How (and Why) I’m Starting My Vegetable Garden In Containers

For the last couple of years, I’ve found myself doing more of the domestic things I said I would never ever do. Become a houseplant lady, check. Moved to the suburbs, check. And now, I’m completing the list by starting a garden.

But not a regular garden. I decided to start a vegetable garden in containers.

I know someone would wonder why I’m doing this when I have a perfectly good backyard that’s not being used to it’s potential.

The real reason I’ve decided to use containers instead of planting directly in the ground is one that’s pretty common for first time gardeners. Our soil is nowhere near as ready as it should be. We have very dense clay soil which is not at all ideal for planting.

I’ve always noticed how compacted it felt when I was walking around but I truly had no clue or care about it at that point.

With the onset of quarantine due to the Coronavirus, we have been exploring new activities and the gardening bug hit me hard one night. The rest is history.

If I’m truly honest with myself, I have been on this path for quite some time. I had been tinkering with gardening on a small scale since last year with houseplants as I shared in this post. It then progressed to making broccoli sprouts and microgreens for my family’s health as I shared in this post.

But planting on a larger scale always seemed so overwhelming. It seemed so easy to screw up the entire thing based on not having the right combination of supplies, room, and skill.

I started watching a ton of YouTube videos as I had when starting my houseplant journey. Honestly, what would the world do without YouTube? There are so many helpful people sharing their knowledge and experiences.

Admittedly, it was very intimidating at some points. Depending on which video I watched, I was left feeling empowered to just have faith and try something or discouraged because I didn’t have the tools, special soil, fertilizers, or whatever other bells and whistles the video tried to sell me.

As a content creator, I get it. I know there’s a business behind some of the channels and that’s just the nature of YouTube. But, as a beginner, those videos were more disheartening than anything else.

Thankfully, I came across some very awesome channels such as Epic Gardening, Urban Gardening, and MI Gardener. These are all great because they share a ton of information that beginner gardeners might think of. Kevin from Epic Gardening has been churning out videos non-stop over the last couple of weeks.

WHAT ABOUT THE CONTAINERS?

When I woke up and decided that would be the day to start gardening, I had very little if anything at all to start with. I had a couple of larger pots and containers from houseplants which I no longer used and about 3/4 a bag of potting soil.

I went to my local Whole Foods and purchased a couple packets of seeds they sold in their garden area. Once I returned home and laid everything out, I realized I needed more containers.

That’s when the image from one of the many YouTube videos I came across popped into my head. It was a video sharing the various ways some people were growing in unconventional containers.

In this video, people were growing potatoes in fabric grocery shopping bags. This idea was fascinating to me especially since I had a ridiculous amount of fabric reusable grocery bags from attending various events. Once I watched some of the above channels where they used fabric felted grow bags of various sizes instead of formal pots, I knew exactly what I was going to do next.

I gathered all of the reusable grocery bags which were not completely plastic, cut holes in the bottom of them and got started.

I also order some actual grow bags like these which were generally as fantastic as the YouTubers proclaimed in the hundreds of videos out there. I definitely recommend someone use them and I will share more on them on the future.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING CONTAINERS

There are a couple main benefits of using containers for your garden:

#1 You Can Start Gardening Right Away

When gardening the traditional way, as mentioned, you have make sure your soil is nutrient rich and full of organic matter. It should not be compacted or completely clay like what I have in my own backyard right now.

You can simply buy some potting soil, some seeds, or seedlings to transplant into the container, and you’re gardening.

Over the next year, we will start the process of preparing our soil for next year. We hope to get a traditional garden going and I am too excited. Though I will probably still grown some things in containers all year long.

#2 It Can Be Started Anywhere

A container garden can be started just about anywhere. As long as you have some space, you can grow something. I’ve seen people grow food on balconies, fire escapes, and small cement patches just about anywhere.

I actually have a small collection of culinary herbs I keep in the house which has been life changing. I’ve not had to purchase nearly as many herbs for our meals since then.

This type of container garden is one that can be started in an apartment. I support it with supplemental light using these grow lights.

#3 It Allows Control of The Plant’s Environment

Through my research, I learned there’s some vegetables that might do better in the controlled environment like a container. Herbs like mint are pretty invasive and can take over a garden if you let it.

I’ve personally been growing a lot of lemon balm because of how calming it (as I shared in this post), with the hopes to dry it for later use. But, keeping it in pots allows me to control how it spreads.

So far, I’ve learned a ton and am loving my experience. Be sure to check out my video below.

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