Home gardens are back in vogue
Vegetable gardens are back in vogue. Some are calling them “recession gardens,” a current turn-of-phrase for the resurgence of back-yard plots that were termed “victory gardens” during World War II. While it has been shown that home-grown vegetables are much less expensive in cost than what you would pay for a comparable amount of produce at your local grocery store, I’m not sure people are taking out their shovels and rakes to save money on their food receipts.
I think more people are planting their own veggies because they want some control over the quality of the produce they eat and they desire more variety in the selection.
Growing your own vegetables means you can be as “organic” as you like and you can grow virtually any variety of vegetable you want to try – be it orange cauliflower, some obscure heirloom tomato, a weird-looking yet colorful winter squash or blue potatoes.
Plus, in addition to some very nutritious produce, you’ll get some exercise, too.
While some folks get into vegetable gardening in a big way, growing your own vegetables doesn’t have to be a gigantic effort. While I cultivate a moderate vegetable plot, I was a container vegetable gardener for many years.
And, because there are distinct benefits to growing vegetables in containers, I still use them frequently for vegetables.
In mid-spring I plant lettuce, spinach and radishes in containers that I place alongside my driveway. Pepper plants that want a lot of sun and heat I’ll plant in containers I situate along the west side of my house, where they will bake and enjoy it. Patio tomato varieties I like that would otherwise get lost in the tangle of my vegetable plot also are grown in pots close to my kitchen.
And root vegetables, like carrots and beets, do well in containers where they don’t have to compete with the rocks that populate my vegetable plot. Even potatoes do better in containers for me than in the ground.
Containers are ideal for growing vegetables on patios, decks, balconies, roofs, and along sidewalks and driveways-just about anywhere. I like growing certain vegetables close to the house, where they are convenient for quick picking and less likely to be browsed by deer or rabbits. Containers make this doable, as well as attractive.
In early March, I attended a short lecture by Barbara Melera of D. Landreth Seed Co. Because there is a lot of interest in container gardens, D. Landreth Seed does all of its trial gardening in containers. Melera reported that over the past five years the company has cultivated approximately 100 containers with more than 300 varieties each year. They learned a few things about growing veggies in containers by doing this.
One thing learned was that some vegetables seem to prefer growing in containers. Melera says they’re not sure why-maybe because the containers keep the roots warmer or there are not as many soil-borne pests-but peppers, eggplants and tomatoes seem to prefer containers.
The company also discovered that container-grown veggies, if properly watered and fertilized, produce as many vegetables as those grown in the ground.
And, while some varieties grown in containers might be smaller, such as some large melons, squash and gourds, it was found that vegetables grown in containers typically mature faster-some in 10-to-25 percent less time.
Also, using containers can extend the growing season.
Melera said there are several things you can do to make growing vegetables in containers easier and more productive: Set up a drip irrigation system if you can. (Watering, otherwise, can be time consuming and often a daily activity.) Always use full-strength fertilizer every two weeks. (While time-release fertilizer can work well for flowers, D. Landreth Seed found it is not as effective with vegetables.)
And give container tomatoes at least three applications of bone meal every two weeks for the first six weeks of the growing season. I’ll try some of Melera’s tips this year to see if they further improve the good results I typically get from my container-grown veggies.
I’m also going to try some larger containers. Last spring I visited Tohono Chul Park, 37-acre desert preserve and garden in Tucson, Ariz. There, I saw a demonstration garden using stock tanks as containers.
Very clever, I thought.
Not only does a stock tank provide a larger container, the height of a stock tank means you can work pretty close to waist level. (For anyone who can’t bend down easily to the ground this could be ideal.)
This spring, my husband will set two two-foot-tall-by-two-foot-wide-by-six-foot-long stock tanks in a small garden area not far from my kitchen.
Not only is my husband helping me prepare the garden and my containers for vegetables this year, after watching me carefully select vegetable seeds from numerous catalogs each spring, Lloyd chose specific vegetable seeds he wants to plant this season.
I guess the appeal of vegetable gardening really is growing.
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Susan Brimo-Cox gardens, observes nature and writes in Ohiopyle. Readers can send questions or comments to her at naturesgarden@brimo-cox.com.