by riesenweib
Do pictures like this make you green with envy? There has been much talk among personal financers this year about gardening. Frugal Dad and Being Frugal built their square foot gardens and have actually begun planting in them. A four foot square may still be too big for your yard if you live in a townhouse or an apartment but don’t give up. Even in a tiny space like a balcony or a patio, you can still grow your own vegetables.
The variety of vegetables that can be grown in a container is growing yearly. Some of the vegetables listed below you may have never eaten or you may have had the canned variety and not liked them. Fresh vegetables have a whole different taste than canned especially when you have grown them yourself. Keep an open mind and try a few new ones every year.
Vegetables for Containers
- Beets - I hated beets for years until a friend convinced me to try fresh ones last year. Fresh beets have a whole different taste than pickled ones. These can be grown in as little space as a cake pan and are better picked small and tender, about the size of a silver dollar.
- Spinach – Fresh spinach is good both cooked and raw and it is another vegetable that can be grown in a small container. The leaves are best picked young and tender. One of the best things about spinach is that it doesn’t have to grow fruit so it doesn’t need a large container to support it. This is a cool weather plant and does not like hot summer days.
- Leaf Lettuce - Like spinach, leaf lettuce can be grown in a small container and doesn’t need hot summer days to mature. Pick when leaves are young and tender. Start pots at different times so you have a continuous supply. There is also a variety of miniature head lettuce that can be container grown.
- Patio Tomatoes – They are coming up with more and more types of tomatoes that are suited to container growing. Traditional tomatoes take a huge amount of dirt and grow to be 3 or 4 feet tall and wide if not supported. Patio tomatoes are more compact and were bred to retain a small size and be grown in a pot. Here is a variety of cherry tomatoes that can be grown in a container.
- Radishes – Like beets, radishes don’t need a huge pot to grow and mature fairly quickly. These are fun to grow and make a great addition to any salad.
- Green Peppers – These take a fairly good size pot and are definitely warm weather plants but they are not difficult to grow. They can be used in a variety of dishes and freeze well. If you are feeling a bit experimental, there is a new variety of mini peppers that you can buy. They are small and colorful.
- Green Beans – While I would normally not recommend growing green beans in a container, they have come up with several varieties of dwarf green beans that are recommended and actually as you can plant 16 green bean plants in a square foot I would imagine these would do fairly well in a container.
- Squash – Again, while squash is not something you would normally consider a container plant, new varieties are very compatible. This mild summer Patty Pan squash is only 2 ft high and 2 ft wide. It may be too big for an apartment but then maybe not.
- Eggplant – Eggplant is a mainstay in Mediterranean cooking. It’s compact size makes it an ideal choice for container growing.
- Garlic Chives – This is one of my favorites. It’s a beautiful flower and every part of the plant is edible.
- Swiss Chard – This link is to a rainbow variety that will perk up any spot. Fresh Swiss Chard has a sweet buttery flavor that is delicious. The grocery store variety loses SO much of the flavor that it barely resembles the garden variety. Try it fresh and sauted in a bit of olive oil with a hint of garlic.
- A pot of Herbs - You can mix and match herbs in a container. Basil, thyme, sage, tarragon, rosemary will all grow fine. My choices to put together would be basil, thyme and sage. Basil is an upright annual plant while sage is kind of sprawly. Thyme is a low grower so the three together make an interesting potted arrangement. All but basil are perennial.
Tomorrow I will be covering some of the different containers that are good for container vegetable gardening including instructions on how to make your own self watering container and some ideas for turning any container into self watering.
Contest
If you have gotten this far then you must be fairly interested in growing your own vegetables. I have a copy of autographed copy of the All New Square Foot Gardening that I am going to give away on April 18th. If you would like to enter the contest, all you need to do is subscribe here and leave a comment letting me know that you are interested. If you are already subscribed, just leave a comment. The winner will be chosen randomly and announced to subscribers.
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Tags: frugal living, gardening, Homesteading
Hi. I’m a subscriber already, and would love to win a copy of that book. Here’s to hoping!
