Progress of the container garden

I’ve got two ‘gardens’ going this year. Both are made up of earthboxen, legitimate and home-made approximations, and a couple of hanging planters. I’ve got a mixture of tomatoes including Black Prince, Limmony, Atkinson, Chocolate Cherry, Sunsugar, Manitoba, Bonnie Select, and Italian Tree. I’m also growing a variety of peppers including Chianti, California Wonder, Habanero, Red Beauty, Alma Paprika and something labeled only as “Mini Belle”. Yesterday I received 2 blueberry plants in the mail- the one that was cross-breed at some ag department at the U. of Michigan and claims copious production. There are also a couple of yellow summer squash that are leaving me amazed by their growth daily.

One of the nicest features of using containers is that there is no clearing period before you can begin producing organic vegetables. If I were growing in-ground, as I understand the provisions, I’d have to begin growing organically and then wait three years before the produce could be considered organic. For large scale operations it might be possible that the cost of purchasing the boxes could be offset by the premium pricing of organic vegetables. Given the small scale of my gardening venture, I’m really just testing the waters to see what kind of production I can expect from each box/container. I’ll be weighing every viable fruit I pull from the plants.

I’ve made connections with a connection with a local restaurant willing to buy whatever tomatoes I can provide.

While I’ve got a fairly vigorous rooftop garden here at my apartment, the boxes I set up in my dad’s driveway take so much less work. I’ve been spending good 45 minutes a day watering the rooftop garden. The Wissota Garden, as I’ve come to call the one at my dad’s house on the lake, uses the Earthbox Watering System. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.