Decorative and Edible Container Gardening

Pepper plant with petunias

Saturday, May 16, 2026

There are so many new edible varieties out every year.  There are ones that are more resistant to disease.  Ones that have higher nutritional value.  Ones that produce more.  Ones that have improved taste.  Ones that are developed for their small size and big harvests for those of us who have limited space or just want to get more for the effort.  It is amazing what can now be grown in pots!

 

A little background on plant types.  We hear a lot about Monsanto and GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) and crop breeding can seem a bad thing.  The difference between GMO’s and other types of crop is that GMO’s bring in genetic material from other organisms in a lab, like bacteria and even viruses.  The plants are engineered so that they kill insects that try to eat it.

 

That is only one side of the plant breeding story.  There are many other natural, with a little help, breeding of crops today.  It can be as simple as saving of seeds from the best producer of last year.  There are also hybrids which take the best traits of two different parents by deliberately cross pollinating two genetically distinct parent plants to produce seed.  These hybrids may not produce seed that you can reuse next year and get the same vegetable as the parent.

 

Heirlooms and open pollinated vegetables will produce “true” to seed.  The offspring will be like its parent.  It isn't just the old varieties that you can save and use seeds from year to year.  It is any "open pollinated", non-GMO, non-hybrid.  If you find a veggie you really like at the store, it doesn't hurt a thing to save the seed and try growing it in your garden.

 

Through the centuries, farmers have chosen the traits they like and have built on them from season to season.  This has given us Brandywine tomatoes, Vidalia onions and Jalapeño peppers.  Yum!

For plant breeders recently there has focus on urban gardening: growing great tasting fruits and vegetables in small spaces and containers.  There are lots of new compact, dwarf, bush, patio, container varieties available every year.  Today, you can grow almost anything you like in a pot, even corn and watermelons!

 

Just be sure to match the right edible with the size of pot you have.  Or if you are starting fresh, pick out the edible you want to grow and buy the pot that will support it.  Add flowers, too.  This not only adds pizazz to the container, but attracts beneficial pollinators that increase yields.  A real win-win.

 

Also be sure you are using the right variety for the season, the pot size and sun/shade conditions your pot will be placed in.   There are edibles and flowers that thrive in cold weather and shrivel in hot conditions and vice versa.  Some love full sun while others need lots of shade.

 

Read seed packets and plant labels to get the plants that will be happy together in your pot’s growing conditions. 

 

How to know what to grow together in a pot?

When deciding what to grow together in a pot, you can use the saying of “Thriller, Spiller, and Filler” to make it pretty.  This means you want a focal point (“thriller”), like an architectural eggplant or pepper plant with a pretty petunia that is eye-catching and “spills” over the pot for summer.  The eggplant and pepper plant also “fill” out the space.  Or beautiful red lettuce with short vining snow peas for spring or fall.

 

What size pot do you need for a container veggie garden?

Any varieties listed for a smaller pot will be happy in a larger pot, too.  There are many more varieties out there than listed below.  Just look at the seed packet or plant label for terms like patio, compact, or dwarf.  A rule of thumb for a single plant in the smallest pot you can get away with is half the diameter it says the plant’s spacing should be.  Here are suggestions by pot size you have.

 

For containers 8” wide by 6-8” deep:

Carrots-Thumbelina, Parmex, Tonda di Parigi 

Greens-arugula, corn salad, cress, small pac choi like Tatsoi, purslane

Lettuce or Kale-any type that you are going to continually harvest and not grow into full heads.    

5 Day Golden Cross Cabbage

For containers 10” wide by 10” deep or larger, these will grow well:

Carrots-Atlas, Caracas, Little Finger, Adelaide, Short n Sweet

Dwarf cabbage-5 Day Golden Cross, Parel, Caraflex

Eggplant with small fruits-Bambino, Casper, Fairytale, Neon, Patio Mohican, Slim Jim, White Egg

Greens-French sorrel, salad burnet, spinach

Herbs-any.  Mediterranean herbs love having dry feet.

