Veggie and Herb Pots

Veggie and herb pot gardening is one of the fastest growing gardening activities. Now days we are often asked to include veggie and herb pots in our landscapes. So what more of a reason do we need to have a little chat about this hot and wonderful trend?

What is all the fuss about?

Health is the biggest reason we grow our own vegetables and herbs. Did you know that the spinach we buy at the shops has had an average of eight chemical sprays before it gets to the shelves? We, the consumer, would far rather have more control over our health, so that is why we are growing our own food now!

We have had the most amazing fun planting our veggie and herb pots.

With a great hurrah we planted our seedlings into an array of different containers we had collected to do this special trial.  I am amazed at the deep feeling of satisfaction one gets once you have done a little planting for the family.  We have already enjoyed a few reapings and have even been able to share the produce with several families.  We are now keeping a watchful eye on some of the veggies that still need time to mature before we can taste them.

Here are a few tips t get you going:

Location:

One of the golden rules is: Location, location, location.  Veggies and herbs require plenty of sun, so keep an eye out and see where the sun moves, and search for the sunniest spot.  If your patch isn’t too sunny, you can still plant lettuces, greens and some herbs that don’t require as much sun.

Soil:

We use a premium grade potting mix to give seedlings the best start in life.  The potting soil contains a full range of balanced, nutrients and has a large water holding capacity; it is rich in organic matter and is weed free. This has been the difference between success and disaster for me, as soil conditions are so important for plant growth. I am thrilled at how much better all the plants in the containers are doing, than they ever did in my garden soil.

Planting:

We were a little over enthusiastic about our herb and veggie pots and we went to our local nursery and bought one tray of each veggie and herb they had on offer. Thank fully we placed the seedlings before we planted them because we realized that we were trying to squeeze them in, which is not a clever idea as they grow you know! Then we re-arranged them with lovely colour combinations. That too, we realized was foolish as landscape and design principles do not really apply to veggie and herb pots. We then came to our senses and grouped crops together that could complement each other in one planter. I must admit, we did not get it completely right as some have grown a lot bigger than we anticipated and have grown over their neighbors. Well this is all in the learning and practice of planting, we will know better next time. But as a general rule keep the herbs and veggies in separate containers and combine some bigger growing varieties with smaller shorter growing varieties to maximize the space you have in one container.

TLC

So with herbs and veggies planted and watered we were so proud of ourselves! Time is the biggest resource your veggie garden will require and we were ready to give them plenty of that. A successful kitchen garden needs a little bit of attention every day. Watering, fertilizing, weeding and disease control we will talk a lot more about that next month.

Good luck with your veggie and herb pot plating – we’d love to see your pics, please share them with us!