h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

... was all I had a few years ago. As it was not much like garden or something, I tried to grow there "kitchenplants" - cress, majoram, chive and some other herbs. Nice to look at and easy to harvest.

I have some parsley but I don't manage to use it all so it goes all brown and yucky.

How about some small bulbs in a pot planted a week or so apart so you've got a succession. crocuses or the really tiny daffs? The others might be OK in the cupboard under the sink while growing.

Do you know that a lot of vegetables will grow perfectly in tubs pots and baskets? They look just fine, and the satisfaction in growing even a bit of your own food is just great!

Here's a few ideas:
Potatoes are perhaps the easiest. You need the biggest, tallest tub you can find. Plastic barrels are good. Smaller containers will do, but you will get a proportionately smaller crop. Fill the container about half full and plant the seed potatoes about 4-6 inches down (seed potatoes are dead cheap. Garden centres sell them in huge bags, but if you only want one or two, try a farm shop, or bum some off a neighbour). As the plants grow, pile more soil on top till only the shoots show. This encourages the plants to make more potatoes. Now all you have to do is throw the odd bucket of water over them. The plants will eventually produce dinky yellow flowers, and once these have died back you can start digging down for potatoes. Discard any that have been too near the surface and gone green, and if you only need a few at a time, don't pull up the plant - just root down till you find a few tubers and pull them off - that way the plant may continue to produce, and the rest of the crop will stay fresh! You can expect to get around 25 potatoes from each seed potato

Peas and beans are also dead easy. If you pick a variety with nice flowers they can also look really decorative. grow them in a wide pot up a wigwam of canes - they can add some nice height behind other, decorative pots. They're a great crop for just reaching out and eating as you sit in the sun!

Peppers (chillies or capsicum) are a tender crop - you may have to start them off on a sunny windowsill, but they'll be happy outside once the weather is warmer. The shiny fruits look just wonderful amidst the dark glossy foliage

Tomatoes - there is a variety of cherry tomato called 'Tumbler' which has been bred to grow in a hanging basket. It will keep fruiting for a long time, and the contrast of yellow flowers and red and green tomatoes all hanging down is lovely.

Citrus fruits like lemons have to come inside for the winter, but they look dead classy on a patio May-October. The dark shiny leaves give a Mediterranean feel, and yes, they do fruit! You can even get a range of peach trees now in pots.

Growing your own produce is not that hard - the plants will often put up with less love and attention than flowers - you get an extra return on the investment of your time, and can enjoy the food win the knowledge that you know exactly what's gone into it...

!
You can grow everywhere!

D'oh! How could I forget ??

Thank you Hafinat!

actually grow better in tubs, they're up off the ground so they don't rot, and it;s harder for the slugs and birds to get them.

And they have designed a special pot for with several pockets on the sides. Very useful.

Those pots are really good for growing herbs in as well.

I've had success in lengthing the blooming season for outside daffodils by planting the bulbs in a combination of root end down, root end sideways and root end up. The shoots will work their way up at different times because of this.