Lettuce-Little Gem, Tennis Ball, Tom Thumb if growing to full heads

Peppers, compact types-Blushing Beauty, Chili Pepper Krakatoa, Habanero, Hungarian Yellow Wax, Sweet Pepper Ingrid, Prairie Fire, Red Delicious, Sweet Pickle, Zavory, Yellow Banana

Radishes-Amethyst, Cherry Bell, Pink Slipper, Poloneza, Red Head, Rudi

Strawberries

 

For containers 14-16” wide and 10” deep or larger:

Beans-compact bush types, Runner Beans on a trellis or stake

Beets

Broccoli raab

Celery

Chard

Corn-On Deck Sweet Corn

Cucumber, compact bush types-Lemon, Little Leaf, Suyo, Salad Bush, Fanfare, Sweet Success, Bush Champion, Spacemaster, Miniature White, Picklebush, Mexican Sour Gherkin, Patio Snacker

All types of eggplant

Horseradish

Kale

Okra-Little Lucy

Onions-Apache, Pompeii or the perennial Egyptian Onion

Peas-dwarf bush types

All types of peppers (large sweet peppers like bell types seem to be more productive in the ground while my snacking size hot and sweet peppers flourish in pots)

Tomatoes, look for bush, dwarf, patio, compact types-BushSteak, Patio Princess, Bush Early Girl, Tumbler, Bush Big Boy, Baxter’s Bush Cherry, Lizzano, Sweetheart of the Patio, Tumbling Tom Yellow, Bush Better Bush, Balcony, Fresh Salsa Hybrid, Celebrity, Daybreak, Johnny’s 361, Legend, Sweet Baby Girl, Sweet n Neat

Turnips

Summer squash, compact bush types-Bush Baby, Yellow Crookneck, Eight Ball, Cue Ball, Golden Delight, Anton, Patio Star, Giambo, Astia, Raven, Cosmos Hybrid (look for bush types versus vining types)

Pot of assorted greens and snow peas with red petunia

Containers 20” wide by 16” deep:

Apple-Columnar varieties

Beans-any bush type, more compact pole types (look for the ones have vines 6’ or less or you can pinch off the longer types)

Blueberry-Tophat

Broccoli-I really like sprouting broccoli or broccoli raab for pots

Cantaloupe-Honey Rock, Minnesota Midget

Fig trees

Lettuce-all varieties

Peanuts

Peas-all bush types and more compact pole types (look for ones that vine 6’ or less)

Potatoes-there are containers made just for potatoes nowadays

Pumpkins-miniature, like Small Sugar

Shallots

Sweet potatoes

Watermelon-Bush Sugar Baby, Sugar Pot

Winter squash, compact bush types-Butterbush Butternut

 

For really large containers on the scale of a half whiskey or wine barrel:

Beans-all pole beans

Carrots-all varieties

Cucumbers-bush and vining types

Summer squash-Bush Baby, Space Miser, Egg Ball, Papaya Pear

Tomatoes

Watermelons

Winter squash-Honey Bear, Carnival, Discus Bush Buttercup

Black Beauty eggplant with fuchsia petunias and Egyptian walking onions

When growing veggies and fruit in containers, they will require more watering and more liquid fertilizer than if they were in the ground.  In the summer, you may have to water some water lovers every day.  A rule of thumb is you will need to fertilize at twice the rate as you do your garden beds.

How to care for the summer edible garden

 

To reduce watering, purchase or make pots that have a water reservoir in the bottom.  A couple on the market today are “Earthbox” and “Grow Box”.  With this type of pot, you may be able to water weekly.  

 

Practice crop rotation in pots like you would in the garden.  Refresh the potting soil annually.  Pots heat up faster in summer and cool down quicker in fall than gardening in the ground.  A bonus of container gardening is that you can move them when you want or need to.

Crop rotation made easy for small gardens

 

With all the colors and varieties out there, beautiful container combinations can expand and beautify your garden space while providing your family nutritious food right outside your door.

What's happening in the early May garden

Potted lettuce in May

Sunday, May 10, 2026

Everything is lush and green this time of year.  The edibles are growing quickly.   Salad fixings are in their prime with the summer edibles just getting started.  Herbs are filling out nicely.  By this time of year, we no longer need to purchase produce from the grocery store and can get fresh herbs to add to dishes that make them taste wonderful and are chock full of antioxidants.

The last few weeks have been much cooler and drier than usual.  We've had temperatures in the 60's and 70's during the day, dropping into the 40's and 50's at night and very little rain.  So the greens are doing wonderful.  I am having to water almost every week.  Heat lovers like eggplant, cucumbers, melons and squash are having a long germination period or not coming up at all.  I am moving them in their starter peat pots from the front to back of the house to keep them in full sun to help them come on up.  It's supposed to be back in the 80's next week so I'll look to plant them in the garden then.

