I’ve never seen or tasted ground cherries but they look pretty cool in the picture so I decided to start a few ground cherry seeds and see for myself. I planted a tray with 9 sections and put a couple of seeds in each section.

They have started sprouting now and I see that pretty much all of the seeds germinated. Now I’m excited to see how they do for our first year.

It did take twice as long to germinate as my tomatoes which were right next to them in my mini-greenhouse. I was thinking that nothing was going to come up at all. Just being impatient on my part.

Be Aware That Ground Cherries Can Re-Seed

I am not going to plant my ground cherries in our main garden as I’ve learned they can reseed themselves, so I will grown them in containers the first year and see what happens next year.

I thought these little guys were going to be growing on a short stubby plant but while I was looking for a good image to see what the ground cherry plant looks like I saw some that were 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide.

Well I guess I am just going to have to plant them and see how big or little they get, then I’ll know won’t I.

While finding more info about the ground cherries I learned they are also called "cape gooseberry" or "husk tomato” and are related to tomatillos and Chinese lanterns. Like those plants, ground cherries (Physalis peruviana) grow in a protective paper husk.

I have a little time before I’ll know more as they are only a half inch or so tall at the moment.

Creating seed starter pots using things you might have just thrown in the garbage is a good way to get your kids involved in gardening and at the same time teach them about reusing, recycling and repurposing things.

As you can see in the image on the left I am using cardboard milk cartons but most cartons can be used, even plastic coffee containers. The goal is to turn them into something useful instead of trashing them.

I like using the milk and juice cartons as indoor seed starting pots and for my herb garden. I just cut out one side, put holes in the opposite side, add stones and dirt, water and put on the window sill.

Making A Seed Starter Container From A Cardboard Milk Carton

1. Wash each container thoroughly and allow it to dry. I add just a little bleach to the water to kill any bacteria left in the container and then rinse it really well.

2. I like to use a ruler and pen to make a line a quarter inch in from the edge. That’s where I will cut out the opening where the pebbles and dirt go. I cut much straighter lines if I mark it first. Leaving the lip makes the container stronger.

3. Before I cut out the rectangle I like to put a series of drainage holes in the opposite side. Once you cut the rectangle out it is a little wabbly putting the holes in.

4. Then I cut the rectangle I marked and keep the piece I cut out to use as a separator to make my container into three sections. So try and cut it out in one piece and then just cut that piece in half. I add those pieces when I’m filling it with soil.

Making sections allows me to easily remove the sections later without roots tangling. It also allows me to plant different seeds and easily mark them. Nothing goes to waste.

5. The drainage holes I put in the bottom can plug with soil so I like to cover the bottom with small stones or pebbles. It doesn’t need many, just enough to cover the holes.

6. Put your soil mix in and plant your seeds according to the directions on the seed pack.

I saw someone trying to grow celery from the stalk ends of store bought celery. They didn’t do so well but it got me thinking that it was a good experiment so I gave it a try for myself. It helped me get through a long cold winter actually.

Here is a link to the first growing celery in water experiment which I admit didn’t do so good. You can check out the growing celery in water part two to see those results.

Because I was a bit sceptical that this would work I started a second celery stalk end in water on March 4th. After a week in the water I placed it in a container of well watered dirt to see if it would root.

Yesterday was the 14th and it still looked healthy so I pulled it gently from soil to check for roots and to my amazement there were roots around the base that were just over an inch long. I was so happy I did my little happy dance and then replanted it into a bigger container.

I am going to try growing roots on celery in water again but this time I will keep the water changed and do a better job of cleaning the base before putting it in water. This may be why the second experiment worked when I put it in dirt. So I’m excited to see the new results.

Because I didn’t make my own video I thought I would look on Youtube and found a re-growing celery experiment that worked to show you what I did.

For my next experiment growing celery in water I will document it better, take pictures and create a video of my own to share with my friends, family and new visitors.

Let me know if you’ve done this and share.

I’ve already said I like to reuse, recycle and repurpose rather than sending things to the local landfill. I was waiting until our city wide trash pickup which happens once a year, in the early spring so that we could maybe find some gems people throw away.

Yesterday I saw the people up the street putting a lot of stuff out in the big garbage bin. It looks like someone skipped out on their rent and just left the big things behind. Things like their wooden bed frame and dresser drawers.

