Container and Small Garden Gardening.

Step 1. Scout out where you want to grow. Do you want to grow on a balcony, raised beds, or right in the ground? What kind of light does the area get? It is very important to note what kind of light the area gets in the morning and afternoon. Vegetable plants generally want full sun. I have grown vegetables on an east facing balcony successful so if you're willing to take a gamble vegetables can be grown without full sun.

Step 2. If growing in containers you need to choose the correct pot and make sure they have drainage holes in them. This site lists what size you need for what kind of vegetable. The reason you want the right size pot is watering. Too small of a pot and you won't be able to keep the plant wet enough and you'll have an unhappy plant. Too big of a pot and the plant will concentrate on roots and not vegetative growth and setting fruit.

Step 3. Soil. It can be quite complicated picking the right soil. If doing raised beds see if you can find a 4 way mix, a mix of peat moss, topsoil, sand, and manure or compost. For containers you can use potting soil. The right soil will prevent a lot of problems down the road such as watering and compaction.

Step 4. You have the pots and the soil, now the fun part starts choosing what you're going to grow. There are certain veggies that need to be started indoor and others can be direct seeded. If you don't have the space or set up to start veggies you'll want to buy plants. LP Farm Store has a wide variety of vegetable and herb plants for sale.

Step 5. Do some research on vegetables. Find out what they like and don't like. Most vegetable plants like full sun and plenty of water. Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, kohlrabi, and spinach can be grown in part shade. Tomatoes generally are either tumbling, determinate, or indeterminate. If you're growing in containers you want to grow tumbling or determinate tomatoes. If growing in containers I would grow lettuce, peppers, beans, , zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, flowers, and herbs. It is possible to grow root vegetables in containers, but they are a one and done. You get one harvest whereas peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, and flowers you get a couple of harvests and in my opinion better bang for your buck.

Step 6. Now that you have your plants or seeds and the weather is looking favorable (usually end of May/beginning of June here in Manitoba) you can start planting. On my blog I have various articles on growing various veggies.

Step 7. Water, water, but wait not too much water. Water is the key to having a bountiful harvest BUT yes you can over water. With containers you need to check them daily. Water when the top 1-2 inches of soil is dry. I do the finger test. I shove my finger in the dirt and if it feels dry I water.

Step 8. Patience, the vegetables will come. Some varieties take a while. I like growing Sub Arctic Maxi tomatoes because they are 40 days. They are a smaller tomato, but nothing beats a home grown tomato and can tide me over til the sandwich size are ready to harvest. Sweet bell peppers usually start off green and with time will change color.

Step 9. Cleaning up when fall time hits. Some people dump out their pots and some people leave the soil in. You can compost plants that are disease free. I'm a frugal type person so I re use my soil year after year that I use for personal use. It's probably a good idea to dump all the pots out, add in some compost and give it a good mix and fill the pots back up.