You don't need a backyard to have a fabulous veggie garden. How about growing your own pizza garden or salsa garden? Or even a mixed vegetable garden? All you need are a little bit of space, sunshine and a container, and you're set to go.
Whatever type of container you buy, make sure it has good drainage holes in the bottom. Fill up the container with a good potting soil that has a lot of peat, which helps retain moisture so you don't have to water so much.
The first garden project is a mixed vegetable garden, with some beets, carrots, radishes and pole beans. You need something for the beans to grow on, so get three bamboo canes, sink them into the soil and tie them at the top. Now get ready to plant the seeds. You can divide the barrel up if you'd like, or make any kind of design; just make sure you place two to three bean plants around the poles. That way they can run up the poles and give a teepee effect.
The rule when planting seeds is to bury them two to three times as deep as their diameter. So plant beets and radishes about a half-inch deep. Carrot seeds are so tiny that you can simply press them into the soil.
Now here's a container you can have fun with--a pizza garden. Everything growing in here goes well on a pizza: oregano, tomatoes, a little basil and red peppers. You can also plant some onions, which you cover so that the points just barely stick up out of the soil.
If you're looking to spice up your life, you might like a salsa garden. Plant some parsley, cilantro, a lot of onions, hot peppers and, of course, tomatoes.
Once your barrels are planted, be sure to water the plants well, and keep your eye on the water because a container dries out a lot quicker than if these plants were in the ground. It's also a good idea to add a little fish emulsion or an organic fertilizer every few weeks. Scratch it into the soil, and your plants will just take off like there's no tomorrow. And in no time, you'll be able to make a menu right out of the barrel.
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