Container Gardening (2)

It's been raining all day today so I've been holding off posting this so I could show everyone how the container garden has progressed since last week. UPDATE: It's still raining here, so I'm just going to post this with some pictures I took through my sliding glass door.




The tomato, green pepper and jalapeno pepper plants seem to be growing a bit. The strawberry plant has lots of flowers on it. There isn't much else to pollinate in the backyard, so I hope the bees are able to find it!



Basil and Rosemary aren't really doing much. Last week, I picked a lot of basil to make a Tomato, Basil and Mozzarella Pizza (post coming soon), so it's actually lost leaves. They seem to be growing back pretty quickly, though.

I found a spot for the blueberry bush! It's nowhere near the rest of the garden. In fact, it's all by itself to left of the house, in the front yard. That seems to be the only spot that gets constant sun, so it will have to do. There is more space on the side of the house, so if that plant seems to flourish, maybe I'll plant a few more.

Anyone else gardening? How is your garden doing?

Container Gardening (1)

I was hoping to do some in ground planting this year, but our lawn is in very bad shape and a lot of our time is spent trying to get it to resemble the lush lawns of our neighbors. We've made some decent progress, and the last thing I want to do is mess it up by digging out a garden. Another thing I'm having trouble with is sunlight. The only spot in my backyard that gets sunlight all day is on our deck. Instead of utter failure with a garden that doesn't get enough sun, I've decided to try my hand at container gardening.

I understand that container gardening does have it's limits - for example, I don't think I'll be planting corn any time soon! I do like the idea of prolonging my growing season by being able to bring some of the veggies indoors, though.

Last week, I purchased a strawberry plant



and some basil.



These two plants convinced me that container gardening is well worth it. During the week we had a frost warning, which is pretty rare for this late in the year. Since the plants were in pots, I was able to bring them inside for the night and protect them. I'm not sure what I would have done if the plants were in the ground.

Yesterday, I picked up some more vegetables to add to the container garden.



Jalapeno Peppers - these came in a pack of nine, but I didn't want to plant them all in one pot. I don't have any extra containers, so they'll stay in the plastic until I can get some.


Green Pepper


Cherry Tomato



and Rosemary, another herb to keep my basil company.

I also purchased a blueberry bush, but I'm not sure where to plant it, so it's still sitting in the pot for now. It looks so lonely over there all by itself.


Here is the whole group together on the corner of my deck.




Eventually, I'd like to fill the entire ledge with different herbs like mint, parsley, and cilantro. I'd also like to add some more veggies like eggplant and maybe another tomato plant. I'm not sure how much success I'd have with cucumbers and lettuce, but that would be great. How rewarding would it be to make a salad out of stuff I could just pluck from the backyard?

How about you? Do you like to garden? Do you garden in the ground or in containers? What is your favorite vegetable or fruit to grow? Share your gardening successes and failures with me in the comments.