Easy Vegetables To Raise In Grow Bags

May 1, 2025 Sarah

When we were full-on homesteading at our place on Whidbey Island, I would periodically get someone posting on Facebook or Instagram, “Must be nice to have land. Most people live in an (insert apartment, condo, no backyard, etc)”. The thing is, I have grown nearly every way there is – that is how deep my love of growing is. As a child, we grew in the ground, tilling every spring. When I left for college and lived in an old house, I put pots on my neighbor’s roof (covered in old tar paper) to grow a few tomato plants I brought home from work (I worked at a K-Mart, and weaseled my way into the garden department for deals). My first place with Kirk was an apartment with a hot south-facing deck, which was tiny. Yet, I had pots on it. It was only at our second house that I built my first homestead – and even then, most of our food was grown in raised beds I built with scavenged bricks and pavers. It wasn’t till our third house that I built massive in-ground gardens. I had land, so of course I was going to use it!

You use what you have in front of you. And if you have a deck that gets sun, use it like crazy.

At our place now, until the garden is built, I have a patio to put containers on. So I did. Last year, Kirk found a super deal on felt growing bags in the 10-gallon size. I feel that to grow well, use at least a 5 —to 10-gallon size, and go for wider versus tall. That applies to all pots—even small ones for flowers and herb plants. On that sale, we picked up multiple orders (it was a crazy deal for 12 bags at under $14). You can find a 6-pack for under $18, which is still great. It takes about 1.5 cubic feet of soil to fill a 10-gallon bag.

What Do I Grow?

You can grow a lot. One of the most essential things is hydration. As long as you water daily in the summer (unless it’s cold or rainy), you can grow so much in grow bags. The bigger the pot, the better the results, but if all you can get are old 5-gallon buckets, even that works fine. Just check every day.

The other is proper support—you will need tomato cages to encourage things to grow up, not out.

And yes, you will need to fertilize eventually. So do watch the pots.

Potatoes:

Throw six soft potatoes in the bottom, cover with soil, and wait. They may not get huge, like in the ground, but you will enjoy plenty of new potatoes in early summer. Plant a second crop in midsummer, harvesting right as fall slips in.

Harvest when the tops turn tawny and flop back. I knock out the containers into potting soil containers and pick through. I reuse the soil for potatoes a couple of times.

Kale:

Cut kale often, and it will keep the plants at a good size. Chop it finely, and it works great instead of spinach. Swiss Chard and bok choy (choi) are also good choices.

Lettuce:

Also, kale is tucked in with the lettuce in this pot. With lettuce, harvest often; romaine grows back easily.Use scissors to cut low.

Tomatoes:

I used 5-gallon buckets in this case, but I also have three more in grow bags. When you plant, be sure to add a cage. I go for bush varieties or cherry tomatoes, as they are often smaller in size. You can also grow dwarf cherry varieties if you don’t have much space.

Peppers:

I have small kale in with the pepper plants to keep it all growing nicely. The leaves protect the pepper plant. Just harvest the kale often. I do find the pepper plants grow better, as they have outside protection from the wind here.

Bush Peas:

Bush peas, especially dwarf varieties, work well in grow bags. Plant 4 weeks or so before the last frost. For early fall peas, they are planted in mid-summer.

Strawberries:

Need I say more? They do so well in containers, and you can keep them up higher so slugs don’t have an easy life.

Bush Beans:

Yes, you can have green beans (or yellow or purple).. Use bush seeds for a quick crop. For best results, use two or three bags. To have plenty, stage them two weeks apart for seeding and to eat for an extended period.

Garlic:

Garlic grows well in containers, particularly if you are spring planting. Keep an eye on the mositure level.

Onions:

Green onions will be your best bet, followed by smaller onion types. Of course, I ignored my advice and grew sweet onions. Harvest as you like. I usually overfill, then eat some young and let the rest mature.

Blueberry Bushes:

Blueberries? Yes. You have two choices: grow low varieties, which love containers, or grow standard high bush types till they get too big (three or four years in). Then, if you don’t have room, you can always gift the plant to be planted in the ground. Since I know I will plant in-ground blueberry plants here, I am letting them grow a year. I will plant them very early in the fall. It is buying me time and allowing the plant to grow and become stronger.

