Live & Grow Issue 49

Foodscaping with
Pots & Planters
18
Creating a meal from garden to table is a proud
moment in our house. Christchurch is a much
colder climate compared to the North Island,
and since moving I've had to adapt to my new
growing space over the past few years. Having
always grown vegetables in garden beds, this
took a bit of getting used to, but I have now
conquered this by turning to foodscaping in pots
and planters. I'm surprised how bountiful and
easy edibles can be if you select the right plants
for the right place with the right sized pot.
What is foodscaping? It's the idea of creating an
edible landscape in your garden space instead of
just growing vegetables in the traditional veggie
garden space. By incorporating pots and planters
into your garden space, you can pack them full
of vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, and companion
plants, creating an edible landscape.
Don't let renting hold you back. When renting, I
grew edibles in pots on my tiny patio. My wallet
also thanked me for it, and with the hike in food
prices, it's a timely concept to delve into. Growing
your edibles means you control what insecticides
you use (if any), reduce waste in your fridge, share
foods with friends and neighbours, and reduce
your plastic waste.
30-50 DAY EDIBLES
If you're a first-time gardener, this list is for you
as these plants are quick-producing and minimal
work. You can also try mixing and matching these
plants into an Elho Green Basics 38cm Bowl.
Lettuce: Lettuce Gourmet Oak is ideal for picking
and growing again. You don't need to allow this
lettuce to heart up. Three plants per bowl.
Bok Choy: Pak Choi/Bok Choi is a fast-growing
vegetable with an interesting mild flavour in stirfries.
Harvest the entire plant for your meals. This
plant is upright, so you can fit many into your
planters. Five plants per bowl.
Baby Spinach: Dark green leaves with a fast
growth habit. Pick early and often to minimise the
plant going to seed. Baby spinach plants will grow
15cm and don't mind cramming into a pot. Full sun
is required. Three plants per bowl.
Radish: Grow radishes from seed and plant a lot.
Radishes can also be planted in between longerterm
veggies such as brassicas. Sow seeds thinly
at 1.5cm deep. 20 seeds per bowl.
Spring onions: Spring onions can be planted from
seed or transferred from seedling punnets into a
pot. Another vegetable you can plant en masse and
harvest when required. Use 20 plants per bowl.
Herbs: Ideal to add to your bowls or to mix and
match with other plants in this 30-50 day selection.
Plant three to five per bowl and harvest regularly.
Minature Beans: Baby beans are just little, but you
will be able to get a few handfuls each week when
they are at their peak. Pick when young and keep
the plants out of the wind. Three to five plants per
bowl.
INCORPORATE STAKES AND CAGES IN POTS
Elevate your growth upwards and make the most
of your space. We grow a range of smaller edibles
that will keep providing all summer long; you just
have to keep picking. All you need is an Elho Green
Basics 30cm pot, a 1.5m bamboo stake and soft
ties. You can make a cage out of three stakes or
stake the plants up one. Cucumber (Lebanese and
Gherkin), and tomatoes (Russian Red, Sweet treat
and Totem) are all ideal. Keep these plants out of
the wind.
EDIBLES IN HANGING BASKETS
Tumbling Tom tomatoes, and strawberry plants,
are great options if you have space under your
eaves or want to install brackets onto your fence
and suspend edibles from there. You only need one
Tumbling Tom tomato per 30cm coir basket and
three strawberries per basket.