I didn’t see exactly what was being tossed until we went for breakfast at Hynes, like we do every Saturday morning. When I saw what they had thrown away I could hardly wait until we got back home so I could see if it was anything I could repurpose for the backyard and garden.

Their Bed Becomes Our Raised Bed

The first thing, right on the top, was the boards from their bed. Must have been a gorgeous bed but now it’s going to become a gorgeous raised bed garden in our backyard. Actually the bed frame is so big I can easily make two good sized raised beds.

I just went back out to the garage where we stored them to see how long the pieces are. The bed was 8 feet by 5 feet, not a bad size bed at all. I think I will cut it up so that I can make two raised beds, 4 feet by 2 1/2 feet.

Repurposing Dresser Drawers Into Flower Beds

At first I thought there was just one dresser but it turned out there was one big dresser and one smaller but with wider drawers. I am going to repurpose those drawers as flower beds I can stake to make an interesting raised bed flower garden.

There was other wood being thrown away with the bed and dressers which I can use to make a couple of small raised beds. I’d like to make a tepee out of branches and use them to grow pole beans.

Now I can hardly wait until spring is here and I can start putting my new raised bed gardens together, before planting time.

Recently I joined Pinterest and I’ve been really enjoying sharing pictures of my home gardening fun but I also love the idea I can look for images which can lead me to learning new things. Like I did just a few days ago.

I saw someone trying to grow a new celery plant from the end of the celery we usually toss in the compost bin in the backyard. They had just put it in water and it started to grow.

Well the first thing I thought was that I had already seen this happen, without any water at all. The celery has enough residual water to allow the tender leaves in the center to start growing. It doesn’t mean that it will grow a new plant that easily. So I had to know for my self and have started an experiment with two root ends of store bought celery.

The first thing I did was look through some related gardening videos on Youtube trying to find  a video that went from start to finish with positive results. Couldn’t find one that convinced me and it’s why I have to try this one myself.

First Day: Saved The Root End of Our Celery

I started by saving the root end of the celery. I kept about two inches of stalk as well. This will help keep moisture in until it’s absorbing water.

Because we had broken off pieces of stalk to eat before I started this experiment I decided to clean up the root end and remove the pieces left over as they tend to get slimy when placed in water.

While checking online for info about rooting celery I learned that some places add wax to the end so it doesn’t start to rot. This may interfere with root growth so I cleaned it off thoroughly and cut a few slits in the end just in case I didn’t get all the wax. This should help the roots get started.

Third Day: Seeing Plenty Of Green Leaves.

Even though I see all this new growth I keep reminding myself I’ve seen this happen without any water, like I mention at the beginning.

It would last a few days to a week and still look healthy without the water. I am expecting the water to keep it wet enough that it has time to start rooting before dying.

Every couple of days I will check the water level to be sure I don’t let it go dry and ruin my experiment. If the roots start growing I will immediately place it in some healthy soil and see if it will continue to grow.

I wanted to test this with a similar root end but without water to show that it will grow new leaves as long as there is moister left in the stalks.

So the yogurt container on the left has no water in it and I just started that one today. The one on the right is the one I started three days ago and has water in the container.

I will follow the progress until it either dies or grows roots. From there I will follow the progress while it’s growing in soil. So watch for more as the celery experiment continues over the next few weeks.

This past gardening season, 2012, our vegetable garden did so well we actually felt a bit spoiled by all the produce but especially by the quantity of tomatoes we grew. It was a shock to my system when I bit into the first store bought tomatoes, once again. Yucky and bland. So spoiled by quality and taste.

It’s a little embarrassing but I dropped the tray with the Tiny Tim tomatoes just after they sprouted from seed and I destroyed them. So we didn’t have any Tiny Tim’s all summer long.

We decided to try growing Tiny Tim’s indoors this winter because they are a small plant, just 18 inches tall, and will fit perfectly in our south facing kitchen window. Hopefully the mini greenhouse won’t be in the way all winter.

Growing Indoor Tiny Tim Tomatoes This Winter

I kept the plastic fruit containers as they look like they’ll make excellent pots for starting tomato seeds. By recycling containers they can be useful once again.

I can use the yogurt containers to start seeds and then transplant them into the juice containers we keep for recycling.

Mixing Indoor Potting Soil

This time around I am using a better mix for starter soil by sifting the dirt and compost to avoid un-composted pieces as the containers are so small.

