Bonus Blog: (Financial) Victory Garden

DEBATE EXISTS OVER the correct classification of raised garden beds. Raised beds can either be placed over existing soil (grass or tilled), or- with a little extra care and black plastic- over a concrete or brick patio.

So do raised beds qualify as container gardens? I think they do. You can construct them cheaply and easily, they can be set up on top of manmade surfaces, and offer an easily maintained, highly productive growing area free of weeds and digging in minimal space.

Most container gardeners, of course, limit themselves to containers because they are apartment dwellers with extremely limited outdoor space. If you've turned to containers because the thought of tilling your hideous backyard soil is too repulsive, or you do have a small green or paved area to call your own, or you even know someone (perhaps a parent or very patient friend) with a large yard who might be willing to lend you a little well-lit space, a homemade raised bed could be the perfect halfway-house between container and free range gardening.

I've thought a great deal lately about the economics of container gardening. More to the point, I've been crunching numbers on how to actually save money from growing your own vegetables, Great Depression-style. Too many gardeners add up the numbers at the end of the season to find they've shelled out $65 per Heirloom Brandywine. However beautiful their gardens might be, it's fairly easy to coax untold bushels of produce out of the ground if you've got plenty of money and space.

Tomatoes are the most ubiquitous of home-grown vegetables. They taste amazing when you grow them yourself or buy them locally, and like complete crap when you buy them at the supermarket. I decided to use tomatoes as my financial bellwether. Was it possible to grow your own for less than supermarket prices, while getting Farmer's Market flavor? Tomatoes at the supermarket cost about $1 per pound; at the Memphis Farmer's Market, about $3 per pound. Was it possible to construct- and to provide instructions on how to construct- a fully-functional container vegetable garden that provided at least 200 pounds of tomatoes for under $150?

Let's find out. Although I based my calculations on the Tomato Financial Index (TFI), this method will yield not only 324 pounds of tomatoes, but could instead be used to grow 100 pounds of melons, 108 eggplants, 200 peppers, or 106 pounds of potatoes per 3' x 6' raised bed.

For our Financial Victory Garden, we'll have neither money nor space in great supply. You will need a screwdriver and plenty of gumption, however.

For inspiration, visit the Gardener's Supply Company Raised Bed Planner.

1. FIND A SPACE

We'll be constructing a raised bed on either grass (the easy way) or on top of a preexisting surface (the slightly-less-easy way). The layout of that space is not important. Is it six feet long and eight inches wide? No problem. Two feet by two feet? Not an issue. All it truly needs to have is:

• Plenty of sunlight (at least six hours a day of unobstructed light: no shade, no dappling through leaves, no exceptions)
• A flatish, ground-level surface. This can be actual ground or a concrete/brick/paving stone manmade surface. A slight grade is fine, but don't try to build this on a steep hillside. The sunny patio where you keep your container garden is ideal.

2. CALCULATE THE SIZE OF YOUR BEDS

The raised bed will be constructed out of four wooden two-by-fours held together at each corner with a metal corner connector. The corner connectors can be fancy and made for this purpose specifically by a gardening supply house, or generic and purchased at Home Depot for half the price.

Get out your trusty measuring tape and measure the length and width of your space. The following instructions assume you're going to build one bed that's 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. If you only have space for a 3' x 3' bed, that's a great starting point; just halve the quantities listed here. If you need to break it up into two 3' x 3' beds, that will work just as well.

3. PURCHASE YOUR MATERIALS

For each bed, you'll need to go to Home Depot and get:

Wood Slats:

• 2 lengths of two-by-fours, cut for the long ends of the bed (they'll make the cuts for you for about $1 per cut); about $10 total, depending on length
• 2 lengths of two-by-fours, cut for the short ends of the bed; about $10, depending on length

TOTAL = about $20

Corner Connectors

• If you're placing the bed in grass or dirt, get four rigid tie connectors for $4.49 each. TOTAL = $17.96
• If you are placing the beds on a manmade surface, get four standard angles for $1.09 and a supply of plastic sheeting as wide (plus eight inches) and long (plus eight inches) as your bed, about $30. TOTAL = $34.36
• If you feel flush with money, get your connectors from Gardener's Supply Company, in your choice of depth (10" is a good starting point). $16.95 for two; you'll need four. TOTAL = $33.90

TOTAL = about $30

Screws: At least 16 screws to fit the holes of the angles you've purchased; about $.50

TOTAL = $.50

Soil: Enough garden soil, compost, growing mix, and fertilizer to fill your bed.

• Garden Soil: $7.47 per bag; one bag per 2 cubic feet
• Compost: $7.99 per bag ('Nature's Blend' at local garden center, Stringers); one bag per 2 cubic feet
• Soil-less Growing Mix: $12.47 per bag; one bag per 2.5 cubic feet
• Vegetable Food or Fertilizer: $8.98 per 5-pound box

For a 3' x 6' raised bed that's 10" deep, you'll need 

• 12 cubic feet of garden soil (that's six 2-cubic-feet bags) = $44.82
• 6 cubic feet of compost (that's three 2-cubic-feet bags) = $23.97
• 2 cubic feet of soil-less growing mix like ProMix (that's one 2.5-cubic-feet bag) = $12.47
• 5 pounds of vegetable fertilizer (one 5-pound box) = $8.98

TOTAL = $90.24

To calculate the soil needs of a 3' x 6' x 10" bed:
3 feet long x 6 feet wide x .83 feet deep x 1.33 = about 20 cubic feet of total soil

To calculate your soil needs:
length in feet of bed  x  width in feet of bed  x  depth in feet of bed x 1.33 = ___________ cubic feet of total soil needed

Or use the Soil Calculator at Gardener's Supply Company (cheater).

