The Progressive Evolution of My Container Garden, in Review

It first started about 17 years ago with two Topsy Turvy containers, freestanding post and hooks, one cucumber and one Roma tomato seedling. I’d walk out back to check on/care for my veggies most days after work. In those few minutes, was a brief calm and a metaphorical exhalation. My Roma tomatoes, became the main ingredient in my first and only homemade tomato sauce. If my memory serves me correctly, the result was a watery sauce, and while it did not have a flavor profile worth documenting, it was edible, and quite satisfying because I had grown the product and made it with my own two hands.

For my next attempt, I tried small wooden window boxes and planters. These were home for purchased cucumbers and chili pepper seedlings. Lessons learned during this particular season related to having a plan for hydration and moisture retention. This setup did not include any sort of water reservoir or opportunity for wicking, nor did I use enough mulch. These babies always seemed thirsty! It also didn’t help that this was a very hot summer. The upside was that this made for a nice bounty of spicier chili peppers.

When we moved to a home with a larger deck, I tried my hand at larger wooden box planters and medium plastic round planters for ornamental flowers and pollinator attractors. This is the season where I began using watering globes outdoors, and discovered planters with water reservoirs. There were some stunning views and some nice patio pickle cucumbers harvested. Unfortunately, I was not much into documenting it all at the time.

As my little one grew to be more independent, I was able to invest more time into our deck gardening space. This was during the time in which I searched for a solution for combination planting and reducing watering frequency. I trialed an Earthbox unit.

After my success with the self-contained system, I added an Earthbox original and Earthbox root vegetable planter to the mix, and began to include my ornamental/cutting flowers, and herbs and other flowers interspersed as companion plants, in large plastic and felt planters.