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Chapter Two

Three Seasons of Plenty: Spring, Summer and Fall

This is where you learn how to extend your container garden's growing season well into fall; how to start seeds indoors; how to increase diversity with veggies and herbs, and how to rotate your container crops . . . and how to prepare your container garden for its winter sleep.

HOW WAS YOUR FIRST GROWING SEASON? What were your successes? Did some plants just “up and die?” I know it’s hard, but try to concentrate more on success than failure. We tend to focus on the things we don’t do well, but let those go. Successful gardeners know that some years, no matter what we do, we are unable to grow much. Other years are full of bounty. We learn to go with the flow.

Each new garden year starts with a review:

~ How did your containers perform last year?

~ Did your vegetables get enough sun, or too much?

~ Do your pots need to be moved to a sunnier location?

~ Should you buy a bit of shade cloth before the hot summer sun wilts your flowers and veggies? (See page 80 for shade cloth information.)

~ Which plants had problems with bugs or disease?

Success inspires adventure in the garden. Even in the depths of winter, gardeners can hold onto this excitement by studying up on something they want to try next year. It keeps us young. Not that you need to be concerned yet, but gardeners are the “youngest” people I know.

About the danger of seed catalogs.

Gardening season starts early. By mid-January, seed catalogs begin to arrive in your snail-mailbox, along with links to online catalogs in your email. Beware the danger of jumping in with both feet. Seed catalogs are a terrible temptation for the winter-weary gardener. Before you place your order, look at your notes for those vegetables you loved last year.

Once you’ve got an idea of what to order, go ahead and try something new. How about an heirloom lettuce? All leafy greens grow well in containers – lettuces, spinach, kale, chard, and mesclun (a mix of different lettuce seeds and other leafy greens). So do spring onions when you buy them as onion sets (small bulbs). Onions seeds work too, but they’ll take a lot longer. Beets, carrots and turnips are root crops that thrive in containers. While it’s good to make sure you don’t go crazy when ordering seeds, dare yourself to experiment with something new. It could become your favorite veggie or fruit.

TIP: With the help of Siri on my iPhone, I keep notes throughout the garden season. This info syncs with my laptop and makes my job easier in January, when I’m tempted to order too much, too soon. I do my best thinking when I am in the garden, so it’s great to capture those thoughts for later use.

Getting the jump on spring

Containers have an advantage with early spring crops: the soil inside a container warms up earlier than the soil in the ground, and stays warm because the container will hold in heat. That gives your container plants a head start. You can often produce two series of leafy greens before summer. I am especially enamored with lettuces. I have such a short season to grow them, but nothing beats the taste of fresh lettuce with a light olive oil vinaigrette. I love ‘Nevada,’ ‘Speckled Troutback’ and ‘Black-seeded Simpson’, among others. I always include a spicy mesclun mix in my spring garden, as well. It wakes up my palate after a long winter of eating soups and other warming but heavy foods.

Sometimes, I plant loads of new varieties, but if you’re short on container space and you have some actual ground to work with as well, you’ll want to curb your enthusiasm until we get to Garden Two; that’s where you’ll have more room to play in the dirt.

Starting Seeds Indoors

You may already realize that in order to grow what you want, you are going to need to start some of your seeds indoors. I can sow lettuce outside in late February for a spring crop, but if I want a fall crop of tender leaves for my salad bowl, I must start them inside, because my summer weather is too hot for lettuce to germinate outside. You may not have this problem.

Don’t stress . . . let me lead you through the process. Here’s what you’ll need.

CONTAINERS. Some type of seed-starting container. These can be traditional six-pack cells that fit into a flat, or they can be almost anything. Throughout the year, I collect small, plastic containers to upcycle for indoor seed starting. There’s no need to buy special items and trays unless you want them. I especially like sour cream tubs and plastic to-go containers from my local Pei Wei Asian Diner. They are the perfect size, and they have covers to keep moisture in for the first few days. Be sure to punch holes in the bottom for drainage. Smaller cells, like six packs, warm up faster, but seedlings will need to be transplanted sooner. Simple broadcast sowing into these containers works well with most plants if you don’t mind pricking the roots gently apart and transplanting into larger containers later. This is my preferred sowing method now.

TIP: Saving fast food and other containers is a good way to reuse items bound for the landfill. Winter may be heading our way almost as we harvest the summer veggies, but indoor seed sowing for spring begins again right after Christmas when those catalogs arrive in our mail boxes again.

GRIT, any type. I use chicken grit sold at feed stores to top off my seed trays. It helps them to retain water and keeps seeds from shifting due to overhead watering. It’s not absolutely necessary, but I like it.

