In July we picked up some used beds and added them to the yard. They're about 2'x3'x18". We were able to move squash from the smaller patio containers to these beds. They took off after we did that. We had to get 2 cubic yards of soil delivered from Boring Bark to fill them up.
Photos are from July 1 - 7, 2022.
In addition to growing veggies, I absolutely love growing flowers. And before we were even moved in, I was buying flowers to go into various parts of the yard. I spent a lot of time this year cutting up grass and pulling weeds so that I could create new flower beds. Some are still in pots awaiting a place to go, as we had work we had to do with regards to drainage in the yard. But hopefully next year most of it will get into the ground.
Our son loves succulents and sedums, so we've bought a lot of those as well.
A variety of shots of the garden from June, 2022.
Now that we have a yard of our own, we can put in raised beds instead of pots. Here's the start. We bought three 4'x8'x2' beds. The bottom was filled with yard debris and then the rest of the bed was filled with premium raised bed soil from Boring Bark.
We also added some patio boxes around the outside to grow squash and cucumbers.
So after more than 22 years of renting, we finally purchased a house. This means that we'll be able to garden again. I am looking forward to having a garden.
We won't be selling any seedlings this year, as we won't even get into the house until late April. Next year we'll start our process again to get all our processes down now that we're in a new location. Hopefully in 2024 we'll be back to growing seedlings for sale again.
Now that we've had a few warm days in a row, flowers around here are blooming like crazy!
This is the shelf I have. It's a Husky 5 shelf heavy duty shelving system. It can hold up to 1,000 lbs per shelf, so it's more than enough for some plants and lights. Once we get the shelves rearranged, there will be about 1.5' between each shelf, which is more than enough.
The only complaints I have about it are:
I wish I had seen this one when I bought mine, as I would have liked gotten it instead.
It's the same brand and same type of shelf. The only difference is that it is 60" wide instead of 48". That means you can fit 6 trays on each shelf.
Since it was time for the peas to start popping up, I needed to add lights to the third shelf where those plants are sitting. So on Friday I ran to Home Depot and picked up everything I needed to add two more lights to the shelf. I now have three shelves of plants with 2 lights on each.
And it was a good thing, too, as by Saturday morning there were a whole bunch of peas that had popped up. Now they'll have the light that they need.
Started new seeds today - hot peppers, sweet peppers, eggplant, and peas
Welcome to my blog on container gardening. I lived in an apartment and as such didn't have the option to plant anything in the ground. As such, I had dozens and dozens of containers surrounding my patio filled with herbs, vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Now I am lucky enough to own a house and am working to greatly expand my gardens.
I started out with just a few planters of strawberries around my garden. Then I added a few hanging baskets of flowers for our son. Each year I've expanded and expanded my garden. I've been buying bigger and bigger containers and adding new plants. I've found some things that have worked well for me - like the Asian finger eggplant that produced probably 100 eggplants - and things that haven't - my rapini never grew and it's just too cold for melons to do well.
I hope to share what I've learned thus far, tips, and more through this blog. I also hope to hear from you about what has worked for you.
Be sure to check out the photo galleries! Lots of photos there showing what I'm growing, how the plants are doing and more!
Jenni grew a container garden around her apartment for more than 10 years with more than 50 various pots and containers. Last year, her family was able to move into a house and create Horsetail Garden - a series of gardens in raised beds as well as around the yard. She lives in Portland, Oregon , which is the 8b plant hardiness zone. Every year she is able to grow a large amount of vegetables for her family and gives away hundreds of pounds of veggies to the community. They sell a number of items, including holiday baskets and greeting cards, to help pay for the garden.
Jenni started this blog to help people find advice and assistance with container gardening, particularly for renters who don't get a lot of control over what they can and can't do with their space. She also hopes to help more people learn how to grow seedlings inside and create new garden beds in their yard.
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