Container Vegetables: Beans and Peas

In  an earlier post I talked about Sugar Snap Peas, which are quick growing, early harvest, and delicious right off the vine.  Because they're vining and tend to get several feet tall, you may not think they'd be very well suited to a container garden.  But check this out:

 You could create a trellis by wrapping some garden twine around your hanging basket.  If you have a railing around your balcony you could also plant them in a regular pot right next to it for them to climb on.  A tomato cage in the pot would work just fine, too.

Now let's talk beans:

There are about a zillion types, and it sure can get confusing trying to keep them all straight:  runner, pole, bush, snap, shell, dry, long, and so on.  I think you could probably grow any type you'd like with the right container and support, and I encourage experimentation!

For our purposes though, I'd like to talk about plain old ordinary green beans.  When buying seeds, make sure the package says "bush," which means the plants will be short and bushy.  ("Pole" beans need support, and will grow tall and thin.)  The picture above shows them growing in a long narrow container, and that's what I'd recommend for an abundant harvest.  Of course whatever you've got will work, and don't worry about giving each plant two feet of space, or whatever the crazy recommendation on the package will be.  Plant the seeds just 2-4 inches apart after danger of frost has passed.

The more you pick green beans, the more the plants will produce, so harvest as often as you can.  You should have more than you can eat from just a few plants, but once production slows, go ahead and pull out the plants, add a little fresh soil to your container, and plant a second crop for late summer harvest!

Crispy, Classic, Incomparable!

This post won't be as exciting as some others - No veggies named after mythical creatures, no potentially valuable miracle seeds, nothing too exotic.  I wouldn't plant any garden without these, though!

The Sugar Snap Snow Pea is a no-brainer - You simply must plant it in your garden!  Here's why:  You plant the seed directly into the ground as early as you'd like, the shoots come up practically overnight, and the pods are ready to harvest before any of your other plants are even blossoming.  I never seem to get a very large harvest from my snow peas, but picking a handful and eating them right there in the garden is so rewarding!  They're crunchy, sweet, and delicious right off the vine, in salads, or gently sauteed in a stir fry if they last that long.

This is the Black Beauty Zucchini, a garden classic.  Jason loves it lightly oiled, seasoned, and grilled.  The squirrels prefer it right off the vine, about an inch long.  Sometimes they lose patience and just eat the flower.  (The flower is edible for humans, too!  Add it to your snow pea stir fry.)  These plants are pretty impressive.  Make sure you give them plenty of room to spread out, and cover up when you go out to harvest!  The zucchini is smooth and harmless, but the rest of the plant is covered in tiny, prickly little spikes.

You can grow the best tomatoes in the world, but you're wasting your time if you don't pair them up with a big fragrant handful of Genovese Basil.  This stuff will grow and grow with very little attention, and it is so delicious in salads and sauces!  I recommend eating Caprese salad until you explode, and then making what's left into a spicy pesto sauce.