I am adding some peat moss, which I soak a head of time, as well as perlite to hold moisture and aerate the soil for better root systems.

Take A Minute To Read The Instruction

Hello, I’m a guy and I don’t always read instructions… but I’m learning to. Good thing I have a wife to help me read.

Seriously, I did check the back of the seed pack to be sure I placed the seed at the right depth, which is a quarter inch deep.

The starter soil I mixed is too fine to pour water over at the beginning so I’m just going to use my spray bottle to moisten the soil without disturbing the seeds. To keep moisture from evaporating and leaving the seeds dry I put clear plastic wrap over the top which also allows me to check on the progress of our seeds.

The seed pack also specified a temperature of 75F/24C or higher to help germination of the seeds. If you need to use a lamp to keep the temperature high enough until they sprout. It’s not about the light at this point, just maintaining temperature.

Give Your Tomatoes The Most Light You Can

As I mentioned I will use the south facing window in our kitchen and have our mini greenhouse so that we have multiple racks that get direct sunlight for 6 hours a day.

Six hours of winter sun may not be enough so I am keeping a lamp handy to give them a couple of extra hours light each day.

It’s Important To Keep Roots Moist Not Soaked

As your seeds are germinating be sure you don’t allow them to dry out and don’t keep them soaked. It’s a balance. Then once you have them transplanted into bigger containers you should stick your finger into the soil to see if it’s dry down in the soil.

Keeping Your Tomatoes Well Fed

I have a package of Miracle Gro I’m using to feed my indoor plants. The pots aren’t very big meaning there isn’t a lot of soil for the roots to feed on so a little help goes a long way.

How I Pollinate Tomatoes Indoors

It’s great having insects helping to pollinate our outdoor plants but I’m not going to let them in my house so I am pollinating by hand. All I have to do is wait until the blossoms are fully open and then just lightly shake the plant. Even using a fan on the light setting will help them pollinate.

I’ll talk quietly as our veggie garden is sleeping for the next 5 or 6 months. I wish I could hibernate for that time as fishing is over until mid April.

To help avoid the bad case of cabin fever I seem to get every winter I need to do more to occupy my time and this year it’s going to be indoor vegetable gardening.

We do have a couple of house plants but they seem to do just fine on their own as long as I water them every couple of weeks. That’s not going to help me deal with cabin fever though.

This Year I’m Growing An Indoor Veggie Garden

Once I started growing herbs indoors I became spoiled. It is so great to be able to walk over to a kitchen window and snip off a bit of basil to add to dinner or maybe some chives. Plus it’s a great way for us to keep all the milk cartons we go through from being dumped in the local landfill.

I use our kitchen windowsills to grow our herbs and the milk cartons fit the windowsill perfectly. The thing is there is no room left on the sill to grow anything else.

Fortunately we purchased a mini greenhouse to start our last year’s vegetable garden and flowers, from seeds. Now I can use the greenhouse to start seeds for our indoor vegetable garden.

I have watched a few videos and it seems totally doable so I am ready to start. Well almost. After watching the videos I realized there are some things I still need to pickup.

Our Mini Greenhouse Is Great

The mini greenhouse is two feet by three feet by six feet high and has four shelves or racks. The thing is the greenhouse sits on the floor and two of the four racks are below the windowsill and won’t get any light.

Not a problem because I have two old wooden orange crates I can put under the greenhouse to lift it into a position that will allow us three racks that will get sunlight. So glad I kept those old crates.

Note: By purchasing the mini greenhouse and starting our vegetables and flowers from seed we easily saved enough money to pay for our greenhouse.

We Still Have Limited Sunlight

The mini greenhouse will be great for short plants with shallow root systems like radishes, peas, lettuce, and cucumbers. We don’t want to plant anything that will grow too big and block out sunlight like the tomatoes and peppers we plan to grow. For those bigger plants we have the second kitchen window.

I Need Some Tin Foil, Duct Tape And A Light

This morning I learned that by putting tin foil around the sides and back of the mini greenhouse I will be able to reflex a lot of light so I will have to pick some up. While I’m out I will pick up another roll of duct tape to hold it all in place.

I will also pick up an energy efficient fluorescent bulb that will screw into an existing fixture to give my veggies the extra light then need because we won’t get enough direct sunlight during the winter months.

