Friends Food Review

Container Gardens - Beauty and Function

  (Planters contain (beginning with white pot and clockwise) lemon thyme, lettuce/parley/swiss chard, thai and purple basil, arugula, rosemary and silver thyme.)

You may not have time or space to plant a garden, but you can have just as much fun with a contain garden. Find all your outdoor pots and plant an arrangement that can be as pretty as flowers. 

We have a 40 x 10 ft. garden which we just finished planting during Memorial Day weekend. We recently had some trees cut down which gave us more sunlight. We decided to expand the garden and cut another 10 X 10 ft. space which would give us more room for summer squash, zucchini and beans. By the time we were done we had planted 25+ tomato plants, 14+ eggplant, 12+ peppers, 3 types of beans, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash and more herbs as we had planted quite a few in our container garden. (See How to Build a Garden)

Our container garden started from an idea we saw at Briggs Nurseryin North Attleboro, MA. In their vegetable section they had an old rod iron bench which they had removed the seat. They lined it with a cocoa fiber liner and planted lettuce, parley and swiss chard. It was gorgeous...and functional. We went looking for a bench but had to settle for a table planter, but we did the same thing. We have lettuce, herbs, a few spare tomatoes and peppers planted in containers. We placed them in various locations in our yard giving color and design to bare spots.

If you don't have time or space to have a garden, consider growing plants in pots and containers. It's a great way to enjoy fresh herbs or vegetables during the summer season.

First Herb of the Season: Chives

 
When we bought our house five years ago, we noticed that one of our stone planters had this grass growing from it. As we further investigated, we realized we had chives. For me, it has been my new sign of spring, and the excitement of knowing fresh herbs are to come.

Chives are one of the easiest herbs to grow. Basically plant bulbs in a sunny area and water periodically. Ta-Da...CHIVES! Plant them once, have them forever.

Because our bulbs were planted by our past owners, they begin growing (in the Northeast) in mid-March. By May they will be 12-18 inches long and in June they bloom beautiful purple flowers. Once the flowers die, I cut them back slightly, (I still like to have some available) and let them re-fresh for the fall.

Here are some quick CHIVE facts:

1. Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) are the smallest species of the onion family.

2. Chives are used by cutting the greens into small pieces and make a great condiment.

3. Culinary creations using chives include fish, potato and soup recipes.

4. Great herb to grow if you don't have a green thumb...it is effortless.