You can easily build a raised bed 4 feet wide by a length of 10 feet. This planting area will afford you ample room to have six different varieties of vegetables that will feed a family of four from late March until October.

Container Gardening – using Containers/Pots

You could also feed a family of four with containers except that type of planting, although smaller in overall size per pot, gives you the ability to cheat mom nature. You can start summer vegetables (i.e. tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.) earlier than weather recommended and on cool to cold days, move the pot (pots) into the garage until the temps warm. Same is true at the other end of the season. Put them away when early frosts are predicted.

With all living plants, they will only grow as well above soil as the roots grow below the soil. The key to both container gardening systems is using a soil-less potting mix. You can buy it already mixed or for larger quantities, you can make your own. To do this you would mix 4 parts sphagnum peat moss, one part Vermiculite, and one part Perlite. This is the same type mixture that flowers growers use that produce all those beautiful flowers you see in greenhouses in the spring.

OK, what should I plant?

For a 4 foot by 10 foot raised box you can plant cool season crops such as spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage, turnips, radishes and herbs like parsley, chives, and garlic in March. After harvest around June 1st, plant your summer veggies like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. After August 15th, go back and plant those early spring varieties again.

What about the Container Gardening in a Pot Method?

Same rules apply. You just have to be reasonable with the number of plants. Use the same soilless mix in a container that drains and has a diameter of at least 18 inches. The larger the pot, the more you can plant. If you want a sample of volume for an 18” diameter pot you can plant one Better Boy Tomato (produces over 100 tomatoes growing at the same time) and combined with that one tomato plant you can add 2 to 3 peppers, parsley or carrots around the edge, or maybe even green beans trailing over the pot edge.

Whichever method you choose check for water needs daily in hot weather, fertilize according to the label on the products of your choice, place in lots of sun(at least half day), and enjoy your harvest.