4. CONSTRUCT THE RAISED BEDS

If you've purchased your corner connectors from Gardner's Supply, they came with an easy-to-follow set of instructions. If you've purchased them at Home Depot:

• Grab one of your long wooden slats and one of your short wooden slats. Using a screwdriver or drill, attach them to the corner connector so that they form an 'L'. Make sure you get these corners as square as possible; a right-angle or T-square measure would be very useful here.
  
• Repeat with the remaining two sides
• Screw the two 'L's to one another using the remaining two connectors, so that they form a rectangle.
• OPTIONAL: If you're placing the bed on a manmade surface (concrete, bricks, etc.) or uneven natural surface, place your bed where you want it and unroll your black sheeting. Fit the black sheeting into the bottom of the bed and then staple it to the wood along the top (or top lip) of the bed, making sure you fold the sheeting in the corners so that soil doesn't trickle out. Grab a pair of scissors and trim the excess black plastic from the top of the bed. Then, using the scissors, snip small (half an inch long) holes in the bottom of the sheeting for drainage. Try to be methodical; a grid pattern of a snip every two to three inches ought to do it. All this will keep your soil from washing out of the bottom of the bed when you water, and will help keep the bed moist but well-drained.
• Congratulations, you're done!

5. FILL THE BEDS

Empty your garden soil, compost, grow mix, and fertilizer into your beautiful raised bed. Mix until you're thoroughly exhausted and contents are evenly distributed. Smooth the top with a rake or your hands. Stand back, admire your handiwork, and drink at least two beers.

You've done it! Your bed is ready and you may now fill it up with any plant species that takes your fancy.

6. CHOOSE YOUR PLANTS

As a general rule, put in one vegetable plant per square foot. If you have a 3' x 6' bed, that's three rows and 6 columns for a total of 18 spaces (3 x 6 = 18). If you have a 3' x 3' bed, that's a total of 9 space (3 x 3 = 9). 

You can purchase your new plants at Home Depot, but don't forget to check out your local garden center for more exotic varieties. Farmer's markets- here in Memphis, that includes the Memphis Farmer's Market and the Botanic Garden Farmer's Market- will also have an excellent selection with a much greater-than-Home-Depot chance of survival in your area. Good heirloom plants will cost about $4 each.

TOTAL (18 plants) = $72

Don't forget: choose vegetables you actually want to eat.

7. LAYOUT IDEAS

Don't be afraid to experiment, however. For example, if you're hell for Italian cooking, create your own

Italian Chef's Garden:

- 5 squares of tomatoes
- 4 squares of eggplants
- 2 squares of basil (2 plants per square)
- 2 squares of garlic (4 plants per square)
- 2 squares of parsley (2 plants per square)
- 1 square of rosemary
- 2 squares of yellow squash

Do you want to harvest nothing but tomatoes? Fine. Your visions of canning your own tomato pickles or creating the World's Finest Homemade Ketchup, of perfecting your grilled tomato kebab recipe can be a reality. Knock yourself out. It's your garden, your hard work, and completely up to you.

Ultimately, though, I promised that the point of your Financial Victory Garden is to feed yourself for less than you would have paid at the store. We have to be hard-nosed realists: have we managed to do that?

Wood: $20
Connectors: $30
Screws: $.50
Soil: $90.24
Plants: $72

RAISED BED GRAND TOTAL: $212.74 for a potential yield of 324 pounds of tomatoes
Store price: $324 for 324 pounds of tomatoes
Farmer's Market price: $972 for 324 pounds of tomatoes

Cheap, functional, and one of the funnest ways to spend time outside in the Spring: hopefully nothing will stop you from creating your own raised bed container garden.

The Care & Feeding of New Plants

CHANCES ARE GOOD that with your seedlings and young plants now in the ground, you're itching for something more to do with your container garden. Enthusiasm can outstrip common sense when the weather turns nice for the first time in the year, and with a smaller-than-usual focal point for your energy (assuming your container garden isn't exceptionally large), young plants can actually suffer from a surfeit of care.

Be particularly cautious about that most loving of plant homicides: overfertilization. Remember, you've just planted these containers. You probably used new potting soil, practically every variety of which comes with its own time-release fertilizer. That initial supply won't be used up for months, I promise. In addition, that Osmacote (or other plant fertilizer) mixed with the potting soil has provided your plants with all the immediate nutrients they need. You may be tempted to add liquid MiracleGro to your watering can or sprinkle just a little more Osmacote under the mulch, but be strong. You'll just end up giving your plants chemical burns, not turning them into phytogenetic versions of the Incredible Hulk.

With cooler evening temperatures and the absence of summer's scorching sun, you won't even need to water as religiously now as you will starting in June. Once a day should be plenty for even the thirstiest of succulents. Be sure you're saving your watering for the evening or very early morning: droplets that make their way onto plant leaves in sunny weather act as tiny magnifying glasses for the sun, and watering in the daytime may leave you with multiple round, mysterious burn spots on plant leaves.

Leave your plants alone. Water them once a day, talk to them if you're so inclined, and try not to get out the ruler to see how much they've grown today.

If you're really itching to get it on in the garden- and with the weather so perfect right now, how can you resist?- I recommend the following useful distractions:

• Buy more plants and pots. Adding to your collection can only hedge your future garden bets, and it'll give you enough time with dirt under your nails to feel like you've really gardened. Try plants you wouldn't normally have chosen for these one-off plantings. They may surprise you by succeeding where all else fails.
  
• Decorate your garden area. Buy or build a comfortable seating area; raid Hancock's Fabrics for good floor- and throw-pillow fabrics, and get out your sewing machine; shop the sales at Target for a good outdoor rug or firepit (this last will extend the life of your container garden area into cool spring and fall weather to such an extent that it's practically indespensible for those who have the space for one).
  
• Head to the library for a stack of gardening books for your area.

