Beginner Guides
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How to Amend Potting Soil in Vegetable Containers
If you grow vegetables in containers, one of the easiest ways to set yourself up for a better harvest is to refresh your potting soil before you plant. This is one of those steps that isn’t very exciting, but it makes a real difference. By the…
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Best Vegetables to Grow in Containers
If you are new to vegetable gardening, growing in containers is one of the easiest ways to start. You do not need a huge yard, a costly setup, or years of experience to grow vegetables at home. A sunny patio, deck, balcony, or even a driveway…
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Coco Coir vs. Peat Moss in the Vegetable Garden
If you’ve ever looked at potting mix ingredients or tried to make your own soil blend, you’ve probably come across two materials over and over again: coconut coir and peat moss. At first glance, they seem pretty similar. Both are used to hold moisture. Both help…
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Worm Castings vs Compost: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve been looking into ways to improve your garden soil, you’ve probably come across both worm castings and compost. At first glance, they can seem pretty similar. They’re both dark, earthy, organic materials that help plants grow better. They both get added to soil. And…
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Best Soil for Container Vegetable Gardening
If you’re growing vegetables in containers, the soil you use can make or break your garden. This is one of those things that sounds simple at first. You fill a pot with soil, plant your carrots or tomatoes, and expect everything to grow from there. But…
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Organic Garden Soil vs. Potting Mix: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve ever stood in the garden center staring at bags labeled garden soil, potting mix, raised bed mix, and topsoil, you are not alone. It all sounds similar enough that it feels like you should be able to grab whichever bag is on sale and…
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5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Plant Spring Vegetables
Every spring, gardeners start asking the same question – when should I plant my spring vegetables? And the honest answer is: it depends. If you are growing cool-season vegetables like spinach, broccoli, cabbage, and peas, timing is not always as simple as choosing one date and…
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Perlite vs Vermiculite for Vegetable Gardening: What’s Best?
If you’ve ever looked up how to make your own potting mix, you’ve probably seen both perlite and vermiculite listed in the ingredients and thought: ok, but do I really need both? That’s a fair question – and one that I had in my early container…
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Worm Castings Explained: What They Are and Why Your Garden Needs Them
If you’ve spent any time reading about vegetable gardening, you’ve probably come across worm castings. And if you’re like me, at first you might think, worm what? Let’s start there. So, worm castings are simply worm poop. But in the gardening world, they’re one of the…
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Do You Need Container Garden Mulch?
Should you mulch your container vegetable garden? It seems like just one more garden task on top of all of the other ones that you already have. So, is it really necessary? I’m going to tell you what I found after eight years of being a…
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Soaking Vegetable Seeds for Germination? This Is What Happens
Have you tried soaking your vegetable seeds for faster germination? I didn’t start soaking seeds until years into being a container vegetable gardener. But to be honest, I wondered if it actually made a difference. And so I decided to test it out. I’ve been soaking…
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Mistakes to Avoid When Deciding Where To Put Your Container Garden
Whether you have a large property or just a small patio, I believe that anyone can grow a container vegetable garden. I live in an urban neighborhood on a pretty small property. Despite that, I have over twenty containers of varying sizes that I grow vegetables…
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How I Fill New Vegetable Container Gardens
I’ve been container vegetable gardening for seven years now. I remember purchasing my first containers – those galvanized metal tubs – and then realizing I had no idea what to put in them. There are so many options: garden soil, potting mix, seed starter mix, dirt…
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3 Types of Compost I Use for Healthier Container Garden Soil
If you’ve ever had plants in your container vegetable garden struggle to grow or just not produce like you expected, your soil is likely the problem. The main advantage of container gardening compared to in-ground gardens is that you’re in complete control of what your plants…
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23 Vegetables I’m Growing This Spring In My Container Garden
There is nothing more exciting to me than those first days of spring weather signaling that we’ve survived the winter and it’s finally time for the vegetable growing season! I have an urban container and raised bed garden in Zone 6b. Because I have a smaller…
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4 Easy Steps to Starting a Container Vegetable Garden
I remember my first container garden – it was one of those metal containers typically found at farming equipment stores. I was incredibly proud to be growing my own herbs just outside my kitchen door. I mean, how neat is it to be able to walk…
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How to Keep Squirrels Out of Vegetable Gardens
Why Squirrels Keep Targeting Vegetable Gardens Before becoming a vegetable gardener, I thought squirrels were kinda cute. As I write this, I can tell you without hesitation that they are complete menaces and the bane of my existence. Ok, that’s maybe a little dramatic, but if…
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Preparing Container Gardens for Spring Vegetable Planting (My Proven Method!)
There is nothing more exciting to me than those final days of winter when I know that the vegetable gardening season is upon me. I would argue that early spring is the most crucial time for vegetable gardeners because it’s when you’ll want to prepare your…
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6 Herb Plants You Can Overwinter Outdoors
There’s nothing better in the cold, gloomy days of winter than being able to step outside of your door and snip some fresh herbs from your container garden. I know what you’re thinking. Fresh herbs? In the winter? Yes. It’s possible. And I have an entire…
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Why I Use Cotton Burr Compost as Mulch in Container Gardens
I’ll admit it: when I first started container vegetable gardening, mulch was not on my list of must-haves. I thought mulch was mostly for looks – just a way to make garden beds appear tidy. But then the height of the summer months came around and…
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In Defense of the Urban Vegetable Gardener
I have been an urban vegetable gardener for eight growing seasons. And I absolutely love it. Yet, there is something that has been bothering me. I began my foray into small space vegetable gardening with nothing but three herb plants on my back deck. I remember…
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This Simple Daily Habit Made My Vegetable Garden More Successful
I’m a part-time vegetable gardener. I spend much of my week working in an office twenty minutes away from my home. And beyond my career, I have many responsibilities that require my time. So, while I would love nothing more than to spend all day in…
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How I Overwinter My Container Herb Garden
As the days get shorter and the weather turns cooler, I face the reality of the growing season coming to a close. This is the fate of gardeners living in a climate that experiences winter, like I do here in the Midwest. But what if the…
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4 Reasons You Shouldn’t Start a Small Space Vegetable Garden
You likely have reasons for why you want to start a small space vegetable garden, but have you considered why you shouldn’t? Becoming an urban vegetable gardener has been one of the highlights of my adulthood, but I have talked with many aspiring gardeners who have…