I’m subscribed! I could use a copy of Square Foot Gardening, too. I just had to return the copy I had to the library.
Seriously, if you’re into gardening at all, this is a GREAT book!
What a great idea! We just built our square foot gardens (not well, but they’re there). I know very little about the gardening but hope to learn more.
I’m definitely interested in the All New Square Foot Gardening book and in reading your follow up post. I recently planted strawberries and blueberries in containers in my front yard and I’m hoping to venture into vegetables next.
Radishes are secretly my favorite vegetable. I like to eat them dipped in ranch dressing.
Trent, I like the milder varieties of radishes. Being able to choose the variety of vegetables is one of the things I like best about growing my own.
Deb, Lynnae Momma and One Frugal Girl, I have you entered. Square Foot Gardening is a great reference book not only for how to build them but for what to plant and how many.
Great post. One other vegetable I found is cucumber called “patio hybrid”, by Burpee, and it is available now. I have some already putting out cucumbers, and aren’t a foot long.
Please, please put me in the runnings for the book! Please!
Thanks
Snuffy Snodgrass
I’m a subscriber and am interested in the book. DH and I have done square foot gardening for a few years and are sold on it! I highly recommend it to anyone. We also use planting tables rather than planting in the ground. It makes a huge difference in regard to weeding and varmints like moles!
I just subscribed, and really enjoy this blog! Also, am very interested in your book! Gardening season is just beginning here and I’m looking forward to container gardening!
This is just what I need to know… I’ve been searching for some info on gardening in containers and haven’t had much luck. Everything I find about growing veggies is for someone with a huge backyard. And that’s certainly not me!
But I really have to get down to this, the price of food is worth more than gold these days.
(I would love to win this book of course, but even if I struck the jackpot it could turn out difficult to send it to me
sigh )
Very cool! I’ve been looking for something to grow at my new apartment. These are great ideas. I love the tomatoes. Put me in the running for the book as well, id love more ideas!
Just moved into an apartment where the gardening space is severely limited. For the most part I think my gardening is going to be based in pots so this list is great. What little yard space I do have access to would benefit greatly from Square Foot Gardening so if you don’t mind put me into the running for the book.
Irene and Granny, I have a huge back yard (9 acres) but I wouldn’t garden any other way. In a square foot garden, you never need to till it, there is very little weeding and it’s a manageable size for me. I just need to build the box and I have been putting it off so I grow things in containers instead.
I just signed up as a subscriber. Please count me in for the drawing for the book. ~
Thanks!
[...] Vegetables You Can Grow In A Pot [...]
This is soooo awesome! Ive been looking for something like this because I’d like to start my own veggie garden for the veggies we use often.
[...] Found this blog post entitled 12 Vegetables You Can Grow in a Pot. [...]
[...] Finance world as the popularity of articles on square foot gardening has shown. My article on vegetables that can be grown in a pot is already one of my most popular. Baking homemade bread is one of the more popular articles on The [...]
I am a subscriber and love gardening. I would love to be entered for the drawing to win this book
~ Thanks
I love this post. I love this post. Did I mention I love this post? Looking for my pot…
Can I grow Snow Peas or Snap Peas in a pot?
its the contest open for new subscribers, thanks for listing the vegtables you can grow in pots. l was hoping to fin asparagus but guess it cannot be grown that way.
I loved your ideas on growing vegetables in pots. Thanks so much for all the suggestions.
Can small salad onions be grown in pots?
Thanks for all the good information. Can you also grow salad onions in pots?
I’d love to be entered in the contest for the book,
Yes, you can grow salad onions in pots but be sure to leave enough room for expansion.
The contest ended some time ago.
I thought your young gardeners would enjoy an gardening adventure, growing the TickleMe Plant (Mimosa pudica). Recently featured by the National Gardening Association, http://www.kidsgardeningstore.com/14-1030.html
If you want to give your young gardeners an experience they will never forget, consider having them grow a TickleMe Plant. This is the plant that will close its leaves and lower its branches when you tickle it. They sprout in days and can be grown indoors any time of year. Just Google TickleMe Plants or go to http://www.TickleMePlant.com for information seeds and growing kits. This plant has turned many kids into plant and nature lovers. I know, because I grow TickleMe Plants in my classroom.