Adding on to your garden is the most useful activity you can achieve now, besides admiring your handiwork. Some of your plants will not make it into the summer- some, indeed, are not designed to do so- and you'll be glad you have a few extra transplants ready to fill the gaps when the ineviatble occurs.

Bonus Blog: Double-Barreled Trouble-Shooter

PROBLEMS THAT ARISE with container gardens generally have different solutions than those employed by large-scale, in-ground gardeners with their beds and rows and endless space (those smug bastards). As your new container garden begins to take hold, problems inevitably arise. But you have chosen to invest yourself in the adventure of container gardening, not the easy delights of planting a rolling meadow. The challenges are greater, but the rewards infinitely more satisfying! Still, there is one problem that comes up so often that it's worth taking on all by itself:

Even a month or more after transplant, my plants still look so small. How can I encourage them to grow larger and bushier, and produce more flowers/vegetables?

Perhaps the greatest challenge of container gardening is to encourage the hearty growth and development of plants which are growing in non-ideal conditions. But that doesn't mean you need to throw in the towel or give up on lush vegetation. More than likely, you're coming up against one of these problems:

Container Size
Problem: You have planted those tiny seedlings in pots or baskets that truly are too small to contain the type of root system that this particular plant needs. Frequently, squeezed plants will start to die from the tips of their leaves inward.

Solution 1: Replant the specimen in a larger container or replace it with a plant that has a smaller or more condensed root system.

Solution 2: The bigger the plant, the larger root system it needs. If you're putting a already-large ("well-established") tomato plant, for example, in a smaller basket, don't hesitate to lop off longer or low-hanging branches when you pot it in the first place. You may be able to salvage an already-potted plant by ruthless pruning. A good rule of thumb is to take off about a third of the plant when pruning, and to take off longer, scraggly, or dusty/wilted branches first.

Chances are, of course, you have no idea what kind of root system this plant has or what plant would be better for this container. A large part of your potting experience will consist of pulling up plants, I'm sorry to say, but though it's a heartbreaking process you can learn a great deal from uprooting a dead specimen. Try to put your emotions aside as you pull out the failed plant, roots and all. Look at the root ball: is it spread out and shallow? Does it consist of one large, thick taproot surrounded by a few wispy roots? Are the roots bunched together or spread? Do they lie near the surface or burrow deeply? Remind yourself several times of the name of the plant, and try to impress upon your memory what the roots look like: "Okay, self, this is what Rosemary roots look like. They're deep and bunched together, so I probably shouldn't have planted it in that super-cute wide and shallow container."

I find it very difficult to throw away plants that are even marginally alive, and I always want to know what I did to nearly kill them. If I suspect a plant of being very much constricted by its pot, I sneak out in the dead of night and secretly plant the remains in the flowerbed of my apartment complex. It gets the same amount of sun, shade, and water as my porch; the only difference is the amount of space the root system now has. If the plant dies anyway, I assume that space was not the deciding factor and store that in my memory for that type of plant. If, however, it rockets to previously unimaginable heights and lushness, as two minute, near-death zucchini and squash plants did, I accept that container size was probably the issue. The illicit squashes, by the way, grew to a height of three feet in two weeks and were completely covered in blooms when they were discovered by the landscaping crew who- not realizing their tasty potential- uprooted them as weeds and tossed them aside to croak in the sun.

Light
Problem: The average container garden is created in a less-than-ideal space. This frequently means that the area you have chosen- or more likely, had thrust upon you- only gets two to four hours of direct sunlight a day. You can ignore this or hope for the best and plant whatever you want anyway, but limited light will always come back to haunt you. Those suggestions for full sun on the back of seed packets are there for a reason: four hours of almost-direct sunlight does not equal eight hours of full sun, no matter how much you may wish it would.

Solution 1: Get used to stunted plants. You can grow full-sun plants in part shade, if you so desire, but they will not be bushy or thrifty. If you love a certain type of pansy, go ahead and try it. The worst that will happen is that it won't flower as well as it might. Or it may croak. But you'll be glad you tried.

Solution 2: Maximize your light. Look around your space at different times of the day to see if there is any one location that gets more light than the rest of the area. Install very light or reflective material in the darkest corners of your space (that ugly mirrored mosaic your aunt brought you back from Cabo will find new life and use in the high, dark corner of your porch). Replace your usual mulch around the base of the plants with white rocks to reflect light right back at the plants. If you can, repaint the interior of a dark porch in a light color. Repaint or scrub down already painted walls to reflect the maximum amount of sunlight. Cover a dark wood or painted concrete floor with a light-colored outdoor rug. Heck, make your own ugly mirrored mosaic, perfectly sized, to hang in a dark area.

Solution 3: Yield to the inevitable. If you get at most four hours of direct sunlight a day, the world of shade plants is open to you. Ferns, mosses, hostas, and plants found in densely shaded woodlands in your area are your best bet. Here in Memphis, the default state of the landscape is wooded hillsides, and a huge number of shade plants are native to the area. Check out what grows in your own forested areas to find surefire shade plants that will give you the bushy, lush look you want. And don't think of this as the cop-out version of your container garden: when you really get into them, ferns provide endless variations on the color green, as well as myriad textures and shapes. There are multiple varieties of flowering hostas, too, should you find yourself unable to part with the idea of a flowering garden.

Again, feel free to take what remains of a dying plant and quietly plant it in a nearby area with full sun. If the new location does the trick, you have your answer: your container area isn't bright enough to grow this.

Soil
Problem: You bought the big bag of fancy soil at Stringer's (or your own local garden center), added some Osmacote, and planted your seedlings. Now, though, the leaves are yellow or brown, or they're falling off. The plant seems to be all stem and no leaves, or else it's so short it still looks like a seedling after two months.

