Here’s how to create a lasagna garden in a container:
Making homemade marinara sauce for your lasagna from fresh herbs and vegetables right out of the garden is a must in authentic Italian cuisine. Making a red sauce that is amazing comes from growing herbs and vegetables in your own backyard so you may pick them at their absolute ripest. Growing a Lasagna Garden in a Container is a great use of space and allows you to grow a themed garden even if you don’t have that huge backyard garden.
The tomato which is the star of the show is the Roma tomato and it grows amazingly well in a container garden. Romas are known for their thick pulp and hearty tomato flavor and they cook down very easily into a sauce. The main herbs found in traditional marinara sauce include basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and garlic.
Use a large container
Plant the tomato plant into the center of a large container – the bigger the better for this container garden. No smaller than 18 inches around or less than 10 gallons. Both tomatoes and basil can get to be big plants and are heavy nutrient feeders. Thyme and oregano are great to plant on the edges of the container as they will trail over and their root balls don’t spread out too much. Parsley can also grow larger if it has room to grow and it is best to plant between the oregano and thyme.
Use quality potting soil
The key to a successful lasagna garden is in the quality of the potting soil and the amendments you add to it. Amend the potting soil with a fertilizer like Miracle Grow so that your plants get their much needed nutrients. Add this fertilizer every 3 weeks or so to your watering can and water away. When you first plant your lasagna garden, give your plants a long drink of water or until you see water coming out the bottom of the container. After you have watered the plants, grab a stick and stick it into the soil to see how far down the water went. You need the stick to be wet at least 6 inches deep, if not, keep watering!
Plant garlic chives
Growing garlic is more on the difficult side of gardening. If it won’t grow in your area, then grow garlic chives instead. They have a great garlic flavor and their bright green stems give a pop of color in your sauce. The best part is that they can grow on the edge of the container very easily.
Find sunlight
Make sure your lasagna garden is receiving at least six hours of sunlight a day. If needed, pull your container into the shade if you have overly hot summers. I will often put my container gardens on planter wheels so I can roll them around the garden based on where the sun is at that part of the year.
Enjoy your lasagna garden and happy container gardening!
I’m back with another video! This time it’s all about how to harvest basil. The way I show in the video will allow your plant to grow bushier, which means you should have plenty of basil leaves to enjoy all season long!
When harvesting basil, it’s best to pinch off a piece of the stem rather than just snipping off a leaf or two. Before you make your pinch, take a close look at your basil plant. Basil leaves grow in sets of two and the leaves are positioned opposite from each other on the stem. If you look at the point where the leaves meet the stem, you should see two sets of tiny leaves growing out of the junction. When you’re harvesting, it’s important to make your pinch directly above a set of leaves. By pinching off the main stem, you’re sending a signal to the leaves that it’s time for them to grow into branches, in turn, creating a bushier plant.
If you want to keep your basil fresh, place your freshly harvested stems in a glass of water rather than sticking it in the fridge. The basil will stay fresh in the water for a week or more. In fact, if you leave the stems in water they will eventually root and you can replant them in a pot or out in the garden!
Did you know you can grow potatoes in a container? It’s true! You can grow potatoes in a container and I’m going to attempt to show you how to do it with the video below. Growing potatoes in a container is ideal if you have limited gardening space like me!
Before you watch the video, I feel as though I should warn you about the lack of “greatness” to the video. I winged it the other night after Sienna had gone to bed. In other words, it’s not scripted, I didn’t fix my hair or get the leftover lasagna off my sleeve :P. And I gave some incorrect details in the video that I’ll write out correctly below the video. 🙂
There are a variety of containers you can use to grow potatoes, but I really like using a big plastic garbage can because it holds a lot. These potato grow bags also look amazing!
Here are the 10 steps to growing potatoes in a container:
Poke or drill several holes in the bottom of the garbage can.
Place your container in a spot that will get a lot of sun throughout the day.
Fill the bottom of the container with about 3 inches of soil.
Place 4 – 5 whole seed potatoes into the soil, making sure they’re evenly spaced.
Make sure the potatoes are completely covered by about two inches of soil.
Water the potatoes thoroughly.
Once the plants have grown to 7-8 inches in height, pour more soil into the container. The soil level should be about three inches from the top of the plants.
Water the plants as needed. (Everyday, unless the rain gets them good)
Each time the plants reach 7-8 inches above the soil level, pour more soil into the container, maintaining the soil at three inches from the top of the plants.
At the end of the season, dump out the contents of your container and dig all around the soil to get your potatoes!
Have you ever tried growing potatoes in a container?
Spring is here! And we’ve even got the nice weather to prove it! Gardening is a big passion of mine. I’ve got flower beds and containers all over the place. My job at a local golf course even has me working on flower beds 8 hours a day! Since we don’t have a house to call our own yet, my Mom lets me help her plant and weed their vegetable garden in return for some delicious veggies.
Here are some tips for gardening on a budget that I’ve learned over the years:
Grow a container garden. I like to grow tomatoes and herbs in containers. Also, planting a group of containers with annuals creates a great effect!
Use perennials. These are more expensive initially, but you do not have to replace them every year, thus saving money in the long run. I started to do this with my flower gardens a couple of years ago. I need to buy a couple more plants to fill it in, but in the mean time I will add some annuals for color.
Start your own plants with seeds. Save a bunch by buying a pack of seeds rather than small plants. My mom only uses seeds to plant her carrots, green beans…etc.
Before filling a large container full of dirt, add a plastic shopping bag full of foam packing material to the bottom. You will need less dirt, provides a great draining system, and the container will be easier to lift! We do this at the golf course where I work. In my containers at home, I use either rocks (for the really small containers) or the plastic containers that my annuals come in.
Put up a pin wheel or two in your strawberries to keep the birds and chipmunks at bay. You can find inexpensive ones at your local dollar store.
Make your own compost. A great free way to nourish your plants. Here’s a great link showing you how to make your own compost bin: DIY Compost Bin
Utilize the weather. If I know it’s going to rain, I pull out my flower containers that are covered so that the rain will water them for me!
Ask neighbors for a part of their perennial. Since most perennials spread, I’m sure a neighbor won’t mind digging up a portion of their plant. My mom has received numerous plants this way. I’ve also received some from the golf course that were just going to be thrown out!
Use the library. If I’m needing any information on plants or I want to look at a specific book, I hop on over to my local library!
