My Tips for Growing a Herb and Vegetable Container Garden
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I am so proud to say that I will never need to buy the below items from the store again!
I’m currently 18 months into my gardening journey and I’m sharing what has thrived in containers for me. I previously was living in an apartment by the beach. Once I was pregnant with my second child, my husband and made the decision to move our family into a home and out of the city. For us this meant space to grow produce.
While our front garden is lovely grass and we can choose what to grow in the ground, our back garden is mostly paved with only a couple areas direct into the earth. For that reason, we have set up a lovely container and pot garden.
We prioritise cooking from scratch in my home, so I am a big user of herbs but I really disliked buying a bunch of herbs using them once and then when I went to use them again they were all wilted.
Here is my list of seven herbs and vegetables that have worked for me in containers, with some tips for growing. If you are looking to start a container garden because you are are limited on space in the ground or have a terraced area like I do, try these options below.
Mint
Mint will take over any space you put it. While easy to grow in that it takes off, it’s very important that you only put mint in a container on its own. If you don’t it will take over any other herbs nearby! I also find that we don’t use too much mint in our home (I need to work on this), so we aren’t cutting it back as much as it needs. Once the weather warms up, I will do more ice teas with fresh mint.
Silverbeet (Swiss Chard or Chard)
Silverbeet is one I recommend you grow from seed, that way it is very economical and if you have any hungry caterpillars you can continually sow new seeds to have a constant supply.
Our silverbeet has grown quickly from seed and replenishes frequently. We have three bunches in one pot that are coming into maturity. Snap the leaves off from the stem as you need them, and the plant will continue to provide.
This is our second batch of silverbeet. I originally had them in a large container pot with rhubarb, but we noticed how much we eat the silverbeet so we started over with them on their own from seed again.
Rocket
I’ve enjoyed growing rocket as it seems to be a last resort for the bugs. I suspect perhaps because of the slightly more pepper taste than regular lettuce. Rocket is one that is easy to grow from seed and great value this way. Some of them a very peppery when you eat direct from harvest, so you may like to find a sweeter variety. Ultimately, a great option if you want a quick fresh salad, cut rocket from your garden and add olive oil and balsamic glaze for a delicious side!
Baby spinach
It’s only been a few months since I have planted baby spinach seedlings from the garden centre. So far, they are doing great. I moved one into a new pot so they have lots of space to grow. They don’t grow too quickly, but I like baby spinach as you can pluck and keep coming back. I also like the bugs have left it alone (so far phew!). I am not a fan of using any sprays on produce that we eat, so it is a relief when pests aren’t a concern.
Parsley
Pasley is one of my favourite herbs and probably most frequently used. I’ve tried from seed and it takes a long time for the first seedling to appear (around 3 weeks). It’s a slow grower, but once it establishes the yield is great. My container is now a mix of flat and curly parsley bought seedlings from the garden centre. Perhaps around 8 months old for two of them, and the younger one a few months less. We cut from the parsley at least 4 times a week to cover dinner recipes and omelettes and it keeps producing more. I highly recommend growing your own parsley so you do not need to buy again!
My preference is to cut from the bottom of the stem to keep the plant looking tidy.
Basil
We have been into making sourdough pizza bases, so homegrown basil is a must in my family!
I have one basil plant from from an organic seed packet and one basil plant from a garden centre baby seedling. The organic seed packet basil has thrived!
When your basil is ready, don’t pluck the leaves instead trim two leaf down. This can help encourage your plant to grow more and more. This plants wants to flower and give all of it’s energy to that process, you need to nip that in bud and focus on leaf production.
Coriander
We use coriander in a lot of dinner recipes and as garnish. It’s an easy herb to grow from seed, so pick this as a more economical way. We have also managed collect a bag of seeds from a coriander plant mid-summer. I do find where I live in Australia this plant bolts easily with our hot weather. Just be aware, once you start to see coriander flower there is no coming back. But you can let it go and collect the seeds once they brown.
Green Onion
I have grown all of these from seed. They are very slow to mature ready for eating, but once they do it is so satisfying to not buy them again! Because they are slow, you may like to put a couple new seeds in every 3-4 weeks to guarantee a continual supply. I have been cutting the lengths of as I need them for cooking, rather than pulling out the whole plant.
Also, I tend to use them randomly throughout the week so a wonderful plant to have on standby.
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What Herbs and Vegetables I Have Struggled to Grow in Containers
Above was everything that has gone well for me, or I have learned from and adapted to flourish. I wanted to share what hasn’t worked and what I have paused for the time being.
Zucchini
The zucchini flowers were growing just fine, but this plant came with a huge number of these black bugs with red backs that I still haven’t identified. Anyhow, they acted very territorial and covered the plant. I didn’t want to deal with them spreading to the rest of my garden so I will try zucchini again down the road, perhaps when I have a garden bed area on their own my children won’t be around.
Dill
Dill has been a struggle for me, both from seed and from a store-bought seedling. I love dill as a herb, so I haven’t been eating it because I’m still to stubborn to buy it.
Rhubarb
From what I have read, rhubarb needs a couple years to mature. I originally tried popping rhubarb in with the silverbeet, but the silverbeet flourished and the rhubarb went nowhere.
In Closing
Let me know below if you have grown any of the above in containers, or if you plan to?
You may not know me very well, but I adore growing flowers! I would love to share with you what flowers have worked in my container garden! Sign up below to be alerted when I finish that post. In the meantime, stick around and check out my cosy cottagecore homemade granola recipe. You may even grow the strawberries to eat homemade granola with!
Thank you for visiting my cosy cottage on the internet.
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Rachael Margaret x
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My eight herbs and vegetables that have flourished in a container garden and I no longer need to buy from the store again!