One Pot Spring Garden
Written by joythebaker on April 19, 2009 – 7:57 pm -
There are a few reasons why you should read this post.
1. I’m no gardener, but with a team of friends and experts, I might have just created a successful one pot garden… you can too!
2. While this post may not be filled with butter and sugar, it is still a nice distraction from work, right!?
3. I’m drinking wine and I’ve got a mild degree of writers block. I’m bound to get a little punchy and make you laugh at some point. Yes?
This year’s Spring garden… ok, my first Spring garden ever… was inspired by two things: my undying adoration of summer tomatoes and my utter annoyance at the high price of said tomatoes.
So here we are, talking tomatoes. Not just any tomatoes, but peak of the season summer tomatoes. Besides my gradual fake tanning lotion, they might just be the best thing about the summer months.
The truth is, there’s a reason that this blog isn’t called Joy the Gardener. I kill just about everything I put in dirt. It’s a classic case of over enthusiasm and waaaaay too much water. I over water and kill my plants, a fact that is sad but true.
This Spring I’ve got help. My Mom happens to be an amazing gardener… she also happens to be retired, which leaves her plenty of time for nursery trips to counsel me on which fertilizer is best and why. Then there’s my darling friend Rachael. She’s blonde, beautiful, hilarious, and is oh-so-generous with the crap ton of knowledge she has about growing tomatoes. With these two on my team, my garden can’t fail! Now I just need someone to keep the watering can away from me.
If I can grow a tomato garden on the tiny balcony of my Los Angeles apartment, you can too. Here’s the skinny:
I headed out to the nursery with my Mom. It turns out… there are a TON of plants at a nursery… most of them being green. It might have been hard for me to find what I needed, had it not been for my Mom. It’s not that things are hard to find, it’s just that I’m not tremendously plant literate.
I had a very specific One Pot Garden list. If you want to play along, here’s what you’ll need
1 tomato plant (Mine is a black cherry tomato plant.. thanks Rachael!)
1 basil plant
1 marjoram plant
1 parsley plant
1 nasturtium plant
1 giant bag of Dr. Earth Organic Potting Soil
1 small bag of organic vegetable fertilizer of some sort. I used GroBetter All-Purpose Organic Fertilizer.
I stake to tie your tomato plant to as it grows
1 giant pot and saucer. Mine is about 15-inches tall and with a 15-inch diameter. I used a plastic pot because it’s much lighter and it helps keep the moisture in the soil.
Here’s what I did:
Fill the pot about two thirds full with the potting soil. Sprinkle with organic fertilizer as directed on the bag. Water just to moisten the soil. Fertilizer isn’t one of those things that you want to touch with your hands. It’s just not a good idea. Grab some gloves or use a scooper.
Arrange the plants in the pot, still in their plastic containers, just so you can see where everything will go.
Remove the plants from their tiny plastic containers and gently loosen the bottom of the soil, loosening their roots. Set in place on top of the potting soil and fertilizer. Using a large cup for scooping, place more potting soil around the plants. Sprinkling with just a bit more fertilizer as you go. Firmly press the potting soil and plants into the pot and add more potting soil. You won’t fill the pot to the brim with potting soil. Fill the pot with soil until you’re about three inches from the brim. Water generously and set in a sunny spot.
Set the stake to the side and use it when the tomato plant starts to get too talk to grow up on its own.
Fun facts:
Tomatoes like loads of sunlight. Don’t be afraid to put your new garden in a spot that gets at least seven hours of direct sunlight. Your plants will love it.
Check to see if your pot needs watering by sticking your finger into the soil. The soil should be moist and cool. If it feels a little dry, water away… otherwise, just leave it be.
Why put all those plants in one pot!? It turns out that all those plants work together like a team. Whether its keeping pests away, or replenishing the soil with nutrients, all the plants in that one pot are extremely happy. And! Nastrutium flowers are edible. They’re a a great, peppery addition to a salad!