Using Recycled Milk Cartons For My Indoor Herb Garden

I just started an indoor herb garden and was able to recycle milk cartons as containers. They don’t look as cute as fancy pots but they serve a purpose and they aren’t in the local landfill. I started with four herbs we like but I plant to grow more in our indoor veggie garden. I just need a taller plant stand that will hold more.

I started with an indoor vegetable garden when I lived in my first apartment, not long after leaving the farm for a life of my own. It was an interesting and exciting project to start my very own indoor vegetable garden, even if it was only tomatoes the first year.

So even people who live in small spaces without any available outdoor planting area can grow their own vegetables by means of indoor vegetable gardening techniques.  Many find such indoor vegetable gardens convenient since they do not have to go out especially in colder weathers to take care of their plants.

I like the fact that I can grow an indoor garden at any time of the year. Nothing like fresh herbs with dinner, without a trip to the grocery store. I don’t even need any specialized garden tools or equipment although some will use just the right tools and equipment to grow more even without direct sunlight like I have.

Where To Place Your Indoor Vegetable Garden

The first thing you need to take into consideration is where you can successfully start your indoor garden. An indoor vegetable garden can be placed along a window sill where they can be exposed to more sunlight.

Our windows are covered with plastic during the colder months so the windowsill is out of the question for most of the year. However I have a mini greenhouse I bought as a place to put my starter plants to harden a bit before transplanting them to the outdoor vegetable garden. I will use that this winter.

If you do have available windowsills they are actually an ideal location for your indoor vegetable plants.  The reason for using a windowsill is the direct sunlight required to grow vegetables, indoors or outdoors. The further your veggies are from direct sunlight the less they will grow. Instead they will most likely stretch toward that light and just be spindly looking plants.

My friends Carrie and Gary had a huge bay style window in their living room and get so much sunlight they have to have blind to hold it back.

Portable Mini Greenhouse

We have a lot of trees around our house so in order to get the most of the direct sunlight I move them from window to window. It’s easy when my mini greenhouse has wheels. It takes about a minute or two and they have a new location with lots of direct sunlight.

In our house we love garden fresh herbs however we don’t like buying them as we feel it’s a waste of good money when we could be growing herbs on our kitchen windowsills.

Today I am starting an indoor herb garden so we save money and have all the fresh cut herbs we want for those chicken, beef and pasta dishes.

Every year the cost of living gets higher but our income never increases so we look for ways to save money when we can and for us that means growing our vegetable garden from seeds we get from Mike The Gardener’s Seed Club. We also collect seeds from the plants we grow each year.

So as I am getting ready to start a herb garden for our kitchen I will go over the details so you can have your own indoor herb garden as well. So let’s start with the most important thing for growing most vegetables and herbs.

Deciding What Herbs To Grow

For Jenny and I the herbs we want to grow are the same herbs we use dried so I just have to go to the kitchen for a minute to see what herbs I want to grow indoors, be right back. Okay, I’m back and know the herbs I want to grow:

• Coriander
• Basil
• Parsley
• Garlic Chives
• Summer Savory
• Thyme

We also love a bit of hot spice with most things we eat, especially Jenny’s awesome spaghetti sauce so I started growing hot peppers in our vegetable garden.

Plenty of Direct Sunlight

Without adequate sun light or a sufficient artificial lighting source such as grow lights or fluorescent lights it’s going to be tough growing anything more than mushrooms. Your herbs are going to need about six hours of sunlight a day or 12 hours if you are using fluorescent bulbs.

Pots or Containers For Your Herb Garden

It’s not necessary to go out and buy fancy pots for your herbs, unless that’s what you really want. We just want an indoor herb garden so I personally chose to recycle milk cartons that would be going to the landfill site.

It was pretty straight forward as I just cut them in half and after putting a few drainage holes in the top I turned it upside down and stuck it in the bottom half to catch any water the runs through during watering. How simple is that?

Using the bottom half to catch water means I don’t need a saucer under but if you are using pots you will want a saucer to catch extra water and to NOT destroy your windowsill.

Use A Few Stones For Drainage

As I dig through our yard creating new gardens we find lots of small stones that work great for the bottom of your posts or containers as they help with the drainage and to keep the soil from plugging drainage holes. You can also use pottery shards as long as they are small enough to fit in your pots.

