There is no reason why you can’t grow any vegetable you want in a container and this is the best time of year for dreaming. For example, my container is going to have an entire salad in it , complete with lettuce, basil and tomato.

The first thing I’m going to have to do is find suitable containers. I know I can grow a tomato in a green garbage bag holding six shovels of soil but unless I want to water it twice a day, I need a container that will hold at least twice that. I want a big container for my garden (twenty-four inches across is ideal) and clay will be a little too heavy to move around. Half whiskey barrels are ideal although a bit on the heavy side. I’m going to ensure there are at least three holes in the bottom for good drainage because vegetables really do not like to have wet feet.

If I had a wooden deck, I would put several bits of wood under the pot to keep it off the deck and prevent staining.

I am also going to fill my pots from top to bottom with an artificial soil mix like Pro-Mix.™ Remember you do not have to put anything in the bottom of the pot (like old clay pot shards or stones) to “help” the drainage. These supposed helpful bits only reduce the water movement according to modern soil science research.

The artificial soil will not compact like real garden soil (never, ever use real garden soil in containers as it turns to concrete after a month or so of watering).

When I feed my vegetable gardening container with liquid fish emulsion and compost tea on a weekly basis, it will produce salads all summer long.

Doug Green is an award winning garden author and his newsletter can be found at http://www.beginner-gardening.com and more information on container gardening at http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/container-gardening.html.

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