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Fresh vegetables in January! Aaah! What a wonderful thing! And, if you have a small amount of space, it's easy to do, thanks to hydroponics and sun - also called 'full spectrum' - bulbs. You don't need a large area, either. You can grow fresh herbs in pots with some of your regular house plants, or, if you get into hydroponics, in small tanks on TV tables. Where there's a will, there's a way...

If you decide to go the soilless route, you can either buy a kit, or you can make your own from scratch. If you go with a kit, you pay more to have a set of parts that match, but you are sure that there is a list of everything you need, and that all the parts should be warranteed to work for you. If you build your own, you need to be more creative and knowledgeable in order to make your system work, but it is usually cheaper. It doesn't 'have' to look 'thrown together', either.. Appearance depends on the vessels you use for your garden, whether you're growing plants for food or decoration. In the end, the results are worth the effort, either way.

Many different plants will grow for you in the winter. You want plants that don't ramble all over, so look for varieties that are specific for container gardening, or that are 'bush' varieties. They need to be fairly forgiving, too, since you aren't going to be able to provide a breeze for pollination, for example, and you might goof occasionally and water with tap water instead of biled-and-cooled or distilled, resulting in some mineral salts getting to your plants. The mineral salts are not harmful, but they will change the mineral balance of whatever fertilizer mix you use; and if you grow your vegetables & herbs in soil, will make a crust on the surface which prevents water from reaching the roots. Othersie, if you drink tap water & you do well, chances are your plants will too, EXCEPT for chlorine.

Chlorine is a toxic element. It kills bacteria, which is why municipalities put it in when they process water for household use. To get rid of chlorine, you have to either bring a pan of it to a boil & let it cool before use, or you have to let it sit at least 8 hours at 70F or above so the chlorine will move out of the water. If you boil-and-cool, siphon the water off, leaving the mineral salts at the bottom.

Go to your local library and do some research, especially if you want to grow hydroponically. There are many books available that will help you avoid problems with your efforts, resulting in lots of enjoyment & few frustrations or disappointments. Look online for varieties that are good for container gardening. And never let anyone convince you that it is more work than it's worth or that it's a lot of work. It's fun!

Growing food plants in containers is no harder than growing any other plant indoors, provided you choose appropriate varieties. Because I and some helpers are renovating an old building, and can't have a garden until we're finished with the outside, in order to have both beauty and fresh vegetables, I have made container gardens and scattered them all over the yard where they are out of the way. When we take a break, we can often pick something fresh to eat during our break, too. Or we have beautiful flowers to look at, where we don't have to worry about damaging them when we haul materials & tools around the yard. If they're in the way, we just move them.

Container gardening is a great way to go at any season of the year. In the winter, it can make all the difference between a so-so day and one with a visual treat in it. Enjoy!

Learn more about this author, Carel Two-Eagle.
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