Herbs Need Good Soil

You want your herbs to grow healthy and that takes good top soil. To help the soil hold a little more moister I like adding some perlite to the top soil mix. This way they don’t dry out as fast.

Get Out Your Herb Seeds

Now you have everything you need to grow herbs indoor so all that’s left are your choices of herbs to grow. I just checked our cupboard for a quick reminder of the herbs I want to grow most.

From here it’s just a matter of reading the planting instructions on each herb packet so that you aren’t planting them too deep.

It’s not difficult but if you’re anything like me you may do better with a little show and tell so I have included a short video from Youtube.

Related articles

• Plants We’ve Chosen For Our Container Garden (hbb2obm.com)
• Growing Herbs in the Comfort of Your Own Home (theepochtimes.com)

We don’t just use containers to start plants to grow in our gardens. We use containers to grow more of the things we love to grow. That means we have tomatoes growing in containers, we have zucchini growing in containers, we even have shrubs like our Bleeding Heart.

In our house we use containers to grow out indoor plants, which include herbs for the kitchen. Containers are so versatile, come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit any decor or location, big and small.

Even though our first vegetable gardens were container gardens we still grew flowers in pots or containers, especially Jenny’s petunias. We even grew strawberries in containers.

Herbs In Containers Are Most Common

Herbs tend to be one of the most common container plants grown, mostly because they grow quickly and can be used in cooking by just cutting a section of your herbs. The herbs just keep growing, as long as you don’t cut them too close to ground level.

Our fav herbs to grow are chives, parsley, thyme, summer savoury and basil.

Tomatoes Hold A Close Second To Herbs

Just like so many others we grew vegetables as a second thought and of course we started with tomatoes. Just love tomatoes in just about everything. We had some issues growing things in containers but once you learn the right things to do it becomes much more successful.

We don’t grow tomatoes indoors, although we do started our tomatoes from seed indoors but then they go in containers outdoors where we can move them around to get the most sunlight.

I like to grow a couple of varieties of cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes and of course a few varieties of bigger tomatoes. This year we are hoping we will have enough to do preserves. It will be our first year canning anything.

We Grow Strawberries in Containers

We grew strawberries in containers for years but this year we built a new raised bed garden for our strawberries. Actually we just had our first strawberries from our raised beds. A great option for having fun growing strawberries is by using the strawberry Topsy Turvy Planters.

Strawberries can take quite a bit of abuse and still produce. Heck some people just plant them in a bag of dirt by cutting holes in the sides and just sticking in strawberry plants. It’s actually quite similar to using a Topsy Turvy except most of the time the bag of dirt is just left leaning against the wall.

Grow Dwarf Trees In Containers

Trees In containers are common as well. We actually have a money tree a friend gave us. What a cool looking tree. Right now it’s about 4 feet tall. It could likely go outdoors in the summer but we wouldn’t want to have it infested with insects so we don’t put it outside at all.

Container gardening was our way of doing a little gardening even though we had no place to dig a garden. One of our neighbours here in Moncton have grown tomatoes in containers and had enough containers to go from the sidewalk all the way to their front door, on both sides of their sidewalk. Pretty cool looking.

Growing Potatoes in Containers

Last year I grew potatoes in some big containers so we could have early new potatoes without disturbing our in ground potatoes. Although we have been know to dig a few early potatoes in our garden, just to thin them out so the rest would grow bigger.

This year we grew all our plants from seed. We did the same thing last year but it was kind of a disaster as we don’t get enough direct sunlight in the house. The fact we have a mini greenhouse now helped us to start our seeds outdoors. We could put the greenhouse outside during the day and back in the garden shed for the nights.

Related articles

• Choosing Container Gardening Pots Helps Get You On Track (hbb2obm.com)
• Creating a Garden in a Pot: 10 Container Gardening Tips (hbb2obm.com)
• How To Choose Plants For Container Gardening (hbb2obm.com)

Why is container gardening loved even by those who are not keen gardeners? This is because container gardening is quite uncomplicated, easy to care for and gives one the opportunity to try planting concepts the easy and affordable way.

It also offers versatility in choosing the plants for container gardening. The truth is, you can plant almost anything in a container.

In spite of the flexibility, picking the best plants remains to be the most daunting part of container gardening for beginners. The choice is really all about personal preferences and what you want to have around you. Here are some top choices of plants for container gardening.

