profile
I grow a few herbs every summer and just planted mint and basil over the weekend. This year, I am using a 16-inch plastic window box tucked in an out-of-the-way corner of my fire escape (yes, I know it’s still not a great idea). In the past, I had one of those plastic caddies people typically use for cleaning supplies (Michael Graves for Target). It actually worked really well – I could grab it by the handle to drag it closer to the window sill and it was perfectly sized for my miniature sink (if I wanted to give the herbs a good soak). However, the caddy cracked while wintering on the fire escape and Target no longer sells the design.
http://bottomofthecrisper.blogspot.com/2009/04/summertime-in-city-urban-gardening.html
view asz's profile
I just planted herbs in pots and a few pepper plants. Now, after seeing the pictures, I am also planning on some lettuce and microgreens. The great thing about container gardens on the balcony: insects and animals don't get to them as readily.
view law7755's profile
We're growing lots of food on our tiny balcony!
http://www.eightsquaremetres.com
view cheese's profile
I have a balcony. This year I am expanding from flowers, a few herbs, and 1 tomato plant to more flowers, more herbs, several tomato plants, an eggplant & a bunch of chili peppers. A neighbor told me he had successfully grown runner beans (like the photo). I'm on the 12th floor, facing west, and we get a lot of wind. I invested in 3 "railing" boxes and a tomato frame this year. Clay pots (I have a bunch I brought back from living in Mexico a few years ago and am hanging on to them as long as I can).
I thought the planter boxes w/ trellis were inspirational.
Happy growing (and cooking), everyone.
view Deborah's profile
Planting herbs is especially easy if you use a many tiered flower pot. Just plant a different kind of herb in each of the little ledges. They even have small ones that fit on your window - that's what I have! :)
view GraceF's profile
Yes, I have one going in Tribeca!!! http://www.flickr.com/search/?s=int&w=58798532%40N00&q=tribeca plant&m=text
view aliciak's profile
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