Today we are talking about vegetable container gardening for beginners .

Winter is fast approaching and while fall is still around we had to make sure that during the cold months we know what we have to do to keep the vegetables free from frost bite.

Well,  this is Yuma so the winter aren’t that severe however, we do have really cold nights like in the low 50s and 60s.

Listen if you live here in Yuma long enough, low 70s are freezing in the you know where lol. Can you imagine the plants? No one wants a dying garden right?

First thing we need is containers. If this is your first time trying to start a garden. I’ll be giving some tips on vegetable container gardening for beginners in a bit.

Why would I do container gardening

Let me tell you why. Container gardening is an excellent idea if you have small spaces. My mom she lives in an apartment in southern California and she does not have a lot of space so she uses pots, 5 gallon buckets, and old big dish bowl she no longer used it to prepare food in.

She even went as far as going to the dumpster and those old desk that people threw away. She takes those drawers and use them as potting boxes.

My mom is so creative. So yes small places, for winter growing you can pack them all together and have a make shift tent to protect your plants from the chills. Or here in the summer when its 120 degree Fahrenheit you can move them together and cover them from the heat.

With them in a container all nestled together it’s easy to water them as they are already in the same spot.

What kind of container

So, you see you can use almost anything as long is its big enough for your plants to wrap its roots around, like:

• clay pots
• cans
• buckets
• styrofoam chests
• basket (any)
• barrels,
• steel drums (I would be a little worry because, the summer for the desert southwest can get pretty hot)
• boxes

Best thing about using all these that I mentioned is you’re going green, recycling.

What kind of soil to use

Vegetable garden like carrots, broccoli, mustard greens, and green beans etc. Anything that you want to grow needs good soil. Some sort of lightweight mix.

If you want to purchase these get something like organic potting soil or organic garden soil. If you like you can purchase a few bags of perlite to mix it up a little and that it drains well.

Don’t fill the pots or whatever you’re using all the way to the top. You must leave at lease an inch or two to the rim.

Just in case you want to hook a drip system on them or when you water the container the dirt isn’t splashed all over the place.

Now,  for those of you that wants to hang your pot  make sure it’s light weight. You don’t want to find to all your hard work dropped to the ground and uprooted.

What kind of vegetable

Planting the right variety of vegetable in the right season. Winter is what we are talking about. Find your zone and go from there.

The best way is head over to your local nursery and see what they are seeding or planting. Buy a few of everything and transplant them into your container.

Last week, I mention I transplanted my giant Asian chilly pepper into my bucket and it didn’t do very well. Sad to say but it went to plant heaven 🙁 Make sure to buy a few to experiment with. If the nursery have the 6 packs ones get them. If some dies the other might survive.

Where to place your container

As I mention your soil needs to be lightweight. At the garden center they have those containers caddy with wheels where you can put your pot on top and roll them around. I bought a few. I put my bucket on it and wheel it to where I think it should for the week and then when it gets cold I wheeled it back into my patio.

You can put it anywhere you want as long as you can take it out into the sun and at night when the temperature drops bring it back in.

What did we forget

Don’t forget to label your buckets if you’re seeding! You want to know what you planted. However, if you transplant them from the nursery they normally comes with their own tags so stick them in the soil so you wouldn’t forget what they are.

Don’t forget to water them to. It’s winter so the dirt doesn’t dry as fast. Water them when the soil looks dry but, don’t wait until its too dry or else they wouldn’t be happy with you.

They might get depressed and die. You don’t want that. You want happy thriving plants. I normally water mine every three days. Watering too much the fungi comes out to play.

Let’s Recap

Vegetable container gardening for beginners is for people who wants to grow fresh foods and have limited space.

You can plant anything from tomatoes, zucchini for pots, and bell peppers.

You can go while and grow leafy greens like kale, broccoli, and lettuces. Yes, you can.

Fresh herbs like cilantro, leeks, and chili peppers. Oh and don’t forget basil, rosemary,  and mint. What’s great about herbs is that you can grow all of them in one pot. Hey, a pot of herbs, wouldn’t that be awesome? 😀

Okay people I’m gonna leave it here. You got comments, questions, and ideas for me please leave them in my comment section and I’ll be sure to read them. Thanks for coming.