I like to tuck in Nasturium plants, giving me more green but also edible flowers. In the first year of growing a gallon-sized blueberry, you should remove all potential berries so that the plant puts its energy into growing the plant and roots.

Most Herbs:

Herbs like pots. Basil is a good one. Most annual ones do well in pots/bags. Rosemary and Sage will want to be potted up or in the ground after the first year. The first year, they can go into a one—to three-gallon container.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge – Update 1

April 24, 2025 Sarah

Two weeks have passed since I planted our seeds for the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge in Shenandoah Junction, WV. (First post was on April 11th)

And so much has happened in my container garden out back! The warmth came, spring kicked on, and everything is popping.

Cucumbers starting up.

Cucumber starts potted up in a 5 gallon grow bag (next to bush peas). We shall see how they grow this year – a grow bag isn’t the most ideal, but we can do it.

Mesclun Lettuce.

I moved about half outside so far. It will grow quickly in the coming weeks, and be ready to harvest.

Chives starting to sprout.

Potted up. Chives, like many herbs, start slow and tiny, but around the Summer Solstice in June get big. Chives I look at as a two year project. The first year is the getting there. The second year is when they are a ready to go plant, that will grow on its own.

Now it’s time for nature to keep everything growing. It’s hitting the 80s today, and was mid 70s for days – the nights cool off, but are still in the high 50s to mid 60s.

Yes, I am toying with the last frost date here is April 30th (and we shall see in the coming years how real that is) – but with it being an entire container garden this year, if there is a drop at night, and none have been predicted for the next week that are worrisome – I can pick up all the grow bags and haul them into the greenhouse and into the basement, if needed.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Container Gardening Finds: Two Types of Planters

April 16, 2025 Sarah

Our move has been an odd one in many ways, but my ability to shop in person has been a huge one. I find myself running the mile numbers constantly. It used to take us 30 miles to get to the tiniest Walmart, that rarely had anything in stock, on the island. (And that Walmart has deep history in how an entire town gets crippled by size restrictions in an attempt to keep out Walmart back in the mid-90’s). So rarely did I shop there, because not only was it a very long drive up a 50 mile long island, there wasn’t much to look at. If I wanted to go to a large Walmart, it was a very long drive.

But now I live within 8 and 13 miles to two Walmart stores, one of which is a massive Super Center on the side of Hwy 81 in West Virginia.

And with showing up here with only a small amount of my gardening equipment, I used my mason jar selling fund to buy new items for my container garden this year. For certain things, I will always go for the lower cost version if I can – and Walmart is more affordable than The Home Depot is. It always shocls me how much some stores think you should pay for a few bits of plastic….

Up first:

I have bought so many of these plastic “whisky barrel” pots. They are huge and lightweight. I have used them in the past years on Whidbey, and they usually hold up for years. Even if they eventually crack, they still work fine. I actually left behind many that were tucked in around our gardens.

They are the Better Homes and Gardens Whisky Barrel pots, in the 20″ size (they are 13″ deep). At under $16 each, they are an affordable option. They slide easily, even when full, across patios.

They are big enough to grow blueberry plants in for years:

As you can see the Whidbey Red Garlic I brought with me is coming up quickly.

Just punch the two spots on the bottom, on each container, with a flat blade screwdriver and you are ready to fill. They take about 1.5 cubic feet of soil, I recommend using a lightened soil, such as potting mix, versus a heavier raised bed soil (which if you use, just lighten with coconut coir/peat moss and perlite).

The Next Find:

I saw the City Picker’s Trellis Towers on a shopping trip, and bought the two they had.

I paid under $24 for each of them. I ran the numbers in my mind and realized that for a pot and a trellis, I was coming out ahead.

But also, this trellis I could break down if I got to move up plants – something you cannot do easily using a metal tomato trellis.

It only took a few minutes to assemble both of them. You get two options on what to show, I went for the faux wood look, there is a wicker look on the backside. I would suggest that you fill the pot and plant first, then assemble the trellis, or you will be lowering your plant through the top like I did….

I used lightened raised bed soil and each one hols about half a cubic foot of soil/plant.

I left the wheels off, but it’s also very windy here, so I didn’t need my plants running away on me. These come with excellent drainage on the bottom, so these are outdoor only.

~Sarah

FTC Disclaimer: This post contains affilate links.