Solution 1: You used too much fertilizer. Some plants, like Rosemary, do better with very poor soil; that is, soil with almost no nutrients at all. Generally, plants that like poor soil come from very dry areas (think non-irrigated California weather, or the South of France), but you can look up your plant and find out whether it likes rich or poor soil. If the plant likes rich soil, though, more is not always better. Too much fertilizer can cause chemical burns on your plants. Yellow leaves that drop off can indicate fertilizer overload (or that you're watering too often). Leggy plants- that is, plants that have long, scraggly stems and relatively few leaves- are another indication of over-fertilization. Take out the seedlings, toss out the potting soil in your container, and fill it back up with potting soil without adding any Osmacote or additional fertilizer. You can always fertilize the plants later by adding water-soluble fertilizer to a gallon of water.

Solution 2: You didn't use enough fertilizer. Plants look stunted and short even several weeks after transplanting. Be warned, though, that this is more likely a result of not enough sun; with the rich potting soil mixes used today, you're far more likely to end up with an over-fertilized plant than an under-fertilized one. Unless you dug up a wheelbarrow of dirt from a construction site, you probably are not underfertilizing.

At all times, remember: if a plant isn't working, replace it. Try something new and different in that space, or move your containers around within the space you already have. One of the great bonuses of the container garden is the ease and speed at which you can change out one type of plant for another. Don't let your entire spring and summer go by while you stare at spindly, unthrifty plants which clearly aren't working in your space. Embrace your opportunity to change out plants quickly and easily.

First Planting

NOW THAT YOU have your plants and containers, it's time to get them growing. You'll want to get set up before you begin: make sure you have potting soil, plants, slow-release fertilizer, and containers. You might want a small spade as well, or gardening gloves, though I use neither. It works just as well to dig the potting soil out with a leftover plastic plant cup and dig the dirt from under my nails later!

Before you begin, it's helpful to stick the plants (still in their pots) into your final containers and move everything all around. Do you have beans that will need a tall support? Twining squash vines that might look good in a high place? Chives that need to be kept cool? Group your plants by how much sun they need, especially if you'll be planting multiple plants in a single container. Mix low-growing plants with tall-growing ones to maximize your space. Take your time and have fun with it!

Once you have your plants laid out the way you'll want them to be, it's time to dig in.

Most bags of soil marked 'potting soil' will work for your purposes. Some have slow-release fertilizer already mixed in, and some don't. I prefer to use organic potting soil myself, and large companies like Miracle-Gro now provide organic potting soil at large chain stores such as Home Depot. If you go to a local garden center, however, they will be able to give you better guidance on the best soil for your plant type, container type, and local conditions. 

If your potting soil doesn't have a slow release fertilizer already mixed in, you'll need to add a bit. First, add a few inches of potting soil to your container, tamping it down very gently with the backs of your fingers. Shake in about a tablespoon (for the container size shown here) of slow-release fertilizer granules, such as Osmacote- they have varieties specially formulated for veggies or flowers. For a more organic approach, use a seaweed-based fertilizer instead.

Pop the plants out of their plastic containers by turning them upside-down, pushing on the bottoms, and gently (very gently!) pulling on the base of the roots. Delicately wiggle your fingers around in the tangle of roots at the base of the plant to loosen them from their tight container-like configuration, and place the plant on top of the fertilizer. 

When you have each plant in the container, fill in the gaps around the plants with more potting soil. You'll want to jiggle the container slightly or tamp down the dirt with your hands to fill any air pockets with soil.

Alternatively, you could plant different species in terra cotta pots and then plant those pots in a longer container. This will cut down on the frequency of watering, since the larger container will hold more water, but it will severely limit the size of your plants. That may be a good thing, depending on what you're growing. A highly invasive plant, like mint, can only be trusted not to take over the entire container when it is planted in this way.

To discourage any weed seeds- they are sometimes imported in your potting soil or even lurk at the base of your new plants- reduce watering, and repel predators, cover the raw dirt with some form of mulch. This could be wood chips, gravel, or even tumbled river stones. White rocks look very tidy and as an added bonus reflect light back onto the plants, which can maximize your sunlight in a shady garden. Mulching your plants will give a finished look to your garden and save you work down the line.

Choosing the Plants

THE BEST PART about growing your own container garden is getting to choose what types of plants you'll be growing. Given a large enough container you can grow anything- even trees- so let yourself be guided by the size of your containers, the daily dose of sun your plot gets, and your own imagination. Most of all, grow what you would most like to eat, smell, or see. Maybe you're interested in doing a 'vertical tasting' of cherry tomato varieties (Sungold! Stupice! Early Girl!), or maybe you want to see how many types of vining squashes you can cram onto your patio (Zucchini! Crook-necked yellow! Dwarf pumpkin!). Perhaps you want a little bit of every variety of herb you can think of for your kitchen. Maybe you're mad for berries.

Basically, you'll have to decide if you want a big harvest of a few things, or small crops of lots of things. Don't despair if you can't choose: you can just as easily find a good balance of everything. The charts below have been organized by the minimum amount of sun required for each plant, since I find that's usually the main concern for container gardeners. Remember, every plant can always use more sun and a bigger pot!

Key: Plant Name (Recommended Varieties), Minimum Container Size. Notes.

HERBS

Sun

• Basil (Greek, Lemon, Pesto Perpetuo, Plenty, Summerlong), Small. Basil will start to wilt quickly if not given enough water. There are a number of different varieties, from the succulent, shiny-leafed type to ones with a tougher, drier looking leaf. The drier-looking varieties (Greek, Lemon, Pesto Perpetuo) are hardier than the more shiny-leafed ones (Genovese, Plenty, Summerlong, Sweet), though I think the shiny varieties are more flavorful. Watch for a black rot at the root of the plant soon after planting. Yank and toss any of those plants and their surrounding soil.