The greens we are eating-French sorrel, dandelion greens, winter cress, plantain greens, chick weed, sweet clover, celery, Chinese Giant Leaf mustard, sprouting broccoli leaves, many varieties of lettuce, and chard.  Many are overwintered or volunteers from last year.  I also bought one 6 pack of lettuce from the store and started seeds in early March.  I like to have new lettuces and greens coming on all the time so there is always plenty for salads.

I have lots of volunteer Blue Feather lettuce, carrots, celosias, zinnias, morning glory, hummingbird vine, husk cherry and Blue Spice basil popping up all over the garden and pots.  

Herbs to add to dishes and salads-garlic chives, regular chives, oregano, thyme, horseradish, Egyptian walking onions, tarragon, sage, young garlic, rosemary, marjoram, celery, parsley.  All are perennials or self-sowers so they come back year after year.

The flowers that are blooming-irises, spiderwort, roses, marigolds, Sweet William, pansies, hellebores, coreopsis and petunias.  The herbs and veggies going to seed-yellow flowers of the sprouting broccoli, mustard, chard and cress, yellow and pink dandelion flowers, beautiful purple flowers on garden chives,  sage and lavender, and pinkish thyme flowers.  Soon, the white garlic chive flowers will be showing off.  All veggie and herb flowers are edible.  A fun way to add flavor and beauty to salads or other dishes.

The overwintering and early spring planted lettuce is just beginning to bolt so soon there will be the white, yellow and blue flowers from the different kinds of lettuce.  Several carrots are starting to bolt, too.  If not pulled, they have beautiful white flowers resembling Queen Ann's Lace, which are in the same family, that bees love.

The lilacs and peonies have already come and gone.  They and the peonies were heavy with flowers this spring.

We put in a new raised bed 4' x 8' for strawberries last spring.  We have gotten 8 quarts so far in the last week or so.  We are growing ever bearing strawberries so they will produce fruit into the summer months.  Had also started Alpine strawberries from seed last year.  I have gotten a few berries from them.  

2 years ago in the fall, we put in a bed for raspberries and blackberries.  So far, only the blackberries are blooming.  The wild blackberry bush is quickly overtaking the bed.  It has thorns.  I'll let it fruit and then move it to the edge of the woods in the sun.  The raspberries are ever bearing.  They will bear from June to frost.

I also transplanted blueberries into pots 2 years ago in the fall.  They all have little blueberries on them.  I doubt we will get many berries this year, but we will get some!  I want to add Rabbiteye or Southern high bush varieties.  These varieties do well in our hot and humid climate.  I think it is just too hot for the northern varieties for them to thrive.  If your summers are hot like ours, I'd make sure the northern varieties are getting afternoon shade.  Rabbiteye and southern high bush varieties do well in full sun in our hot and humid summers. 

I have only planted out the veggies that do okay in cool weather like amaranth, cabbage, dill, and flowers.  I did plant eggplant, eucalyptus, sweet peppers, huckleberries and a tomato into pots.  Pots warm up so much faster than the ground.  I'm waiting on it to get back to the 80's to plant out the tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, melons, and squash into the garden beds.

I divided and planted creeping thyme into empty spots around the edge of my flower beds.  Thyme deters voles and it looks really pretty edging the beds.

It is a good idea to wait 10 days after planting new plants before you give them much fertilizer.  I'll add a diluted liquid fertilizer to all when they have their first set of true leaves.  I am using Neptune kelp and fish liquid fertilizer for spring feeding this year.  Kelp really stimulates growth so I use it only in the spring.  Also, when I transplant, I add char, worm castings and starting fertilizer to each planting hole for sustained nutrition.

It's okay to just be getting started in the edible garden with the summer lovers.  You can plant a summer garden into June and still have a nice harvest.

Volunteer Red Malabar spinach and Chinese Multicolor amaranth

I have been harvesting the greens by taking only the outer leaves so that the plants will continue to grow.  By harvesting, it stimulates the plant to grow even more leaves.  If you have extra greens, besides lettuce, you can blanch and freeze them.  I still have plenty left in the freezer.  Preservation garden

I am doing good right now on lettuce, but will need to start transplanting some of the volunteers coming up in the yard into pots to keep the harvest going.  If you don't have volunteers, it is a good idea to sow lettuce seeds now.  If you start seeds every 2-3 weeks, it keeps you in lettuce all the way until winter.  This time of year, start the heat tolerant varieties.   

