Do you love the idea of serving your family organic vegetables that you grew yourself, but you just don’t have the time to till up a garden space? Perhaps you live in an apartment and don’t have a yard, so growing your own fresh vegetables is impossible.

Maybe you do have a garden but you wish it had space to grow even more vegetable crops. With container vegetable gardening, you can grow delicious vegetables even if you live in an apartment or have a small yard with little space to plant things.

The First Step in Container Vegetable Gardening

Before you start container vegetable gardening, it is important to decide what kind of vegetables that you want to grow. The type of vegetables you grow will determine the type of containers you use, the placement of your plants, and how much time you will have to spend caring for them.

Herbs are a great choice for container vegetable gardening because you can pack many herb plants into one pot. You can also plant herbs such as basil or oregano at the base of a tomato plant. Not only do the plants look nice together, the aroma of the herbs can deter pests that might harm your young tomatoes.

Every home garden should have a tomato plant. Most plant nurseries sell a bush variety that stays compact and is perfect for container vegetable gardening. Cherry or grape tomatoes are also perfect for container vegetable gardening. One plant will give you hundreds of bite sized tomatoes during the entire gardening season.

Because container vegetable gardening is about maximizing space, make sure that you only plant things that you or your family will actually enjoy eating. You can’t afford to waste space on vegetables no one likes.

The Second Step in Container Vegetable Gardening

Once you have decided what to plant, you need to figure out what to plant it in. You can buy pots at your local garden center that are perfect for things like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, herbs, or even eggplant. Choose pots that will drain well and remember that terra cotta dries out faster than plastic, so if you buy clay pots you will have to water your vegetables more often.

You can maximize your space by planting some vegetables in hanging baskets. Tomatoes, hot peppers, parsley, and even strawberries do very well in hanging baskets and look really nice through the entire growing season. Some plants, such as tomatoes, can even be planted upside down, so that the foliage and fruit hands out the bottom of a container.

Plants such as squash can be planted in a cardboard box. It may not look pretty, but the cardboard will make a nice biodegradable planter and tucked away on a sunny balcony or hidden spot in a small yard, it is an easy way to grow zucchini without having to till up a large garden area.

The Third Step in Container Vegetable Gardening

Once everything is planted, you need to place your plants in an area where they will get the most light. You can arrange your containers next to a window, on a balcony or porch, or even against the sunny side of your house. Container vegetable gardening is the best way to serve your family healthy organic vegetables, even if you are short on space.