• Lavender (English, Provence Blue), Small. Lavender isn't usually thought of as an herb though it can be used as an ingredient in tea. Plus, it smells so darn good! The French varieties are more odiferous though the English varieties seem to have hardier flowers here in Zone 7.



• Rosemary (Any Variety), Small. To get the best flavor out of your rosemary leaves, pinch out the flowers when they start to come on. However, the flowers are edible and can make an interesting addition to a summer salad. Rosemary is tough and woody; given enough light and space, it will start to get very leggy indeed. Prune often if you'd like to keep it small and plant-like, or soon you'll find yourself with a small shrub.
  

Part Shade

• Lemon Balm (Any Variety), Small. Lemon balm leaves are excellent for tea and have a light citrusy flavor that can also be used in cooking.

• Oregano (Common, Greek), Small. Oregano is a bushy, bright green herb with leaves similar to those of a mint plant. Oregano is used in Italian dishes in particular: pizza, pasta sauces, and fish dishes. It goes very well with tomatoes.

• Sage (Broadleaf, Common), Small - Medium. A versatile herb that works well with all kinds of meat and egg dishes. The plant grows tall with pointed, silvery leaves. Sage also attracts bees, which is helpful if you have any fruit trees that need pollinating.

• Savory (Summer), Small. Savory goes with all types of legumes: beans, lentils, and peas. The stems of savory are thick compared to the delicate leaves and tend to hang over the edge of a container. They are also rather twisty and can get leggy, presenting the appearance of a tangled mass.

• Tarragon (Any Variety), Small - Medium. Tarragon has an anise flavor faintly reminiscent of licorice. It goes well with French dishes, particularly those including eggs, fish, or cream. Tarragon grows high and bushy with yellow flowers; it looks somewhat similar to rosemary in bush shape.

• Thyme (Common, Creeping), Small. Thyme is a highly versatile herb that grows low to the ground on tangled, long stems. It gives good flavor to nearly all savory dishes and can stand up to extensive cooking. Thyme can easily be dried, grows and spreads very quickly, and works well with more upright-growing herbs.

Shade

• Angelica (Don Quai), Medium. Angelica has attractive white or yello pom-pom flowers, similar to the purple floers of chives or the starburst flowers of dill. It grows tall on thick stalks with a low base of bright green leaves. Angelica's taste is somewhat similar to celery; in nordic countries, Angelica is actually known as 'wild celery' and the thick stems are eaten raw with butter. Angelica can be cooked with squashes, pumpkin, and onion where it acts as a foil for the sweetness of each, though it is also good with fish dishes.

• Bergamot (Lemon), Small - Medium. Very similar to lemon balm, bergamot is used mainly in teas and has a lemon scent. The plant is bushy with broad green leaves and grayish flowers on a taller center stalk.

• Borage (Any Variety), Small - Medium. Borage leaves are dark green with a light downy fuzz surrounding both leaf and the dramatic dark-purple flowers. Both flowers and leaves are edible, and are used in salads and lemonade.

• Caraway (Any Variety), Small - Medium. The caraway plant has drooping leaves and white-pink flowers. Seed pods grow on flowering stems and contain two pointy seeds each. Caraway seeds have a pronounced anise (licorice) flavor. They are highly decorative and used to flavor cakes and cookies, goulash, pork dishes, and salads. Caraway root can be eaten as a vegetable, much in the way a parsnip might be prepared.

• Chervil (Curled), Small - Medium. In size and appearance very much like parsley, chervil is often used as a seasoning for salads. Clumped bright green plants stand about four to six inches tall.

• Chives (Common, Garlic), Small. Chives have a very mild oniony flavor with a hint of garlic. An extremely versatile herb, the hollow, round chives leaves can be used wherever garlic or onion would be appropriate and works well as a decorative topping. If allowed to flower, chives will produced attractive purple pom-pom flowers. Flowers can be nipped off with scissors (or fingernails) to increase the potency of the chive leaves.

• Garlic (Early Italian, Elephant), Medium. Garlic is grown down in the soil as a root. When harvested, the entire plant is pulled up by its long green leaves and the clove at the bottom is retrieved. A head of garlic from the supermarket- or, better yet, farmer's market- can be broken into cloves and each clove planted.

• Ginger (Any Non-Ornamental), Medium. As with garlic, the entire ginger plant must be harvested to get at the root-like rhyzome at the base of the plant. The plant itself is tall with spiky, sparse leaves and yellow to pink compact flowers. The rhyzome is peeled with a regular vegetable peeler or knife and then shredded or chopped to flavor cookies, seafood, and lamb dishes. Ginger can also be used to make the nonalcoholic ginger beer or tea, and is popular in Asian cooking.

• Mint (Apple, Coleus Chocolate, Lemon, Peppermint, Spearmint), Small. Mint is retardedly invasive, so whatever else you do, keep it in a pot! Don't be tempted to plant mint with anything else that grows low and thick as it does (say, thyme), or your other plant will quickly be smothered by mint. Tall plants, such as ginger or angelica, would be good companion plants with mint. Mint is used to flavor ice creams, lemonade, tea, and myriad veggie dishes. It also goes well with lamb.

• Parsley (Catalogno, Curled, Italian, Krausa), Small. Parsely is used in myriad ways in the kitchen, and can go into virtually every savory dish. It is most often used as a garnish, but has its own delicate, slightly astringent flavor. The plant offers wide, fragile leaves on delicate stalks. It grows to achieve a rough dome shape as it matures.

• Sorrel (De Belleville), Medium. Sorrel is used as both an herb and a vegetable. The plant has broad, spinach-like leaves and grows in a clump. In the spring, it is one of the earliest salad greens to mature. As an herb, it tastes slightly lemony and sour and is used most often in soups and salads.