1. Colourful blooms make wonderful picks, but there are just too many of them Picking flowering plants can be based on a color theme and preference. If you like a monochromatic hue of lilac, choose varying shapes and textures to highlight the garden. Some examples are Angelface Dark Violet, Daisy Soprano Lilac Spoon and Superbena Dark Blue. The fiery combination of red-orange Super Sonic Flame and the coolness of the Catalina Midnight Blue are great if the complimentary color design of orange and blue want to be experimented on.

2. Why not experiment companion planting for vegetables?  The concept can yield your favourite vegetables and an herb or another veggie on the side. Plants that share similar needs can also share the same planter. The right companion plants can repel insects from the "good crop". For instance,   lettuce, radish and carrots can grow  together; leeks can grow well with carrots but never with peas or  beans; and mint is a common companion for cabbage.

3. If you want to plant herbs, plant what you eat or cook with and those that look great. Rosemary, thyme and sage are good together being all perennial and sun-loving but can survive the winter make good picks. Some popular herbs that are good for cooking  grow well in containers are  parsley, chives, mint, tarragon, dill and  basil.

There are so many possible choices of plants that can be experimented. Containter gardening is supposed to be uncomplicated, easy and flexible and not intimidating. If you want an adventure, try growing a bonsai which is among the top favourite plants for container gardening.

Anyone who enjoys cooking, eat or grow plants has a good reason to start herb container gardening. It is undeniable that herbs enhance our cooking and eating experience. The fact is most, even those who can’t cook, can taste the difference adding herbs to a dish can make.

Magellan braved the unknown in search of the metaphorical Spice Island to render vigour to the Old World cuisine. Wanting to grow herbs does not demand for tracts of land to get the want satisfied; a container is enough.

What does an herb gardener need to bear in mind when growing herbs in containers?

1. Start With Containers You Like

To be able to do single herb potting, have several small containers as planters however, for companion planting you’ll want to choose bigger containers. Picking with subjectivity is fine as long as the functionality of the planters are not neglected. Make sure there are drainage holes to prevent your herb container garden from being waterlogged.

2. Choose Herbs You Like

I only makes good sense to plant the herbs you like to cook you most like to eat. Some people plant herbs they like to smell as well and even for the colour. Cooks, foodies and gardeners alike are of the consensus that among the best herbs to grow are:

• mint
• sage
• rosemary
• basil
• thyme
• parsley

3. Think About Companion Planting

Companion planting is a great idea in herb container gardening for plants with similar needs. Herbs that like water are parsley, chives, and marjoram. Conversely, herbs such as oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme like the soil dry. Spreaders  like mint will do better when planted alone. The solo planters can be grouped for better visual appeal and expediency.

To make your herbs thrive you should provide them with lots of direct sunlight, start with a good potting mix, water as needed and even provide them with some plant food. When I talk about sunlight I would say at least 6 hours a day.

Of course if the sun is very intense it’s a good thing to move your herbs to a shadier spot which is one reason container gardening is so cool, no pun intended.

Today is a perfect day to start your herb container garden, I’m starting an indoor herb garden today, while preparing for our outdoor herb container garden. It’s always a surprise when you grow enough to share your herbs with friends and family, even your neighbours.

Related articles

• Herb Gardening With Your Own Container Garden (backyardgardeningtips.com)
• Container Gardening To Keep Your Herb Garden Close To The Kitchen (hbb2obm.com)
• Choosing Container Gardening Pots Helps Get You On Track (hbb2obm.com)
• Creating a Garden in a Pot: 10 Container Gardening Tips (hbb2obm.com)
• How to Start Home Gardening Without a Backyard (backyardgardeningtips.com)

We have found our food can have so much more impact when we use fresh herbs from our herb container garden. We love it so much that we have an indoor and outdoor herb garden.

Where one lives has a big part of how you grow your herb garden as not all of us has a yard to grow in and instead have only a balcony for your garden. Apartment living is how many live including myself.

I’m a single person in my 20s and never really thought I could grow an herb garden in the limit space I have both inside and outside on my balcony. However after visiting and reading a few home gardening websites I was excited to give home gardening on my balcony a go and I started with herbs to go with my love of cooking.

The rest of this article is a step by step guide on how I started my first apartment friendly herb garden in containers. What I did won’t be a surprise to any gardeners but for newbies like myself it’s amazing to have my own little home garden! Hope you enjoy it.

