So you want to plant an organic garden; but your property is small and you don’t want to lose whatever lawn you have to vegetable plants, or you live in a condo.  – Well, you can still have  beautiful vegetables and flowers by growing an organic container garden.

If aesthetics are an important factor, decorative containers made from a variety of materials are flooding the marketplace.  There are planter boxes, wooden barrels, and pots of glazed ceramic and high impact plastic.  Or use your imagination and recycle an old watering can, an ash pail or a wheelbarrow.

There are a few steps that must be taken in order for you to accomplish your goal of producing actual vegetables, herbs and flowers.  First is the selection of a container large enough for the roots to spread out.  Also, the soil in small pots has the tendency to lose its moisture rapidly, requiring the gardener to water more than once a day.  A vegetable plant, such as the tomato, has a deep root system and therefore requires a deep container.

Containers should also have enough drainage.  If there are not enough drainage holes, the water will saturate the soil and kill the root system of the plant.  Do not place shards of clay pots or small stones over the holes at the bottom of the pot because they will actually decrease the drainage.

Now it’s time to prepare an organic planting  mixture.  Plants do not need soil to grow.  Compost is an excellent potting medium.   However, don’t fret isf composting is notd your thing“. +-You can make your own mixture by combining peat loam, peat moss and sand in a ration of 2:1:1.  But before you put this mixture in the containers, wash them with warm soapy water and dry thoroughly.

Now you’re ready to plant.  Select vegetables, herbs and/or flowers that are suitable for containers.  Not every species can thrive in this kind of growing environment.  Some veggie container favorites are tomato (including cherry), peppers, radish, summer squash, carrots, eggplant, cucumbers and bush beans.  Herbs: basil, dill, rosemary, lavender, sage, dill, oregano, chives, thyme and parsley.  Flowers: Impaction, petunia, begonia, pansy, zinnia, marigold, geranium, fuchsia and many more.

Fill the container with the planting mixture, to a level approximately 2 inches from the rim..  The young plant should be gently removed form its original packet and planted at the same depth as it had been in that packet. Pat the mixture so it’s firm (not hard) around the plant.

It’s important to fertilize the new planting and continue to fertilize once a week throughout the growing season.   Use a compost tea or fish emulsion and kelp mixture.  These substances are far better than synthetic fertilizers because they are organic.  They contain the nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous and other organic compounds needed for the plant to grow and produce their vegetables or flowers.

Water thoroughly.

An inch of mulch is recommended to cover the planting mix.  It’s optional, but it will help retain the moisture.  And be sure you know how much sun your container garden requires.  Most vegetables and herbs need at least 6 hours of sunlight a day.

As you can see, it’s not difficult growing an organic container garden.  After the initial prep and planting, the work is minimal and the rewards great.