Happy Growing
I love that the different veggies were shared for planter growing!
[...] 12 Vegetables You Can Grow In A Pot [...]
[...] If you have space limitations, you will want to do your gardening in containers. Here are 12 vegetables that you can grow in a container and you aren’t just limited to vegetables. Herbs by nature make great container gardens and [...]
I’ve been a subscriber for a while, and look forward to my daily reading.
I’m going to start a container garden this year; I live in SoCal, in a mobile home, and I don’t have a lot of room, but there’s always room for a container somewhere (if I can keep my Grandsons from them).
Here’s to hoping I’m a winner in 2009!! Thank you for the chance.
Just subscribed, and would LOVE to enter your contest for your book!
[...] this year to grow things in pots. I found a great list of veggies that can be grown in pots (http://achingdebts.com/12-vege.....-in-a-pot/) which include beets, spinach, leaf lettuce, patio tomatoes, radishes, green peppers, green beans, [...]
Nice article. I’m subscribed and I’m interested in the book.
Thanks!
Hi all, the contest is over and the book has been given away. Thanks to all!!
[...] The picture above is my swimming pool salad garden last year. I have been looking around for containers to garden in and I ran across this article and just had to share, you really can garden in ANYTHING. This is a woman in Alaska who could not get vegetables to grow in the ground so she came up with an idea for vertical gardening. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, check it out. Along the same lines are these posts from Oh My Aching Debts, containers for vegetable gardening and 12 vegetables you can grow in a pot. [...]
Carnival of Homesteading: Vegetable Gardening Edition…
Welcome to the Carnival of Homesteading: Vegetable Gardening Edition!
Planting time has arrived in much of the country, so be sure to check out these excellent articles on growing tomatoes, raised-bed gardening, container gardening and a look at homema…
[...] S presents 12 Vegetables You Can Grow in a Pot posted at Oh My Aching Debts, saying, “No Room for a garden? Of course, you have room! This [...]
Hi Thanks for the great post.
Im currently growing some peppers, tomatoes and some french beans. working out nicely. Im too lat for your book competition but i suscribed anyways. anyone know the best vegetables to row through autumn or winter please email me or comment.
Niallopuregenius@hotmail.com
Thanks!
Hi Niall, All of the cabbage type plants are good through the autumn and into the winter. cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts all do better in cooler weather. Also spinach, lettuce, and collards do well. If you live in the southern parts of the US, you can plant green beans and some of the other summer vegetables that will grow on into the fall of the year.
hey thanks for the reply. Im gonna try some of those. Hello from Ireland by the way
[...] Raised Bed Gardening has an article on how to garden if you don’t have a yard. If you live in an apartment or townhouse you might want to check out one of these two articles Going To Pot With Container Gardening and 12 Vegetables You Can Grow In A Pot. [...]
Informative post!i have been looking for some vegetables to grow in a pot at my apartment. this list seem to be helpful! thanks for sharing such a great list!
[...] 12 Vegetables You Can Grow in a Pot [...]
I am going to be moving to North Dakota in the Spring and take up gardening and would love to have this book for this type of garden! Love your site too!
[...] Grow a Garden. Cut some cash from your grocery bill by growing your own food. Planting some common veggies can help save a bundle. Want some hard numbers? Follow J.D. Roth at Get Rich Slowly in his series: How Much Does a Garden Really Save? Don’t have space for soil? Here are 12 Vegetables You Can Grow in a Pot. [...]
I live in a village and work in agriculturing. We produce vegetables in our farms and i try to read everything
about them. This information is very useful for me and i also found another useful guide about vegetables;
http://agricultureguide.org
Loved your article on growing veggies in pots. I would love a copy of your book. I am a holistic health counselor and help people get back to cooking and home and growing their food.
Irene
Just subscribed–would love to be the lucky winner.
I would be delighted to have the book! I live in Wellsville, Utah and our growing season is very short, so I need all the help I can get to maximize the time I’ve got!