Step 1: Purchase Your Home Garden Supplies

I went out shopping and found a couple of herb plants that were already full grown to start my little home garden.

I chose Cilantro and Mint plants as my first herbs. I guess I was a bit impatient to wait for my new seeds to start growing and bought these to add to my cooking while I was waiting.

Next, I moved on to getting the supplies I would need to grow herbs and bought two packs, Parsley and Dill seeds.

I have a very sunny balcony but it’s not sunny all the time so I checked to see that these herbs would grow well on my 11th floor balcony. It would have been disappointing to learn after the fact.

Then it was on to get a few pots for containers to hold my new herb seeds. I like spending locally so I went to a discount pottery store close to where I live.

As you can see from the image above I chose cute colors that go well together. If you have nothing local a good place to look is online, of course, and I recommend shopping online when I can’t find things in my area. I highly recommend shopping online for bulk pottery.

And the last item before heading back to my balcony was some good potting soil.

Step 2: Now It’s Planting Time

I bought the herb plants in smaller post so I needed to re-pot once I was home so they could grow bigger roots and give me more and more herbs.

The only thing is I didn’t think about the depth I needed and bought containers that were too shallow to plant my Cilantro. Lesson learned, buy deeper pots and containers next time.

It was a quick trip back to the store for slightly deeper pots.

When I was planting my Parsley and Dill seeds I made the choice to plant them together in the same container. We’ll see how that goes as they both require the same things, water and sunlight.

Following the instructions on the seed packs I planted my herb seeds at about a half inch deep and then gave them a good watering to settle the soil and remove unnecessary air pockets. Then I waited for Mother Nature to take over.

Step 3: Fresh Herbs Make Dinners So Tasty

I have already been using the herbs I bought which were growing in pots already. It just takes a small amount to change a meal for the better. Having my own tiny herb garden is so cool and rewarding.

I am so excited about herb gardening on my balcony that I’m out there checking on them every hour, just to admire my work. It was so much easier than I ever imaged growing herbs would be. It’s a dream come true and it’s only just begun for me.

I hope that you get as inspired over herb gardening in small spaces like your patio or balcony as I have gotten. Such a rewarding hobby for so little work.

Related articles

• Benefits of a Home Herb Garden (hbb2obm.com)
• Creating a Garden in a Pot: 10 Container Gardening Tips (hbb2obm.com)

The best way for new gardeners to grow a garden is with containers and it’s exactly how Jenny and I started learning more about gardening in our backyard. Later we bought a home that has plenty of room for an in ground garden and we are taking full advantage of it but we got our start with a container garden at the end of a driveway.

With container gardening everything from the soil you use to the size of the containers you use are under your full control.

Now that we have multiple gardens we know that container gardening doesn’t require quite as much effort as our  landscaped gardens.

Below are my top 10 tips to bring colour and greenery to your patio or balcony using a variety of containers.

1. It All Begins With Proper Soil Preparation

Whether you have a home garden like we have today or you are creating a container garden on your balcony you need quality soil for best results so let’s start with the soil.

The soil has to be of the right texture for the roots to grow healthier. The best for container plants is a soilless mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite in a 2:1:1 ratio. A soluble fertilizer can be used once in two weeks. Check the moisture content daily and make sure every container has a proper drainage hole. Also ensure that the mixture is well watered daily.

2. Match The Plants

Match the pot to the plant. It is easy to overlook this aspect in container gardening. Tall plants have longer roots, so the container must have enough depth for the roots to grow. Plants grown on land find their own space to get rooted, but in a container garden, the growth is limited to the size of the container. So taller plants need containers with depth and smaller pots can grow small plants.

3. Showcase The Plants

It is advisable to grow one plant per container to showcase the plant as well as for better management of the garden, grow different varieties in more containers. For instance grow a plant with thick succulent leaves in one container and grow a tropical plant with giant leaves in another. This arrangement works well to exhibit each plant.

4. Your Choice of Containers

As the most challenging issue in container gardening is keeping enough moisture in the pot, small pots are not suitable as the soil dries out quickly. Though terra cotta pots are attractive, they dry out the soil very quickly. So do metal containers. Italian clay pots, glazed ceramic and concrete containers that are medium sized are cool and keep the soil moist. It is a good idea to use trolleys that can be used to move the pots to a location that has shade when the afternoon gets too hot for the plants.

