Good Food Can Begin in a Container Garden
Posted in Exhibitions, The Edible Garden on July 9 2010, by Sonia Uyterhoeven
Chef Keith Snow Grows His Own; Shares Secrets, Tips
 |
Keith Snow is a TV host, cookbook author, and creator of Harvest Eating.com; he will present cooking demonstrations at The Edible Garden on July 11. |
Many Americans want to take part in the harvest revolution and eat foods grown at home to ensure freshness, good taste, and reasonable cost. But what if you live in an apartment building—are you out of luck? Actually, no. Many people who live in urban areas around the country are taking part in the local food craze by growing food in containers.
Before you run out to the nursery to get started, consider whether your balcony or rooftop can handle the weight and whether your building permits it: A large container of wet soil can weigh 50–100 pounds or more. Multiply that by the number of containers you’d like, and check whether your site can handle the extra load. (If regulations do not allow for you to grow outdoors, you can certainly grow herbs indoors near a sunny window.)
Once you’ve resolved where to place your plants, you’ll need to decide what to grow. Some plants are perfectly suited to containers, others are not. I like to advise people to create a kitchen garden in containers that can produce herbs, lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplant, and peppers. These crops can thrive in containers and provide a lot of food and recipe diversity.