Creative Vegetable Gardening

Photo Courtesy of Art Today

Creative Vegetable Gardening

Most of us grow veggies somewhere in our gardens. Some gardeners have the big, rectangular veggie patches, others tuck a few tomato plants in here and there. It is satisfying to grow those plants from start to finish, from seed or started plant to the supper table.

I'm not knocking the traditional kitchen garden, but why not go a step further and "decorate" with vegetable plants? Many of these plants are perfect for growing in ornamental beds, in containers or hanging baskets on the apartment balcony, or in little culinary themed gardens:

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The Container Vegetable Garden
One of the most rewarding ways to add a few vegetables to the landscape is to grow them in containers. For many who live in urban settings or apartments, this might be the only option. You might be surprised at what will grow in containers!

Now, you might not be able to grow sweet corn or pumpkins, but there are many vegetables and herbs that do very well in containers. Here are a few ideas you might want to try this spring, and there might be a few you haven't considered before!

The ones everyone knows about:

Peppers, both bell and hot varieties
Tomatoes, from cherries to beefstake varieties
Eggplant
Salad Greens
Herbs of many types
Now, let's toss in a few unexpected vegetable that can be grown in hanging baskets or containers:

Carrots: These also are a nice ornamental alternative to spikes or other filler greens in container gardens. Can be grown alone, or with other flower and vegetable plants, depending upon the size of the container.

Beets: Often these are overlooked. Beets grown in containers offer wonderful ornamental value. Many have purple tones to the foliage, and are wonderful alternatives to coleus, plus they will grow in sunnier conditions.

Radishes: Early spring, grow some radishes in those idle containers on your back porch! You can have the radish crop out of there by the time the main growing season begins.

Bunching onions: Wonderful ornamental value! Use these instead of spikes or other filler plants. They taste better, too!

Broccoli: Beautiful in a large container! These will grow just as well in a container as they do in the open ground. They resemble the large sedums, and will offer many good meals. After harvesting the main head, allow the side shoots to develop smaller sprouts, and harvest them as well.

Cauliflower: Another good large container plant. Underplant with a few trailing flowers or lettuce greens.

Brussels sprouts: Also will grow well in a large container. Treat the same as cauliflower or broccoli: underplant with alyssum or a few salad greens or trailing flowers.

Cabbage: Believe it or not, some of the smaller-heading cabbages are wonderful in containers! One advantage to growing cabbage or any of the other cole crops in containers is the avoidance of club root, the bane of many an open-ground vegetable gardener. With clean containers and sterile growing medium, these plants will not be plagued by this disease.

Bush cucumbers: These will trail and spill over the container a bit since they are not true bushes but short vines. Still, they are "bushier" than standard varieties, and can also be trained on a small container trellis or tomato cage.

Bush squash Bush zuchinni, bush acorn, and bush patty pan or scallopini squash, especially the gold-fruited varieties, all do well in large containers. They will have the same growth habit as bush cucumbers.

Bush snap beans or Bush Lima beans Yes, these can be grown in containers! They do not last long, though, so plan on replanting after the harvest is through with another vegetable or flower plant.

Okra: This is a beautiful plant, even if the pods are never eaten! It is pretty enough to grow for its ornamental value, but is also essential in Cajun cooking.

Now, for the most unusual vegetable to consider growing in a container: Irish Potatoes!

Yes, these can be grown in a container. I do not know if an apartment balcony garden will support this or not, but a small urban garden or a back patio garden certainly would. How to do this? Simple!

Take a large plastic garbage can. Punch some drainage holes in it. Add about a half foot of good potting soil, then add about 5 or so pieces of seed potatoes. As they sprout, let them reach about 6 inches or so in height, then add more soil until only the upper fourth of growth is exposed. Keep this up all season long, fertilize and water, etc. At the end of the season as the tops die back, dump the trash can, in the garden, of course, and pick your spuds!

Now, while container vegetable gardens will allow for more closer spacing of plants, realistically, ten broccoli plants or ten bush beans can't be grown in a one gallon container. The larger plants can be grown one to a container. About 4 or 5 bush bean plants will grow in a one gallon container, and more in a larger container, etc. For more details on how to maintain a container garden, you can refer to the article, Container Gardening, which covers the cultural details in-depth.

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The Theme Vegetable Garden
Now, little children just love this, and it is a wonderful way to introduce them to gardening as well as to get them to eat more vegetables! You can include a Pizza Garden, Salsa Garden, and a Stir-Fry Garden, for a few ideas. Here are a few plants that you can use. There are many other theme gardens, but this will inspire you:

Pizza Garden:

Oregano	Italian Paste Tomatoes
Onions	Fennel
Basil	Garlic
Egglplant	Bell Peppers

Salsa Garden:

Hot Peppers Garlic

Cilantro Onions

Tomatillos Tomatoes

Stir-Fry Garden:

Bunching Onions Chinese Broccoli

Bok Choy Snow Peas

Daikon Yard-Long Beans

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Using Vegetables In Ornamental Beds:
Why limit your perennial beds to flower and foliage plants only? Some ideas is to line an edging of your flower beds with bush beans or lettuce, grow melons, pole beans, cucumbers, and other trailing plants on a teepee, set out some eggplant and okra plants here and there. Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower and many other plants have great ornamental value. Go beyond tucking in a few pepper or tomato plants and experiment with the colors and textures that vegetable plants add to a perennial or mixed border!

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So, now that you can a few ways in which to add vegetables, I am sure you will be inspired to come up with a few ideas not listed here! Let your imagination run wild, and surprise your visitors with the creative ways you have added vegetables to your landscape!

Share Your Gardening or Nature-Related Questions, Tips or Comments:

Through The Garden Gate

Hot Peppers	Garlic
Cilantro	Onions
Tomatillos	Tomatoes

Bunching Onions	Chinese Broccoli
Bok Choy	Snow Peas
Daikon	Yard-Long Beans