Kids in the Kitchen Wednesday: Container Gardens

Here at Cool Dads Cook we talk a lot about cooking; whether it be it in a crock pot, on the stove, or our personal favorite: on the grill. We talk about cooking vegetables, fruit and meat alike, but the question everyone needs to start asking is, where does our food actually come from?

On a basic level, we all know food comes from the grocery store, or even better, the farmers market, or a CSA (community supported agriculture). And we highly recommend the last two! If you're purchasing food from farmers markets or CSAs; you're helping to support local farms and more importantly, local farmers. Without farmers- we wouldn't have food. 

However, what about getting your little one out and growing some of your own fruits and vegetables? We know what you're going to say: “I can’t, I don’t have the space, or the tiller, or all the specialized tools that you need to do that!” 

But we beg to differ. The Arkansas Test Kitchen spent the last weekend with Lil’ Dude planting a container garden.

The great thing about a container garden is that you can place it anywhere you get sunlight. If you live in an apartment, you can do a windowsill garden; if you live in a townhouse- place it on the balcony, or if you live in a house, just place it in the backyard. 

Lil’ Dude was extremely excited to start this project and is ready for fruits and vegetables NOW. For our garden, we planted 4 different types of tomatoes, 2 different types of bell peppers, 6 sweet banana peppers, mini eggplants, and crook neck squash; and as of today we are seeing tomatoes on our cherry tomato plant. Lil’ Dude is super excited!

Here is the basic set up:

Take a 5 gallon bucket (or any plastic bucket you can get). You can purchase these from Lowe’s or Home Depot; or you can try calling around to area restaurants and bakeries and get them free.

Drill holes in the bottom of the bucket for drainage. I used a 13/34” drill bit to drill my holes

Place about 2” of washed pea gravel (again this assists in drainage) in the bottom of the buckets.

Cut some garden fabric the size of the area above the gravel. This allows the water to flow through, but not the soil.

Fill the rest of the bucket with good gardening soil. Make sure you use gardening soil- and not just top soil. We use the Miracle Gro’ brand because it already has fertilizer in it.

Now it's time to plant! Gently remove the plants from their plastic container by turning the container over, and placing the stem of the plant between your fingers and gently squeezing the container. The plant should fall out into your hands. 

Gently break the root ball up, this will allow the roots to expand in the container.

Dig a small hole in the soil, and place the plant’s roots inside. Place more soil in the container, and gently pat down.

Water the plants. After all, they've been through a traumatic experience and need the nourishment.

Things to Remember:

-Unlike a garden you would plant in the ground, a container garden has less surface area, which means you will have to water more frequently.

-Most of these plants will grow UP, therefore you will need to stake them.

Lil Dude isn't the only one excited about the container garden; we can't wait for our fresh produce! We'll keep you updated on our gardening success!

Stay Cool,

The Cool Dads Crew