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge

April 11, 2025 Sarah

I saw the 2025 Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge in winter and signed up for it before we moved (Since I had the local address to use!).

I love free seeds, the challenge of growing, and the chance to show off (I am pretty competitive with gardening). Mary’s Heirloom Seeds provided the seeds this year.

I received my seeds in the mail, even though I signed up to pick them up in person at the local library. They had a few issues with the distribution this year. Nothing huge, but some participants never received their cards in the mail (I didn’t and was about to pick them up in person when I found them in my mailbox). But there were no issues; I had my seeds in hand, so it was time to plant.

So what is it?

The Throwdown is a statewide competition that aims to get West Virginians to move more, grow their own food, and crush hunger in our state. Participants complete challenges to earn points for their counties. Some challenges are simple, like donating vegetables to a food pantry. Others are more involved, like organizing a seed library or building a Grow This-themed float for a local parade. The competition is supported by grant funds for these types of educational programs.

This is something that hits me deep in my love of growing food. Sharing knowledge and helping others become more self-sufficient builds resilient communities. When people have a skill set, they become more confident in life.

It has been freezing the past few days (it got down to 27 one night), so I used my pop-greenhouse to start the seeds.

I planted about half the Mesclun Lettuce seed in 4″ pots.

The Chives I did two pots worth (plenty of chives!)

The Pickling Cucumbers had fewer seeds, so I started all the seeds.

I’ll have enough seed for the lettuce for a late summer start to have early fall lettuce.

I will transplant them into my container garden once they have sprouted. But for now, they will stay warmer in the shelter and exposed to natural light. As I mentioned, I gave up most artificial lighting years ago, as I have long felt that plants are stronger when grown under natural light (the sun).

So here is to a successful sprouting – and updates as the growing season continues.

~Sarah

Gardening · Homesteading · Urban Homesteading

Starting A Container Garden

April 7, 2025April 7, 2025 Kirk Kirkconnell

It’s been just over a week since I arrived in West Virginia. The younger two boys, the cat, and I flew out at the end of March. Kirk, the oldest son and the dogs, drove across the country.

In early March, Kirk and I had driven across the US and I had planted a couple things before we flew back. Everything made it except for the strawberry 🍓 plants. They didn’t get enough rain, as they were just bit too far back. But that wasn’t a huge loss financially. I’ll get my alpine strawberry seeds going this week.

I love 5 gallon buckets for pepper plants 🫑, this frame I found at Home Depot slightly classed it up. I decided to treat myself.

We were here a few days when the first drop of shipped items showed up, from the U-Haul boxes:

We had sent thru 10 of these, and a lot of my garden gear was in them.

With time to spare, I started building on the lower patio.

I had ordered another pop-up greenhouse so I could start seeds quickly.

Fully built and weighted down, with it being the second one Alistaire has built, it went up fast.

Bricks, blocks, or pavers hold down the cover to protect from the wind. It’s even windier here in WV than it was on Whidbey Island.

I set up a potting area so I could make soil and get going on filling pots.

The cheapest potting trays are cement mixing trays. I found 2 sizes locally at Home Depot. It gives me one for soaking coconut coir, which is handy. The work table I had shipped through, though I almost didn’t. I am glad I did!

Clancy Potatoes 🥔 and Hedou Bok Choy seeds started today.

The last frost date is later than I am used to, so it has bought me time to seed and plant. I am now in grow zone 7a, where as I used to be in grow zone 8b

Yukon Gold and Blue potatoes 🥔 that I bought in early March, I got into pots this past week. They were definitely ready to be planted!

With my garden gear there, I started filling my grow bags. This morning, I seeded Tom Thumb dwarf green peas 🫛 outside. They are cold hardy.

I have in the container garden so far:

2 kinds of potatoes, 2 blueberries, 2 grapes, 4 containers garlic, and 2 of peas. In the greenhouse, more has and will be seeded. The weather predicts freezing temperatures a couple of nights this week, so I stay patient. Soon, it’ll be lettuce and pea harvesting time, and then to plant tomatoes 🍅 and peppers outside.

There’s nothing wrong with extensive container gardening. It lets one grow, but not have to build the infrastructure. You can work it around everything else that is crushing you and not feel overwhelmed by it. Meanwhile, as we settle in, I have taken a few moments to walk our land and to think where the permanent gardens will go in.

– Sarah