5. Know What Plants to Grow

Herbs are easiest to grow. They are hardier and can tolerate the vagaries of weather than other plants. Initially people tend to go for lot of perennial and seasonal flowering plants, but these are not only expensive but also need to be tended with a lot of care as they are sensitive to extreme temperatures and moisture. Perennials, herbs and even citrus fruit trees are easier to grow.

6. Know When to Water Your Plants

Plants with spongy and thick leaves do not require much water so they can be placed in remote locations. Tropical plants need to be irrigated often and grow best when placed near a water source. Check the soil for a week after planting for moisture and how often they might require watering. Tropical plants must be soaked so that one third of the water seeps from the bottom of the container.

7. Eye Catching Garden

Choose colors that match the general appearance of the house. Shrubs can be placed in the lower levels and tall potted plants should line up near the entrance for maximum effect. Some plants trail on the ground while others reach for the sun. Know the growth pattern of the plants to get the exact look that you want. Herbs that help in cooking can be kept near the kitchen window or doorstep for convenience.

8. Details That Draw Interest

You can alter the persona of the plant by keeping an ornamental plant in a plain container and growing a simple looking plant in an ornamental urn. If you live in a house filled with shrubbery, bring in vertical interest by planting tall ones with big, ornamental leaves like exotic banana plants or flowering plants like canna and hollyhock. Add a wide variety of flower and leaf shapes like round, trumpet shaped, broad, or scalloped.

9. Bringing in Change

As the number of plants is limited in a container garden it is important to change the plants as soon as they show signs of fading out and dying. In a landscaped garden there is enough space to grow a large number of plants that can keep the garden looking fresh. Start your container garden in the spring so that it can go on until frost or a little longer in warmer climates.

10. Blossoming in Sequence

As the growing or moving the plants is entirely under the control of the gardener, you can choose seasonal plants that can be sequenced to keep the garden colourful all through the year.

Follow these tips and you can have a great container garden even in a small and congested apartment to enjoy the bounties of nature.

About the author: Alia Haley is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on technology and autos. Beside this she is fond of cars and fancy dresses. Recently an article on garden design ideas attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on recycled glass countertops.

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Almost anything can be grown in container gardening pots – beautiful flower-bearing plants, vegetables, herbs and even a mini forest of bonsai trees.

The containers in the image on the left were used to grow tomatoes, all the way from the sidewalk and right up their front porch steps. Pretty awesome.

For people living in urban areas, container gardening is a practical way to purify the air and to green one’s home. Actually container gardening is how Jenny and I started our first home gardening attempts.

For people in impoverished nations, container gardening is being taught to women in the context of food security. While for some it can be a hobby that brings vibrancy and color to a home, it can be more than that when vegetables are grown in pots.

What makes container gardening so truly wonderful are the ideas that one follow. While each garden is unique, there are  common practices that  that gardeners can do to ensure the survival and growing of the plants.

1. What determines the container gardening pots, the  plants species and the size of the garden is the purpose or the design that the gardener wants to create. Choosing of pots can be based on how it will be used or the way it looks. The use of personal preference is usually acceptable yet one’s choice must never depart from the basic concept of suitability.
2. This is an artificial environment, so check the elements and keep them in optimum levels. Choose the right size of the garden by deciding on the container; provide enough space to prevent competition. Avoid being waterlogged with the use of containers with a drainage system like drainage holes or a layer of gravel  1 to 2 inches thick at the bottom. To prevent the garden from drying out, do not use garden soil but good potting mix.
3. Picking plants with similar needs in terms of water  and sunlight requirements is strategic when doing combination or companion planting. To give the garden some harmony, choose plants with sizes that are suitable to the size of the pot and with preference to plants that can stand aridity. Do not plant active spreaders.
4. Maintain the garden with enough sunlight, water and food. Despite the convenience of  commercial fertilizers, going organic especially for vegetables for personal consumption. Using composts from one’s own biodegradable waste is best.

There are challenges in any home garden, container gardening included, yet it provides the chance to learn much by trying new concepts. Having the jitters at the start is normal for all beginners, get started  with the right container gardening pots.

Be sure to check out Amazon for container gardening related products. I’ve gotten some really great deals on all kinds of products, not just gardening. The same thing with eBay. I’ve sold lots on eBay and purchased a lot of products, so take a minute to see what they have for container gardening products.

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