If you’ve grown in a peat free potting mix  (or ‘compost’ as we call it in the UK), you may have found a significant variability in quality. In my experience, some perform superbly, many are fairly average, but poor quality is not uncommon either. In the UK, the sale of bagged peat products to amateur gardeners is to be banned from 2024. Peat is being phased out because its harvest releases large volumes of greenhouse gas, and damages precious wetland habitats. So it’s important we all become more savvy about the different peat free options. Particularly, as the quality of a potting mix d ..read more

Miniature, ‘compact’, or ‘dwarf’ varieties of vegetables are often promoted as being ideal to grow in containers. But are they always the best choice for the container garden? Here are some thoughts and observations. Beans Let’s start with beans. ‘Dwarf’ or ‘Bush’ beans (beans that grow into a, short, bushy habit) are often recommended for container gardening. But are they better than climbing French or string beans? My experience of dwarf varieties is:- Because of their bushy nature, they take up a lot more horizontal space than climbing beans. For example, while 12 to 14 climbing bean plant ..read more

It can be hard to know what to grow first when you start a container garden – there are just so many possibilities! Exciting but also sometimes a bit overwhelming. I hope the ideas below will help.   Many people find it works well to start off with the easy and fast crops – to build confidence and gain experience. And it’s rewarding and motivating to get your first delicious harvest quickly. Luckily, many of these also make any list of best crops for small spaces, regardless of how easy they are to grow.  While I am going to share some of the easiest in this post, bear in mind that y ..read more

What makes the ideal edible garden in containers? It’s different for each of us, of course, and usually takes trial and error to discover. One good way to evolve a container garden is to try a few different plants in your container garden each year. This will help you discover what you love to grow most. Trying new things and experimenting is also good for learning and, in my experience, all part of the fun. The end of the growing season is a good time to look back on the year and reflect on what you’ve enjoyed growing most over the year.  And which plants have NOT given you so much pleas ..read more

Red orach is a wonderful salad and leafy veg to grow in containers. It’s colourful, good to eat and grows tall, adding attractive height to a container garden. The variety, orach scarlet emperor, has vivid magenta leaves and is one of my favourites. It’s a cheerful addition to the container garden and will brighten any salad. Eaten raw, it has a mild but excellent taste. Once cooked, the larger leaves taste similar to spinach. Orach is grown can be grown as either an attractive microgreen or as full sized plants. How to grow full sized orach plants Orach is one of the easiest salads to grow an ..read more

Courgettes / zucchini are productive and easy to grow in containers – and one plant will give you fruit for several weeks.  Homegrown, they are firmer, less watery and with fuller flavour than shop bought.  They do grow big and bushy and take up lots of space – for climbing alternatives see end of post. To do well they need a big pot, plenty of sun and feeding. What size of pot? Courgettes need big pots. 20 litres (4 gallons) is probably the smallest, 30 – 50 litres (6 – 10 gallons) is even better. An old recycling bin, a ‘bag for life’ or an old water tank is ideal. How to grow cour ..read more

Chillies grow very well in containers – but they do have some specific needs. To discover the ‘tricks of the trade’, I met up with (and filmed) professional chilli grower, Steve Waters. Few other plants can match chillies for ‘flavour for space’ ratio. One plant will often give you a hundred chillies or more. So all but the most dedicated chilli eater can usually be self sufficient in chillies with just a few plants – something very achievable, even in a tiny growing space. Any surplus chillies can easily be dried or frozen, keeping you in  ..read more