VEGETABLES

Sun

• Beans (Pole: Blue Lake, French Dwarf, Kentucky Wonder; Bush: Sequoia, Tenderpick), Small-Medium. Beans take up a small soil footprint in the container garden, but they certainly will need a space to take off vertically- and take off they will. Trellises can be made of almost anything: rebar, netting, string, wire, wood; as long as it keeps the beans off the ground, the vines will curl around it.

• Cucumbers (Lemon, Spacemaster), Medium. Like tomatoes or beans, cucumbers need to be kept off the ground to avoid rot and pests. The vines of hybrids like Spacemaster are short and stocky, making it ideal for container gardening. Dwarf varieties also do well.

• Eggplant (Bambino, Fairy Tale, Rosa Bianca), Medium. Eggplants, like tomatoes or cucumbers, need support to lift their vines and accompanying fruit off the ground. There are beautiful variegated varieties of eggplants available, many of which were hybridized specifically for container growth.

• Peppers (Apple Red (hot), Cubanelle, Frigitello, Gypsy Sweet, Jalapeno, Robustini, Sweet Banana), Medium. Peppers and eggplants are grown in nearly identical ways; both need vertical supports to keep the vegetables off the ground. Peppers come in a wider variety than eggplants; the most difficult part of growing them may just be choosing which ones to grow.

• Squash (Gold Rush, Ronde de Nice, Scallop Sunbeam), Small-Medium. The term 'squash' covers an extremely wide variety of vegetables, from pumpkins to zucchinis, straight-necks to crook-necks, hubbards to butternut. Large hard-shell squashes like pumpkins, butternut, and acorn require quite a bit of growing space and enormous amount of water. Thin-skinned yellow squashes (crook-necked or straight-necked) can be treated exactly like zucchinis, with a vertical support system.

• Tomatoes (Cherry: Sungold, Ladybug, Currant; Large: Brandywine, Stupice), Medium-Large. Tomatoes need to be kept up off the dirt and will need a stake or cage. Cheap stakes can be made out of sticks, bamboo shoots, or even recycled rebar, though inexpensive tomato cages are available at all garden stores. Remember to water the base of the plant, not the leaves, to avoid damaging tomatoes.
  

• Zucchini (Varieties), Small-Medium. The actual pot for your zucchini can be rather small, but the plant itself is vining and will soon grow long tendrils that wander all over the place. Not quite as long as bean vines, squash (including zucchini) vines look very good spilling down from a high window box. All squashes do well with a trellis or tomato cage supporting them to keep the vegetables off the ground, though it's less essential for squash than it is for, say, tomatoes or cucumbers.

Part Shade

• Beets (Chioggia, Detroit Dark Red, Little Chicago), Large. Beets are a bonus for vegetable gardenerd as you can eat both the root and the greens that grow above the soil. Baby beet roots are excellent served quite young in salads, and the foliage is served much as raddichio or spinach would be in salads. Burpee recommends sowing radish seeds with the beets, as radishes grow quickly enough that you can see where your rows are early on next to the slower-growing beets.

• Broccoli (Bonanza, Flash, Green Sprouting Calabrese, Purple Sprouting), Large. The large-headed broccoli needs a bit of space to grow, and is susceptible to mildew. Home-grown broccoli is much sweeter than the supermarket variety, and converts sugar to tasteless starch very quickly after being picked. Does well in cool weather.

• Carrots (Red Cored Chantenay, Short n' Sweet, Sweet Rocket, Sweet Treat, Thumbelina, Toudo II), Large. There are many carrot varieties bred to be quite short, only five to six inches in length. This is an enormous boon to the container vegetable garden, where deep containers are few and far between. The Thumbelinas in particular grow the size and shape of golfballs- an excellent and unusual choice for the truly space-challenged! Once seeded, don't transplant your carrots or you'll risk deforming them.

• Cauliflower (Early White, First White), Large. Cauliflower, like broccoli, requires a space commitment for the container gardener. It can, however, be sown twice: the first in time for a late spring/early summer crop, and the second in time for a fall harvest.

• Cabbage (Pak Choi, Toy Choy), Medium-Large. Dwarf cabbage varieties are the best bet for the container gardener. This category is dominated by the Chinese cabbages, particularly bok choy. Cabbages grow well in cool weather, like cauliflower and broccoli, and can be sown for a spring crop and agin as a fall crop.

• Chard (Bright Lights, Orea, Rhubarb), Large. Dwarf varieties of chard are hard to find, though all varieties are grown in the same manner as other green, leafy vegetables (cabbage, kale, spinach). Chard tolerates cooler weather, though for container-appropriate dwarf varieties, you'll probably need to start them from seed at the end of the winter.

• Kale (Dwarf Blue Curled Vates), Medium-Large. Kale tolerates cool weather well, and can be sown in early spring for a spring/summer crop, then again in late spring for a fall crop. It's even possible to harvest it all winter in zones 6 and higher. Kale is served steamed, usually with a butter sauce, or raw in salads.

• Lettuce (Bibb, Buttercrunch, Looseleaf Heatwave, Rocket, Salad Bowl), Medium-Large. Lettuce tends to droop in very hot weather, though like kale and broccoli it can be sown twice a year for two major crops. Unlike spinach, which is pulled up by the roots when harvested, lettuce can be cut back for regular harvests while the main plant remains intact.

• Mustard Greens (Florida Broadleaf, Tendergreen), Medium-Large. Mustard greens can be treated like lettuce and makes an excellent spinach substitute. It germinates quickly and is ready to harvest in only 35 days.

• Turnips (Tokyo Cross), Medium - Large. Quick-harvesting turnips, like mustard greens, are ready to eat in only 35 days. Their greens are edible, and semi-dwarf varieties such as Tokyo Cross can be eaten at only two inches across, or can be allowed to continue growing indefinitely.