I have also moved to using greens that stay sweet during the dog days of summer to supplement lettuce.  The greens I have found so far that are great lettuce and spinach substitutes in salads are Red Malabar spinach, New Zealand spinach, Perpetual Spinach chard, Chinese Multicolored amaranth, all colors of orach, Chinese Hilton cabbage (doubles as a great wrap, too), and sprouting broccoli.  Keep salads going all summer long. 

I overwintered New Zealand and Red Malabar spinach in the house.  I put it outside a month ago.  It is pretty good but will really pop when it warms up.  We use their leaves just like spinach in salads.  They are heat lovers with leaves that stay sweet all summer; a great spinach substitute.

Tomatoes 101, How to Grow Great Tomatoes

Summer tomato plant

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Tomatoes are America's favorite vegetable to grow.  There really is no comparison between a home grown tomato and a store bought tomato for taste and texture.  Here are a few tips to know about growing great tasting tomatoes. 

The first is knowing what type of tomato to purchase

There are two types of tomatoes-indeterminate and determinate.  Determinate grow to a set height and the fruit sets all at once.  Many pull their determinate tomatoes after this first flush of tomatoes.  They will produce more fruits, but not a huge number, until frost.  These can be a great candidate for canning if you would like to get your tomato canning done all at once.  Indeterminate continue to grow and yield fruits (yes, the tomato is actually a fruit) until frost.  These are the best for fresh tomatoes all season long.  Determinates height typically stays below 4'; indeterminates can grow well over 8' in a season.

How to choose the tomatoes to grow

I grow only indeterminates.  For what we don’t eat, I slice and freeze in quart freezer bags for chili and salsa.  Come fall, I can the surplus.  I like growing a variety of tomatoes, with different colors, salad tomatoes, slicers, and paste tomatoes.  I like adding a paste tomato to each freezer bag as they give a silky sauce. I like different colors because each has different nutrients and colors are just fun!  I always have red and purple tomatoes in the garden.  Three that I have every year are Chocolate Pear for salads, ruby red heirloom Italian Pear Paste for sauces, and heirloom Cherokee Purple for slicers.  My husband loves Brandywine tomatoes so he grows those.
The Power of Purple  Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition

I buy a large Better Boy tomato that I put in a pot in April to get ripe tomatoes in June, I hope!

There are several "storage" tomato varieties available.  You can pick these at frost and they will keep for up to 4 weeks longer than typical tomatoes.  I have been trying one or two different types each season.  So far, none have been something I want to add to my yearly planting.  I'm trying another variety "Long Keeper" this year. 

Right before the first frost, I pick all the tomatoes left on the vine and put them on the counter to ripen.  We have fresh tomatoes into December.  They are definitely not the same as summer tomatoes, but better than anything you can buy in the store!  For more tips on preserving the tomato harvest:  Preserving the tomato harvest

Tomatoes kept in pantry at Christmas

All tomatoes are chock full of antioxidants and lycopene.  They contain vitamins A, C, E, K, and B-complex as well as potassium, manganese, and copper.

Tomato supports/cages

With indeterminate tomatoes, they definitely need something to help them grow upwards (although not required, it does make harvesting much easier, takes up less garden space and protects against disease).  A very sturdy pole can be used and the plant tied onto it as it grows.  The more popular option is a “tomato cage” that the tomato grows up in to.  This is what we use.  It is important to get the cage on while the plants are small or severe damage may ensue when you try to force the gangly plant into it’s cage.  Be sure to get a strong cage for large indeterminate types of tomato plants.  I also add a stake to the really big tomatoes to give extra support.  If using smaller cages, you can just pinch off the top when the plant starts growing too large so it stays supported and contained.

In my garden, even the determinates benefit from a cage to keep them upright.  Determinates just don't need to be pinched to keep from outgrowing their cage.

If you grow dwarf or patio tomatoes, they may not need any support at all.  I did end up using a stake for the dwarfs I have grown in the past as they put on large tomatoes which caused the plant to lean without support.  

Staked dwarf tomato

Tips when planting

Tomatoes are susceptible to blossom-end rot and fungal diseases.  End rot is typically caused by not having enough calcium in the soil or inconsistent moisture.  Fungal diseases remain the soil.  It is important to rotate vegetable plants and not plant them in the same spot every year.  You can use organic fungicides as a preventative.  You should spray when you transplant your seedlings and continue to spray every couple of weeks.  Organic fungicides are preventative so you have to keep the fungus from growing to start with.  Keeping fungal diseases at bay will greatly increase yields in late summer.  The best deterrent is good spacing, upright support and watering the soil and not the leaves.  

