Container Vegetable Garden
When I was a kid, my mom grew all kinds of stuff in our teeny tiny backyard garden. Fat, juicy tomatoes, radishes, tiny little strawberries, and zillions of flowers. Our garden was wonderful. It always amazes me to think how much my mom attempted – and often succeeded at doing – in that tiny little house. She would cook feasts, bake tins of shortbread cookies, assemble furniture, still somehow had time to finish her degree, work long hours, be a mom, and spend time with me just hanging out. In addition to all her home cooking and gardening, we’d hit up our local indie video store and rent a few movies, order a large pizza and a totally junk food salad drenched in oil and vinegar dressing that, to be honest, was mostly oil.
In the giant bookshelves she assembled, she kept books on everything. She tried her hand at canning and preserving, made her own lace, (because it was fun and interesting, not because we really needed lace), and was generally pretty awesome. As I get older, I’m realizing increasingly how much I take after her. It feels spontaneous and unprovoked, like a sudden jolt of cosmic inspiration, but it’s most likely the best parts of my mom coming out.
I’ve decided I want an indoor container garden. I had actually been looking into this for some time, exploring different kitchen herb gardens and other sissy hydroponic systems that were absurdly pricey for what they actually did. In researching, I decided that what I really want to do is create a container vegetable and herb garden. It’s amazing what you can grown in containers. Here’s what I plan to eventually order over time from burpee:
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- Little Finger Carrots
I'm already imagining them cooked up with the fingerling potatoes next to a fillet of something melt-in-your mouth, dripping with butter and lemon juice.
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- Thumbelina Carrots
Tiny little round carrots are too cute not to make this list. Perfect for container gardens, I plan to grow them mostly for novelty.
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- Garlic Chives
Mmmm, chives.
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- Cilantro
For all things fresh and delicious and spicy.
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- Space Master Cucumbers
Because I like them, and also because I want to make pickles very badly.
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- Garlic
I have no idea how much different or better fresh garden-grown garlic will taste in comparison to store brand, but I am excited to find out.
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- Buttercrunch Lettuce
Tell me buttercrunch doesn't make you think of some mouthwatering concoction devised by J.K. Rowling. It is, in reality, one of the nicest lettuces out there. I actually grew this variety when I was a teenager performing an experiment (on lettuce, yes). And it was tough to remain professional and not nibble at its fledgling sprouts.
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- Iceberg Lettuce
Because I fucking like it, that's why.
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- Little Mama Tomato
I've heard nothing but rave reviews about this fruit - plentiful, hardy plant that's easy to grow, tough to kill and will keep you in stewing, canning and paste tomatoes (plus all your fresh needs) throughout the season.
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- MAMMOTH Dill
Another shits and giggles addition to my list.
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- Marjoram
Used less often (in our house) than oregano, harder to grow, and very similar in taste to oregano, you may wonder why this is on the list. You say why, I say, why not?
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- Napa Hybrid Grape Tomato
For a hanging basket - these will be beautiful and from what I read, sweet and delicious. Perfect for lunches.
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- Oregano
Manfriend insists on sprinkling dried oregano liberally on all pasta dishes, which is fine and good until you get little sharp bits of dried oregano stabbing at your tender gums. Fresh oregano will be a delicious improvement.
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- Cherry Belle Radish
I LOVE radishes, and occasionally get powerful cravings for them. I will eat buckets of radishes. Good news? They're fast-growing, hard to kill, and each packet yields a shit load of radishes. Sounds good to me!
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- Roman Chamomile
I fully intend to dry and steep this in hot water for homemade tea. Yum.
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- Rosemary
From the first time I sprinkled dried rosemary into a pan of hot oil as a kid, and smelled that spicy fragrant aroma sizzle up, I have been totally in love with this herb. Growing fresh rosemary will be awesome.
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- Sage
Okay, to be honest, I don't cook that much with sage. But if I have parsley, rosemary and thyme, I gotta have sage, right?
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- Spearmint
Again, fresh herbs. Just the idea of being able to wake up and breath in garden smells is making me giddy.
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- Spinach Baby Leaf Hyrbid
One of my professors was feeling punchy one night and gave us a fantastic recipe for baby spinach: wilt leaves in a pot of water just covering them over medium heat. Drain, and squeeze fresh lemon juice over them. Tastes fantastic with a mild fish fillet and a dry white wine.
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- Swedish Peanut Fingerling
Mmm, tiny little tender potatoes. These just beg for some gourmet frou frou meal, and they're itty bitty enough to grow happily in a container garden. Fresh dug up potatoes taste AMAZING.
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- Sweet Basil
I can't wait to have fresh herbs in the house. I plan to dry them and hang them in my kitchen, too.
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- Sow the seeds of VICTORY!
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