Having a little garden is unbelievably satisfying. I sit on my otherwise uninviting balcony sometimes just to watch my plants grow. Now my balcony is like a bonus room. I also run my fingers through the leaves of my growing tomato plant to get that fresh tomato smell on my hands. Yes, dorky but true.
Even if you live in a tiny apartment, as long as you have a space with loads of sunlight, you can have a coy little one pot garden! It’s true! It makes life better! Let’s do this together!
More tomato posts and garden updates to come.
Tags: garden, home, how to build a garden, life, spring, tomatoes
Posted in Thoughts, Tips and Tricks, garden, life | 71 Comments »
I’m totally inspired, thanks! I hope I don’t kill mine. I am notorious for that.
What a great idea, that is something I can do with my daughter during the summer and than we can get some of your receipes and make something yummy. Thank you from Texas
Living in a condo makes a potted garden a must. I cannot WAIT for the nights to warm up enough to start planting – and reading this has inspired a few new ideas. Thanks Joy!
We were gardening today too! The chives went in along with some tomato and eggplant seeds. I do believe that you might want to tie a “stake” to your tomatoes (though I’m sure they are delicious with a steak!). Fun stuff – love the photos!
but Phoo-D! A steak sounds so much more delicious!
I love that the plants use team work! This was a totally great post (and believe you me, it didn’t take any convincing to get me to read this post; I always look forward to your posts). You’re making me and my black-thumb self want to get down with some gardening! Perhaps, I, too, will have a one-pot adventure!
As a fellow gardener, it has been my experience that out of all the plants you have chosen, the nasturtium are going to be the most robust in growing, to the point of being somewhat invasive…..
Anyhow, good luck with your potted garden.
Good luck with gardening!
I, too, kill everything I try to plant and I’m pretty sure it’s because I over water my plants as well. I can’t even grow wild flowers (you know, those flowers that are supposed to grow by themselves?)
Ok, I’ll have to try this with my boys. Since it can all be grown in one pot.. Very cool, I had no idea that things ‘work’ together like that.
Hello Joy, I’m a french reader, living in Toulon and I love your website that I read each day.
I had exactly the same “garden love” than you, this spring and I made almost the same plants choice. So, I just want to tell : be careful, basil is very “fragile” (sorry, I don’t know the english word). He doen’t need too much water !! I killed 4 basil plants before deciding to let him die of thirst !!!
I watch my “garden” each day, waiting anxiously, to see my little tomatoes, my little strawberries growing up.
That’s a good occupation.
Friendly.
PS : Toulon, in france, not in Illinois !
Joy, this is exactly what I’m going to do in my new garden! I’m so excited about growing vegies again, albeit on a patio. Thanks for the inspiration
Yeah! I am so happy when I hear someone is gardening! I have been a gardener for over 20 years now and I can’t even begin to tell you how rewarding it is going to be for you.
Gardening is amazing. And even though I have a yard, I still grow everything in pots because they’re so much easier to control, temperature and moisture-wise. I hope it’s a great experience for you! If you start feeling the call of the garden, pick up some Swiss chard seedlings–mine have grown extremely fast and taste so good!
I love your one pot idea. I can’t wait to get started this weekend. Thank you for the help:)
Wonderful! Gardens are so satisfying, especially when they’re edible! Have fun
So pretty! I like the little blue toadstool lookin’ thing too. I planted tomatoes last year and they GREW so TALLLLLLL! Is there a trick to keeping the plant short and sweet?
I cannot wait to try this–thanks for the info!
I also use a pot to grow snap peas. Poke a few sticks in the soil for them to climb, you won’t see the sticks when the pea shoots start climbin. In addition to the peas being tasty, their flowers are really pretty!
Have fun!
I love gardening. Yours is really pretty, too! For mharper, I just learned this one this year so I can’t resist chiming in — some kinds of tomatoes are determinate, which means they grow a fixed size of 3 feet or so. Indeterminate ones are the ones that grow huge and sprawl everywhere. I think cherry tomatoes are usually determinate, so they are a good choice for pots. There are others too, maybe romas? Basil and tomatoes are magic!