Another preventative of disease is to provide the right fertilizer and nutrients when planting.  In each planting hole, I add a handful of worm castings, balanced fertilizer, and dust the roots with mycorrhizal life support which contains mycorrhizal, vitamins and minerals.  This blend improves soil fertility and the plants ability to take in the nutrition it needs.  It is not all about just the big 3-nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium.  They are important but vitamins, minerals, and particularly living soil makes a huge difference in how healthy and lush the plants become.  I use fertilizer made specifically for tomatoes so that they get the calcium they need.  As your plants take up minerals, you will get these minerals when you eat your garden produce.  Every other year, I add Azomite to all my plants which contains over 70 minerals and trace elements just to make sure the plants have all the micronutrients they need.
The next step in garden production and your nutrition-soil minerals

Another option is to replant new tomato plants in late June.  These plants will be coming on strong as the early planted ones start winding down.

This year, if I do a second planting, it will be one cherry type and one slicer as I typically get enough for all the sauce and frozen tomatoes I need for the year off the first tomatoes.  The last 2 years have been tough for tomato production as we have had very long hot spells which makes tomato flowers sterile.  I am trying a couple new varieties that are good in heat and disease resistant-Tropic VFN and Mannon Majesty.

If you are rotating your tomatoes, practicing good watering techniques, giving them the nutrition they need and still having disease issues, look for varieties that are resistant to the disease.  Ask neighbors or farmers at your nearby farmers market the varieties that work best for them..

When you plant your tomato, make sure to plant it deeply where it gets at least 6 hours of sun.  I take off all the limbs except the top couple and bury the plant up to these stems.  Roots will grow from where the stems are removed.  This gives the plants a much stronger root system to support growth.

Pruning tips

Now that your plants have the right start, pruning is the next step.  To get the highest yields, some say it is important to prune your tomatoes.  You want no branches below 12” (some recommend 18”).  You also want to prune the plant to only 2 branches, the center stalk and one side stalk.  You want to keep the “suckers” cut or pinched off as well as the tomato grows.

The amount of pruning is controversial among tomato growing connoisseurs.  Some swear by pruning, others say it makes no difference.  If you live further south, keeping the greenery helps protect the fruits from sun scald.  If your plants seem to get fungal diseases, doing some pruning to open up the plant for air circulation can be beneficial.  For plants up north, increased greenery helps the plant have more energy going to its fruits.  I have tried both and for my garden, very limited pruning has worked the best.  I just try to make sure the plant is getting good air circulation.

Watering and fertilizing

Now, to on-going watering and fertilizing.  Many think more is better when it comes to watering and fertilizing.  Not so for tomatoes!  What you end up with are tons of greenery, mushy tomatoes, and very few of them.  Some tomato afficiados recommend a deep watering and fertilizer at planting, then again at flowering, and that is it.  I do water when there is a long dry spell.  Overwatering or erratic watering can also cause the fruits to crack and blossom end rot.  I provide the same water to my tomatoes as my other veggies, trying to make sure they are getting about 1" of rain or watering each week.  

For the tomatoes in the garden, I fertilize when planting, again when the first flowers appear, and monthly thereafter.  If growing in containers, I fertilize every other week with a liquid fertilizer when flowering.  I also add Azomite every other season to make sure the plants are getting all the trace minerals they need.  The first time I added Azomite, my plants seemed to grow and bush out within a few days.  If they respond favorably, then they really needed those nutrients.  Kelp meal also contains alot of minerals and hormones.  Kelp will stimulate your plants to grow upwards.  If your plants are staying stubby, I would apply kelp meal.

If your plant will not flower and fruit with lush green foliage, quit fertilizing and watering.  Nitrogen stimulates green growth.  If you go overboard, the plant will be focused on its greenery instead of fruiting.  You'll end up with a huge plant and no tomatoes.  A little stress should jump start it into producing flowers and fruits.