• Radishes (Cherry Belle, Icicle, Scarlet Globe), Medium-Large. Radishes come in two shapes: round or icicle (elongated). Either is suitable for containers, and all varieties mature quickly. Some are ready to eat in as little as 21 days, making them a good gap-filling vegetable once you've harvested a section of your garden out during the summer. Radishes are good on top of salads, and very fresh ones can be served in the French style: raw, with a smear of white butter, sea salt and cracked peppercorns.

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• Arugula (Rocket), Medium. Arugula is a tender and peppery form of lettuce which makes a good accent in tossed salads. It matures in a scant 35 days and is generally smaller than most lettuce forms.

• Cress (Any Variety), Medium. Cress is a type of salad green that is grown in the same manner as Arugula. Cress has a more buttery flavor than other lettuces, and is not peppery like arugula.

• Endive (Any Variety), Medium. Endive (not to be confused with Belgian Endives) is a type of salad green grown in the same manner as arugula. Endive is slightly bitter, though not peppery like arugula.

• Rhubarb (Victoria), Medium - Large. Rhubarb is a type of chard. Its tart flavor and ability to stand up to long cooking makes it an excellent partner with fruit. Rhubarb pies, tarts, and jam are refreshing summer treats.

• Sorrel (Any Variety), Medium. Sorrel grows wild in England and in the northern United States. It is a leafy spinach-like plant with a sour, almost fruity flavor. It has historically been used as a laxative, so avoid eating it in very large quantities (unless, of course, that's why you're overdosing on sorrel). It is frown in the same manner as arugula or cress.

• Spinach (Bloomsdale Organic, Reddy Hybrid, Salad Fresh), Large. Spinach grows quickly but is quite large and has a tendency to bolt. Leaves can be snipped off one at a time to create salads or to cook gently in egg dishes. Spinach is highly versatile but does take a great deal of space.

FRUITS:
Sun

• Blackberries (Arapaho Thornless, Darrow, Jewel), Large - Very Large. Without large containers and really ridiculous amounts of sun, blackberries might disappoint you. Plan to devote a very large container to your blackberries and give them the very best sunlight you can. Blackberries grow in tall bushes and come as sad, dry little sticks which miraculously sprout fuzzy caterpillar branches in the late spring. Fruit is unlikely the first year but comes on strong in the second in a well-established blackberry bush.

• Blueberries (Bluecrop, Bluejay, Blueray, Coville), Large - Very Large. Blueberries grow in large bushes five to six feet tall in ideal settings. They need acidic soil and very large containers to give you any fruit.

• Dwarf Apple (Golden Sentinal, Northpole), Very Large. All of the dwarf fruit trees need extremely large containers. The flowers on fruit trees must be pollinated to turn into fruit, so you'll need to make sure you have a male and female tree. You might need to pollinate them by hand, but hopefully a few helpful local bees will do your job for you. Encourage bee presence in a fruit tree garden!

• Dwarf Grapefruit (Rio Red), Very Large.

• Dwarf Kiwi (Arctic Beauty), Very Large.

• Dwarf Lemon (Meyer), Very Large.

• Dwarf Lime (Containerized Thornless Key), Very Large.

• Dwarf Orange (Containerized Everhard, Containerized Marrs, Containerized Satsuma, Dwarf Marrs, Dwarf Miho, Dwarf Owari), Very Large.
  

• Dwarf Stonefruit (Carson Peaches, Fantasia Nectarines, Rainier Cherries, Red Haven Peaches, Tilton Apricots), Very Large.

• Raspberries (Heritage), Very Large - Large. Raspberries and blackberries are very similar; both are tall bushes that need as much sun and space as you can muster to produce fruit sometime in the second year.

Part Shade

• Fig (Brown Turkey, Celeste), Medium-Large. Notes.

• Strawberry (Earliglow, Festival, Ozark Beauty, Surecrop), Small-Medium. Strawberries are excellent container plants and do particularly well in hanging baskets. Strawberry fruit must be kept off the dirt to produce well; hay or straw, mulch, or even stones placed on the bare dirt of a hanging basket will keep the fruit from dragging in the mud. Most varieties grow over the edges of a hanging basket, making it even easier to pick the berries. Strawberries are extremely satisfying to grow in container gardens, as you can usually get fruit the first season, they require smaller containers than other berries, and can produce fruit in far less sun.

Shade

• -None recommended-

Choosing Your Containers

YOUR NEXT TASK as a fearless small garden grower is perhaps the most expensive. Before you can begin to dig into your plants, you'll have to have somewhere to stow them. Recycled material is a container gardener's best friend for doing it on the cheap; be certain, though, that your pirated treasure wasn't used to hold oil, paint, or any other type of hazardous chemical before you plant your squashes in it (unless you want to grow that extra hand, of course). You have a number of options where containers are concerned. As usual, your main concern will probably be maximizing your sun and space.

FREE-STANDING CONTAINERS: Free-standing containers is what pops into my mind, at least, when I hear the words 'container garden', even though I don't use any of them myself! These containers rest on their own bottoms and have the excellent bonus that they may be moved easily without any messy drilling or major plant surgery.
The cheapest option here is the found free-stander: the elderly bucket, the make-your-own wooden container, the aging water butt. We'll come to a few caveats about free containers in a moment.
Next are the purchased variety of container. This includes unglazed terra cotta pots, lightweight styrofoam or plastic containers made to look like stone or terra cotta, wooden containers, and then those pots that aren't created for gardening but can be used that way nonetheless! The converted pots could be unused paint cans (sold at most hardware stores), buckets- whatever strikes your imagination.
The most expensive free-standing containers are large and heavy or else possess some type of advanced technology (I know, I know- advanced technology gardening! It's life on the edge!). Examples of each would include ceramic pots with some sort of decorative glazing (the glaze prevents water from evaporating through the sides of the terra cotta as quickly as an unglazed pot), or the self-watering planters from Gardener's Supply Company. Glazed pots can be purchased from larger outlets such as Home Depot or Lowe's, but really lovely ones can be had at local nurseries, such as Stringer's here in Memphis.