I have just tried to do some pot gardening for the first time ever this Spring, too! Sadly, the tomato is already toast… We had a random cold spell, but everyone else seems to be doing well!
Thanks so much for this post! Rick and I planned on creating an herb garden in a huge ceramic planter left by my new apartment’s last owner. I did have one quick question: can I substitute rosemary for the tomato plant in this list of plants? I want basil and parsley and the nasturtium plant but would like to have rosemary and maybe thyme instead of the tomatoes and marjoram. Would those herbs work well together or should I try a different mix? Thanks so much!
Joy,
I run my hands over my rosemary and basil all the time. I, too love the smell on my hands ;o)
Enjoy your garden!!
Ooh, I’ve been seriously considering starting a little herb garden so I have some fresh herbs to cook with this summer, but I have the opposite problem that you do – I’m terribly neglectful with my living things. My cacti even look sad! I just plunder my parents’ garden all summer long…
Wow, you and I must have been on a wavelength – we got our first garden up and running this weekend too! We just bought our first house last June (after years in barracks and military housing), and now we’re experimenting with our first real “kitchen garden”. We’ve got tomatoes (’Better Boy’ – goes great with burgers!), cucumbers, beans, butterhead lettuce, spinach and carrots in our raised garden bed. We also have pots with strawberries, mint, basil, cilantro and parsley. Our first sprout just came up yesterday, and we’re so excited! I promise to keep up with my garden adventure blog if you promise to keep us up to date on your one pot garden – deal?
I always run my hand threw tomato leaves. Its summer-garden aromatherapy!
Yay! I have a tiny balcony, too, and am now inspired to fill it up with lovely green things.
Thanks for the tips!
UGH *through
sorry, couldn’t leave that lingering….
This looks amazing, I don’t even have a balcony though. I have been trying to grow some herbs on my windowsill for the past two years but they just don’t like it, I might be even worse a gardener than you!
Ummm… if you know you kill plants by over-watering them, then why not just water them less? The “pinky test” that measures the soil saturation you describe should be enough to let you know when to water or not — if the soil isn’t dry to the touch, leave it alone!!
I’m so impressed that you got all these in one pot! I started my first container garden last year – tomatoes, bell peppers and herbs – and despite having a black thumb I actually ended up with edible results. It was a great learning experience too. I’m so excited about starting again this year!
Thanks for the one pot idea!! I’m planning to grow a couple things on my deck this year, but I was planning to put them in individual little pots.
I have basil, rosemary, nasturtiums, tomatoes and carrots growing on my windowsil right now
Yoou would not believe how good it smells<3
Congrats Joy! I am a bit a pot-maniac and as soon as I move to a new appartament whole my balcony/roof is clutted with pots with cherry tomatose, blueberries and raspberries (yes, You can make them like growing like that:-) and differnet kind of lettuce and herbs of cours.e In the appartamnet I live in now there is no balcony, which is the worse thing in the whole new home. Fortunatelly there is a big window (like a balcony door) with a balustrade on which I have IMMEDIATELY hanged 6 windows boxes . Three have daisies in them (i love daisies, the cutest flowers ever, don;t You think). In other three I have seeded or planted: ruccola, lemon basil, cilantro, thyme (coan’t live without it) rosmary and peppermint. I adore my little garden. And I hope someday it ill be more gruond-based:-)
every year I start MANY plants from seed… this year, I started 3 (!) types of tomatoes, and they all came up gangbusters. So on Sat, I transplanted 50 little seedlings to plastic cups and delivered them to friends and family.
I kept about 30 here, some that will stay permanently, and some that will have to find new homes…
I think that starting a garden, even in a pot is a wonderful thing!
I didn’t even mention yet the Gerbera daisies, and the herbs I plant each year! I love planting, just not-so-much the weeding
Good luck to you
I just planted my tomatoes last weekend! Along with bell peppers and cilantro, basil, mint, etc. Marigolds also keep bugs away from your tomato plants
I’ve always planted tomatoes in large pots but last year I grew my first heirloom tomato in the ground. It grew the most fabulous tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. This year I have 6 different types of heirlooms growing. Tomato Heaven! Looking forward to your tomato recipes!