Although tomatoes love hot weather (they will not flower until night time temps get above 55), they also don’t like it too hot.  If daytime temps get above 90 and nighttime temps above 76, the plant's flowers will become sterile and will drop off  Not to worry, as soon as temps come back down, your plants will begin flowering again.  If you live in a really hot climate with a long growing season, planting your tomatoes where they will get some afternoon shade can be helpful.
 Summer garden tips

Growing in containers

If you want to grow tomatoes in a container, you need to either have a really big container for full size tomatoes (at least 5 gallon) or plant varieties that are adapted for containers. Tomatoes for containers would be labelled as dwarf, patio, container.  Some varieties that fit this bill:  BushSteak, Patio Princess, Bush Early Girl, Tumbler, Bush Big Boy, Baxter’s Bush Cherry, Lizzano, Sweetheart of the Patio, Tumbling Tom Yellow or Red, Bush Better Bush, Balcony (look for bush/patio/container types), Husky Bush.
Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots

If you grow in containers, you will need to water weekly or maybe even more depending on the container and plant size combo used.  Be aware that smaller plants will produce fewer fruits.  For more on container gardening and types to purchase for pots, Decorative container gardening for edibles

I have grown dwarfs in a larger container and have only needed to water weekly when I put a large catch pan under the pot so the plant can absorb water from the bottom.  They have grown and fruited the same as growing in the ground.  I have also grown indeterminates in extra large containers about the size of a half whisky barrel.  These plants did fine in the pot, but did not produce nearly what they do when planted in the ground.  My husband tried upside down 5 gallon bucket technique with any automatic watering system that did well when we weren't having record breaking heat waves (pots are always hotter than the ground).  He is moving his tomatoes to the ground this year.  If you live somewhere cooler or want to get tomatoes sooner, a warm pot can be helpful.

Seed saving

If you are growing open pollinated or heirloom tomatoes, you can save the seed from the best fruits and plants to grow for next season.  If you are growing hybrids, the seed will not produce a plant like the parent.  For very productive hybrids, I will save seed just to see what I get from them.

Why save seed?  Saving seed from the plants that produce the best fruits year on year will give you plants acclimated to your garden conditions and the best producers.  Save seed from plants that have the characteristics you want in future plants.  The ones with the best fruit, the largest fruit, the best tasting fruit, the earliest producer, the latest producer or the best producer.  You get to choose what you want in your future tomato plants.  Just do not save seed from any diseased plant as the disease stays in the seed.
Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver

What to plant in the May edible garden

May edible garden

Sunday, May 3, 2026

May is a "shoulder" month.  The cold crops are peaking and it is warm enough to start the summer lovers like tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons and eggplants.  It will take a couple of months for the summer crops to begin producing well. You can count on having fresh from the vine tomatoes by the 4^th of July.  A double reason to celebrate!

Here is a list of plants and seeds you can put in the May garden: 

May-transplants or seeds

Artichoke  Growing artichokes and cardoons

Basil  Basil basics-harvesting, preserving, growing basil

Bee balm (monarda)

Beans-bush and pole  Growing beans

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Borage  Flowers that are edible

Broccoli  How to grow broccoli and cauliflower

Brussels sprouts  Growing Brussel sprouts

Catnip

Cantaloupe  Growing melons and cantaloupe

Celery  Give celery a try, an easy to grow garden staple

Chard  For year round steamed greens, grow chard!

Chives  Add chives to your garden

Cilantro (Slo Bolt)  Growing cilantro (coriander)

Cucumber  How to grow cucumbers-in pots or in the garden

Dill

Eggplant  Eggplant-add this native from India to your garden

Fruit bushes  Fruit for small spaces and pots

Horseradish

Lavender  All about lovely lavender

Lemon balm

Lettuce (heat tolerant)  Everything you need to know about growing lettuce

Lovage

Okra  Growing and harvesting okra

Papalo-a heat loving cilantro substitute

Peppers  Peppers are for every taste and garden

Pumpkins  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Radicchio

Rosemary  Start a kitchen herb garden!

Sage 

Stevia  A sweet alternative-grow your own

Strawberries  Back yard strawberries

Summer and winter squash  Everything you need to know to grow squash

Sweet potatoes  Growing sweet potatoes

Tarragon

Thyme

Tomatoes  Tomatoes 101, everything you need to know to grow great tomatoes

Turnips  All about turnips

Valerian

Watermelon  Growing melons and cantaloupe

May-start seeds directly in the garden

Beets  All about beautiful beets

Carrots  All you need to know about growing carrots

Corn  Growing corn

Peas  Time to plant peas!

Potatoes (seed potatoes)  Time to plant potatoes, even if you only have a patio

Radishes  Easy to grow crispy, peppery radishes

For tips on starting your seeds in the garden:  Outdoor seed starting tips  I also like to put a pot on our covered deck and start seeds there throughout spring, summer and fall.  Once they are to a good size, I transplant them into their permanent pot or into the garden bed.  Vegetables you can grow in pots