RAIL PLANTERS: This category is dominated by windowboxes, though there exist several types of containers specifically designed to 'straddle' a railing. They look pretty weird, but they seem to work! Windowboxes can be solid pots or can be merely a sturdy frame that is filled with a coconut mat or moss liner. My own are excellent lightweight frames with evergreen boughs wrapped around the frame inside and out- only $8 for each 24" box at Home Depot, though they don't seem to be for sale on the website.

HANGING PLANTERS: Hanging planters, like windowboxes, can be either solid material or a wire frame with a coconut mat or moss insert. Mine again came from Home Depot (don't judge me- it's in my back yard) for a decent $6, standard wire frame with a coconut mat interior. In order to get these down to a position that watering them doesn't take Stretchman-like superpowers, I also have short chains (Home Depot again, sorry!) that keep them at a more reasonable watering distance. Gardener's Supply Company also sells the ominously named 'Revolution'; the soil goes into a bag on the top and the plants grow through a hole in the bottom. It's supposed to be ideal for tomatoes and might be a good option for anyone interested in squeezing just one more veggie plant out of a narrow hanging space.

Ultimately, whatever container you choose needs to have:
- at least one 1/2 inch drainage hole at the base
- a wide opening
- a depth appropriate to hold any root vegetables
- (with exceptions) at least 4 inches across and 4 inches deep for herbs, and at least 5 inches across and 6 inches deep for veggies

Don't forget that wood can rot; redwood and cedar are most rot-resistant. Plastic can leach harmful chemicals into soil when left in the sun. And you're going to have to replace those coconut mats or moss interiors once a year (at least), so don't get too attached to them.

Once you have your containers, the fun of choosing your first harvest can begin!

Container Ideas:
Martha Stewart: Milk Pails
Martha Stewart: Surprising Garden Pots
Martha Stewart: Window Box Alternative

Assessing the Space

THE FIRST DAY of Spring has sprung here in Zone 8, and it's time to take one bare, blank patio of twenty square feet and turn it into something special.

The first task of any downsized gardener is to assess the damage- er, I mean assets, of course.

1. Measure: Take a small sketch pad and measuring tape out to your porch, balcony, or two square feet of roof and commence to measuring. Map out the floor plan of your space first, then go back and fill in the heights of the walls (if any) and dimensions of any special features, like doors, windows, or railings.

2. Draw A Plan: You'll want to have one sheet of paper with your garden floor plan on it. It's helpful if this paper contains measurements- then you can stick it in your pocket and take it to the garden center with you- but steer clear of making too many notes on it. The clutter will make it hard to think clearly. When you're ready to play around with inserting and moving around containers, though, do what architects do: get a roll of tracing paper, lay a piece over the master plan and let your imagination run wild.

3. Assess Conditions: This includes observing and writing down how much direct sunlight each area gets (I divided mine into zones 1, 2, and 3 for the north, east, and south railings and wrote it how much sun each gets on the plan- what a dork!), how much rain or gutter runoff each area is exposed to (I taped construction paper onto each railing during a thunderstorm to see how wet it got; maybe not so scientific, but helpful), and if there are any surrounding trees or plants that, when in bloom, might create shade for your containers. Is it really windy up there? Any specific conditions you'll have to work around? Jot those down, as well.

When I finished all of this, I found that the East Rail gets five to seven hours of sun a day, the South Rail got only one to two hours of full sun a day, and that the North Rail got no direct sunlight. This works out well for me; there are plenty of plants- ferns, chives, and parsley, for example- that do well in total shade. My North Rail can support that. The sun-loving vegetables and fruits are going onto the East Rail, and some part-shade/part-sun plants can dominate the South Rail. Luckily the sunny East Rail is the longest.

It's so important for those of us engaged in a fight for sun and space to look outside the typical to get more of both for our container gardens. I can get even more veg up front on the East Rail by utilizing hanging baskets. There are enormous brick posts at each corner of the porch; could those somehow be made to support a basket or two on their faces?

When looking at your space, think about growing up. Think backwards. Think forwards. Think vertical and horizontal. Could you grow anything upside-down? There are special hanging planters designed for just that purpose that are supposed to work wonders with tomatoes.

With so little space, you're going to have to use your imagination. Just think, though, how much more impressive the final result will be because of it!

Twenty Square Feet

I WOKE UP this morning and found myself standing at the front window, coffee in hand. The view falls on my tiny front porch which was, on this particular morning, covered with snow.

It's been a long time since I grubbed around in the dirt. Though I love this new apartment, it comes with one major drawback: no garden. To make matters worse, it's on the second floor of a restored 1920's apartment building. For even more of a challenge, the house boasts only one tiny, mostly shaded east-facing balcony that looks down onto a smoggy, busy street. I don't mind saying I despaired.

But no more! In every free moment I've been thinking of ways to turn these negatives into assets: to get a garden started. A garden would act as a screen from the hustle and bustle of the street below; it would make the porch look like a million bucks; and best of all, a garden would provide organic veg, herbs- and maybe even a few fruits- free for the picking. I've watched the porch at all hours and have decided that it gets at best five hours of direct sunlight on one puny railing- not exactly encouraging!

But we live in Memphis. We're located in Zone 8, the Mississippi Delta region of Tennessee, and I'm hoping that maybe the shade will be an asset in our hot, dry summers, preventing the scorching that's killed so many of my plant experiments in the past. At any rate, after being bucked-up tremendously be reading The River Cottage Cookbook by Englishman, downsizer, and all-around good guy Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, I'm going to (as he would say) give it a go.

I'm hoping to turn this patch of urban concrete into something that will provide olfactory and culinary joy all year 'round... provided that everything goes according to plan.