My Vegetable Pots

A few weeks ago, strolling around yet another garden centre looking at plants for which we had no more garden space, my neighbour and I were seduced by a section of mature vegetable plants. The size of the plants, the fact they already had tiny green balls and we won’t have to wait weeks to harvest, as we would for the seedlings we had recently planted, confirmed the deal. We paid $12 each for a tomato plant (my neighbour) and a bell pepper (me). The pots had a built-in cage for support so we were set. They would do well on the patio.

Bell Pepper

My neighbour grows vegetables. I am more of a perennials (flower, shrubs and trees) kind of gardener but I used to have space for a few vegetables, usually tomatoes, beets, hot peppers and herbs but over time, that space was taken over by perennials, quelle surprise! I have a number of pots in my backyard that I fill with colourful annuals. This year, I decided to plant them with beets, carrots, hot peppers and tomatoes and I still added some flowers for the colour I can't do without.

I started this post talking about the mature plant purchased for $12. When I mentioned to my neighbour that I could go to the farmers’ market and purchase a whole lot of bell peppers for that amount, she reminded me that I can’t beat the joy of walking into my yard, picking a pepper and knowing it’s as fresh as it can be.

That’s one of the joys of having a kitchen garden. I  try to forget the very wet year I discarded my tomato plants, filled with green tomatoes, after a major slug infestation; just too many slugs for my comfort level. I also remember the year a few chili pepper plants produced so many peppers, I was about to run out of neighbours, friends and co-workers to give them to and had so many in my freezer, I was still using them well into the next year.

Fingers crossed that my vegetables will do well in pots. At least I know for sure the bell pepper won’t be a problem. Take a gander at that pic.

Will keep you posted.