Growing Veggies in Midtown

Now that we've been in our house for two full winters, the Spring itch to plant something got the best of me! Since we do have three medium-sized dogs sharing our spacious town-house back yard I had to consider what they would do to whatever I wanted to plant. Zoe, the Border Collie, is able to catch Frisbees and balls out in our yard and we certainly didn't want to interfere with that! Anyone with a BC knows that these dogs need a job, and for Zoe her job is bossing her sisters around or chasing (repeatedly) a Frisbee or a ball.

So, container gardening seemed to be the way to go. So far, so good as you can see from these photos! I bought the smaller containers at Target and the taller ones came from Costco. They are all some type of fiberglass so I don't have to worry about freezing in the winter, and they aren't nearly as heavy as they look. I knew that watering would be an issue both because of the containers and because this is the hot South, so I chose a potting soil with those amazing crystals in them which absorb a LOT of water and then slowly release it to the plants as needed. What this has meant for me is that I can water every other day right now. As we really get into summer, I may need to water every day.


But wait, you say, how are you watering these when there are severe water restrictions in Atlanta? Well, what you are looking at above are a Serano pepper plant, a Habenero pepper, a Roma tomato, rosemary, cilantro and a few flowers to help attract the bees and to help keep the pests away. Personal vegetable gardens are exempt from the watering ban. In addition, we've started keeping buckets in the kitchen and in the bath to collect "grey water" to use whenever possible. In the kitchen this means that when I wash vegetables, I collect that water in my bucket and use it later to water the plants. In the bathroom this means that as we are running the water in the morning for our showers that we collect the few gallons which are cold water before it is hot enough for a shower. Nothing crazy yet, though if things get worse I think I'll be saving the shower water, and the dish water when I wash the dishes even though we technically are allowed to water our plants.

These pots have: a yellow bell pepper, red okra, flat leaf parsley and basil plus some flowering plants. Up on the roof terrace we are growing more herbs, pineapple sage, basil, thyme, lavendar and a different rosemary. The pots upstairs have reservoirs in them in addition to the special potting soil. I got those pots from IKEA, and have been very pleased with them so far. Being as the roof terrace is on the fourth floor, there is always a breeze and so not only do the plants contend with the heat, but they have the breeze to dry them out, too. Herbs don't mind the heat, so do well there with these special pots.

My friend Erin is thinking about doing two large pots for her new yard. Her two year old will begin to learn that food doesn't come from the grocery store, but in fact is grown somewhere in soil, with sun and rain and someone to watch out for pests. They are probably going to plant a cherry tomato plant and some basic herbs for cooking. Container gardening is an easy way to start growing your own vegetables--just be sure you consider how hot it gets here, how to keep the plants well watered, and you may want to check out a book at the library for suggestions on plant combinations and how big of container to use for which plants.

We've been enjoying the herbs already, and I've got a few okra almost ready to harvest! It's not too late to get some plants of your own this year so have fun!