Canned Vegetables

by Barb Henny

People have grown plants in pots for millennia. Hieroglyphics show ancient Egyptians cultivating citrus trees in pots. Clay pots were the standard for over 1000 years.

In America, a housing boom followed World War II and the demand for landscape plants exploded. Because clay pots were heavy and often broke during shipping, many growers grew their plants in the ground, then dug them up and wrapped the root balls in burlap for shipment.

In Florida, sandy soils did not favor the ball-and-burlap method. Instead, nurserymen collected large, discarded food cans made out of tin from hospitals and military bases. They filled these with peat moss and grew and sold their shrubs and trees in “cans.” In 1978, when I moved to Florida, the first orange tree I ever bought had to be extracted (very carefully!) from its rusty tin can before it could be planted in my yard.

Throughout the 1980s, plastic pots emerged in the market. Lightweight, less breakable and far less dangerous than metal cans, plastic pots allow plants to ship everywhere. Gardeners routinely use pots for ornamentals, but did you know that most vegetables will grow well in containers?

As long as the volume of soil is sufficient, and drainage and nutrients are available in the root zone, you can grow any vegetable in a pot. This is a great advantage where space is limited. Gardeners often place large pots of tomatoes and small pots of herbs in a sunny spot near the kitchen door. Try a few squash or eggplants, too. It’s easy to access veggies for a healthy fresh diet when they’re close at hand.

My friend April grows fresh lettuce in season in the outdoor break area at her workplace. She uses window-box-style containers. She waters them every day, Monday through Friday, and picks a few leaves for her lunchtime sandwiches or salads as needed. Less sand on the leaves is a real advantage for lettuces and other leafy greens.

April starts each fall by buying fresh potting soil in a bag at the garden center. The lighter and fluffier the bag, the better the soil will be for use in a pot. Heavy soils often yield drainage problems when packed into a confined shape. She buys lettuce transplants and provides a liquid fertilizer to get them started. Her containers get direct sun in the morning, but afternoon shade. If freezing weather is expected, her crop is easily carried indoors for a few days. April harvests a few leaves at a time per sandwich as soon as plants are large enough.

My potted strawberries are up, up and away from gritty sand and hungry snails! I transplant one strawberry plant per 8-inch pot into a peat moss/pine bark, commercially sold, bagged potting soil. I top dress with ½ teaspoon of Osmocote 18-6-12 slow-release fertilizer. Once the strawberry leaves form a canopy, weeds are not a problem. For our household of 2, 20 plants load us up with fresh strawberries for shortcakes. Extra berries freeze easily and make jam all year long.

We like beets and an 8-inch pot yields 3 or 4 beets. This is just the right amount for one dinner. Throughout fall and winter, I start a few seeds in a 4-inch pot of soil; when the seedlings have 4 leaves, I transplant into the 8-inch pot. The trick is to be sure the soil in the 8-inch pot is pre-moistened. The pots of beets are set on a shelf where they receive full sun all day (6 to 8 hours). I love not worrying about rabbits eating my crop.

Using a 5-gallon pot to grow carrots not only keeps rabbits out, but also puts weeding and harvesting chores at a comfortable level. Carrot seeds get sown directly onto the pre-moistened soil, covered lightly and then watered in. Thin the plants if needed; too many in a pot makes small-sized carrots. My pot sits in full sun all day near the back door, handy for pulling a few for salads or adding to soups. By spring, when all the carrots are pulled, I install a tomato plant in the same pot.

Barb Henny has been a gardener in Zone 9 for 40 years.

© 2013 Barb Henny. Originally published in Florida Gardening, Feb / Mar 2013. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.