Veggie Garden 101: Containers for Limited Space Gardening

Even though I have space for a large garden now, it was not always so. Community garden plots saved my gardening life for a number of years and some seasons I was limited to a container garden. However, just because it may be small doesn't mean it isn't a fabulous and creative way to garden. The container options have exploded over the last decade, everything from self-watering planters to raised container beds.

Vegetables pose an unique challenge because they tend to need lots of soil space meaning large, heavy, and expensive containers capable of holding between three and ten gallons. Luckily, felt or fabric planters are readily available through online retailers. Some of the planters are engineered to biodegrade after months or years. The main advantages to the fabric planters are low cost, lightweight - no one wants to carry an 18 inch diameter terra cotta pot with potting soil, and allow roots to breathe.

Aside from the container, the next most important factor is the potting mix/growing media. Do not purchase garden soil. It is cheap but has little to no drainage and your plants will suffer. I like to use about 80% peat-based potting mix and 20% high quality compost. If you don't have access to compost, just go with the potting soil but plan on adding a slow-release fertilizer, e.g. osmocote, to the planters.

The last critical step for growing vegetables in containers is variety selection. Plant breeders have been working over the past few decades to develop "patio" vegetable varieties. The most challenging vegetable to grow in containers, in my opinion, is the tomato plant. "Patio" tomato varieties are usually determinant plants. This means that the plant sets all of its flowers at one time so you get a narrow harvest window versus an indeterminant variety that continues to set flowers and fruit over a long season. However, indeterminant tomatoes tend to be large, generally over six feet in height, and difficult if not impossible to grow in a container.

Tomato Varieties: Notes from 2014

To me, the quintessential summer vegetable, is the tomato. It reminds me of my grandfather's garden. He would compete with his neighbors for plant vigor and earliest vine-ripened tomato of the summer. His buddies would debate the best sources for starter plants, varieties, and planting techniques. Each winter, I dream, plan, and strategize to produce delicious tomatoes before July 4, boost yields for sauce-making, and grow flavorful tomatoes for a caprese salad.

The 2014 growing season was one of my least successful growing seasons based on my three goals. Many tomatoes were harvested green and ripened on the kitchen counter. Aside from fresh eating, I only had enough tomatoes for 1 batch each of ketchup and sauce. Flavor was at times bland and occasionally sublime.

The biggest surprise of the summer was a new variety 'Schmmeig Striped Hollow' from Fedco Seeds. It outproduced all my other paste and slicing tomato varieties. The fruit cavity is hollow with little seed production making them ideal for stuffing and an interesting addition to summer tomato salads.

The two hybrids that I grow each year, 'Juliet' and 'Sungold', performed as expected. The season was just too cold for the 'San Marzano' plants. My best paste tomato variety of the year was 'Grandma Mary's', which I grow every season to compare to new (to me) varieties. I tried Weisnicht's Ukranian tomato, great flavor, meaty texture, and worth trying for a second season. All varieties were purchased from Fedco Seeds.

Variety Recommendations: Tomatoes, Onions, Leeks, and Cucumbers

A comfortable chair, a mug of tea, and a couple of seed catalogs- these are the winter highlights. Each year, I plan on starting a mixture of old, trusted stand-bys and new varieties. Dreams of gardening splendor.

The performance, including taste, yield, and pest resistance, of a variety is dependent on its environmental conditions, for instance, soil type, rainfall, irrigation, sun exposure etc. Heirloom vegetable varieties are selections from a plant breeder, gardener, or farmer that are usually site and trait specific. A great resource for learning about heirlooms and seed-saving is the Seed Savers Exchange. For heirloom variety recommendations, Slow Food USA has a list, the Ark of Taste, with descriptions and links to seed sources. Bonus! They have a list of the varieties by region, which is incredibly helpful for selecting heirlooms that will work well in your climate.

The List:

Tomatoes: Juliet and Sungold. Juliet is a small roma or saladette tomato that is prolific, disease-resistant, and a must-have for the garden. The other variety that I plant every year is 'Sungold', a delicious, fruity, orange cherry tomato. Caution: the fruits crack after a heavy rain. Watch the weather and harvest before a rain or thunderstorm.

Onions: 'Redwing' is a red storage onion that I continue to grow year after year because of its consistent performance. In 2013, I planted two varieties of yellow storage onions, 'Copra' and 'Dakota Tears'. I preferred the strong top and bulb growth of 'Dakota Tears' over 'Copra' this season. I've been growing 'Copra' for a number of years and have found it to be a reliable variety. This is the first year for 'Dakota Tears'. I'm curious to see how it performs over several seasons.

Leeks: Bleu de Solaize successfully germinated in the low tunnels last winter and was ready to harvest by late April. This variety develops long, slender shanks. The key to growing leeks with plenty of white, edible shank is to create a furrow about 6 inches deep and plant the seedlings into this furrow. Over the course of the growing season, rain and irrigation events wash the soil into the furrow. No hilling necessary!

Cucumbers: Last season, I trialed three varieties: 'Calypso', 'Super Zagross', and 'Poona Kheera' from Fedco seeds. In 2012, the cucumber plot was heavily infested with cucumber beetles. Based on observations of defoliation and disease levels, 'Poona Kheera' was the most resistant compared to 'Super Zagross' and 'Calypso'. The fruits of 'Poona Kheera' change in skin color and texture from a milky white to yellow and then a beautiful russet-brown. Even at the later stages of maturity, the fruits remain sweet not bitter. This variety performed well in the hot, dry beetle-infested 2012 season and the cool, wet disease-ridden 2013 season.