Enjoy your new little garden!
Joy, just reading all the comments today has been an encouragement to me. I have always had a yard/acreage, but this year we sold our dream home and are living in a rental until we can build again. I was having myself a little pity party because I will not have numerous flower and vegetable beds to tinker around in this year. I do have a little deck though, and lots of empty pots from my previous home, so I am going to get myself out to Home Depot and get some herbs and a tomato to start my pot garden! If the Kansas weather ever evens out, (it’s freezing one day and up in the 80’s the next) I will be gardening like crazy this year too! Keep us posted on your success!
I have lived in teeny tiny apartments over the last 8 years, and its just killing me NOT to have some sort of garden, especially after having my own home for over 25 years (lost due to job downsizing/unable to pay second mortgage)! I tried container planting ( a rigid kiddie pool we had punched holes in!) on our tiny deck for the last few years, with some success. But last year, someone came thru our “secluded/fenced” back areas and STOLE most of the plants I had just purchased, before I had the chance to plant them!! There went some $45.00 worth of herbs, veggies and a few ornamentals!!
My hubby is not happy, but I just purchased one of those “Topsy-Turvey” tomato planters to hang a grape tomato seedling this coming week. I’m also hoping to try just a few herbs again, too. But nothing major like I had been doing!
My “watering” secret is this: Mark every other day on your calendar with YES or NO. On the YES days, you water SPARINGLY. On the NO days – you don’t water at all. You can also lengthen the NO days in between if necessary. I also MARKED a watering can with several “fill” lines for each thing I use it for — I only fill it up to a certain line marked for the tomatoes, for the herbs, etc. And that’s IT – no more water until the next YES day! Your Mom will be a huge help with you there, especially in the beginning.
I just KNOW you will do a great job, and you will have a terrific harvest season!!
Forgot to mention – with the watering days (YES/NO) you should mark on it if the plants received RAIN – that counts as a YES day, so change your calendar accordingly… By the way, I use a small wipeable calendar board that is magnetic and hangs conveniently on the fridge (got it at a dollar store cheap, too).
Its a new learning experience for you, but pays terrific “dividends.” Have fun!
How great is this? Congratulations, and thanks for the inspiration.
Neat idea. Since I usually capture blog recipes in my Living Cookbook software, I treated your “recipe” for a One Pot Garden just like any other recipe and it is now in my “Recipes to Try” Cookbook. The only difference was that there was no calorie count listed for the Pot Garden …
I have planted basil in every pot… just for good measure!
This year there will be plenty for pesto.
I have a fire pit that can’t be used due to zoning regs. I plant it full of herbs every year.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/91719386@N00/2493067078/
The one thing you will want to remember is that one basil plant is never enough. I’m up to six now – and there’s just two people living here.
Yay! Good for you! We grow a lot out here and its so much nicer to know what is actually in your food.
So cute! Last year I went for an herb garden…We live on acreage, so this year I expanded to the family garden (with lots of help from my mom!). Good luck with your garden, it looks adorable!
I would love to be able to garden, but I’m kind of like you, drowning the plant with water. I do try though, because I just love the scent of fresh flowers, jasmine, lilacs… Good that we have our (gifted) mother to help us!
The mint is very strong and survived, it is coming back now. Not at the same place though… I have nightmares when I imagine its roots all over my balcony
I’ll plant another cherry tomato tree and basil like you did. Last year it gave me tomatoes for the whole summer.
Let’s see how we do this year!!
Hey, I just started my one-pot garden this weekend! My mom brought me a topsy-turvey tomatoe planter so I can have a hanging tomatoe plant on my balcony and it seems BRILLIANT so far.
I also did a bit of cilantro so now I have a salsa garden.
GREAT post – thank you!! I’m so doing this on our tiny apartment patio.