COVER. If you don’t have lids to fit your seed starting containers, use plastic wrap. I like Press’n Seal® myself, because you can attach it to the sides of the container. It isn’t organic, but it doesn’t touch your plants either. You remove it as soon as seeds are up and growing with two sets of leaves. Insert little vertical plant tags into the soil to keep plastic wrap off of your seedlings.

POTTING SOIL. Potting soil. Special seed-starting soil is sold with seed packs. However, as long as your potting soil is rich in nutrients, well-drained and organic, you can use most potting soil. I find that the seed-starting soils tend to bubble up if I water them from above, and sometimes, it disturbs my seeds. One way to prevent this is to water from below, by placing an inch or so of water in a tray and setting your containers inside it. Once the soil in your containers looks damp on top, dump out the water. Either way works. Make sure your potting soil is damp, but not soaking wet, before you start.

SEEDS.

PLANT TAGS AND A SHARPIE. You simply must write down what you’ve planted because in the rush of getting things into the ground, you won’t remember which plant is which.

A LIGHT SOURCE. Buying lights for seed starting can be as complicated as writing about compost, or as simple. Seeds can be started in a sunny window, but I found mine performed better and grew faster if they had additional light. I started with two sets of full-spectrum fluorescent lights that I mounted beneath the windowsills in our living room. I still use these once plants are growing, and I want to start more seeds elsewhere. Plants get the natural light from the window along with that of your light source.

Once I had grown a few things from seed, I had the seed-starting bug! I built myself a seed-starting station, and it’s located in the dining room next to the kitchen, where it’s easy for me to remember to water. It’s a simple one-two-three thing to set up. (See how on the following page.)

HEAT MATS. Many seeds benefit from heat from below. I’ve listed my source for heat mats in the Resources section at the back of the book.

What to sow?

That’s easy: sow veggies you crave. Always be open to new vegetables, but don’t plant an entire flat of arugula unless you love it.

In warm climates like mine, you can sow seed in late summer for vegetables like kale, chard and lettuce that don’t germinate so well in hot weather. I always sow a flat or two of these yummy veggies to harvest outside in fall.

Build a seed-starting station

To build a seed-starting station, you’ll need the following:

Metal Rack, with adjustable shelves because as plants grow, you will need to move the light source further away. You can also put lights on adjustable chains if you can’t find a rack with shelves that move. Knowing my tendency to go big, I bought a five-foot tall metal closet rack. A shorter one would be fine, but I wouldn’t go taller. This one stretches nearly to my dining room ceiling.

Four Casters to make your seed station easy to move. Mine stays in the dining room near the kitchen where there is water. My potting bench, a./k./a., kitchen sink, is one door away. That’s also where I write so I spend time there everyday. We have a basement, but I’m a forgetful plant mama.

Four-foot light fixtures with full-spectrum, fluorescent bulbs. Note: Fixtures must be grounded, attached to the metal frame and then plugged into a grounded wall fixture to prevent electric shock.

Four large heat mats, or eight smaller ones. Once plants are up and growing, you will no longer need heat mats unless your house is cold. These must also be plugged into a grounded wall fixture.

Seed trays or other containers. If you use recycled trays and inserts, first dunk them in a ten percent, bleach solution to clean them and remove bacteria.

Seeds

Soilless seed starting mix or other potting mix. Don’t try to reuse your potting soil from previous containers as seedlings are highly susceptible to bacteria; and

A watering can or a nearby water faucet. For the first few days, when seeds are covered by plastic, a watering can is great. Later, thirsty plants benefit from soaking in trays of water for a short time. I sometimes use jelly roll pans or cookie sheets with raised sides to soak trays from the bottom. You could also use rubber containers, a kitchen sink, or a bathtub to soak trays.

Assemble the metal rack. I chose metal because water won’t damage the finish. Wood wouldn’t work well in this situation. Attach the lights either with adjustable chains or metal flanges. We like chains best. Insert light bulbs. You will need to stick them into the fixture and usually give a slight turn to lock them in place. Plug lights and warming mats into a grounded electrical outlet. It must be grounded because water and electricity mixed together is shocking and dangerous. Mine are plugged into a grounded power strip. Place heating mats below lights, and your seed starting station is open and ready for business.

How do I know what seeds to buy? (food preferences and food limitations)

I thought I knew what I liked to eat, but after being diagnosed gluten and dairy (casein) intolerant in 2007, I discovered a whole new world of food. Gone were whole wheat breads and fluffy pastries, but in their place, I stumbled upon Thai and Hispanic cuisines. They became the backbone of my diet. For me, suddenly, there was a wide, new world of chiles, Asian eggplant, quinoa, rice – brown or Jasmine – basils, onions, garlic, etc.