South African Container Gardening. Kleinskaalse tuinmaak in die Tuinroete

The one problem all backyard farmers and urban gardeners share is surely the lack of space. While I would love to plant an orchard of apple trees, another of various peaches, a few exotics like loquats and avocados, space; or the lack thereof, simply makes this impossible. Oh, and the mother, who is filled with dread at any mention of planting a new tree! Not only do I face space problems as far as fruit trees go, but also for smaller shrubs and even vegetables. My backyard is tiny, so there's only so much lawn I can take out, and most of the front yard is outside the boundary wall. I can't plant vegetables there, because I want to actually harvest some for myself...

What to do?

The answer most obviously lies in container gardening. Filling every container I already own, and getting new ones made by the father. Sulke pragtige hout bakke; hoe trots is ek!

The first thing I planted in a container was a Cape gooseberry I received as a gift from a colleague. I added two smaller ones in the same plastic container. So far so good. It's just that the area I had it in earlier was too windy in winter and too sunny in summer. Note to self; choose a sheltered spot for Cape gooseberries.

Cape Gooseberries in plastic container/Appelliefies in plastiese houer

The next thing to go into a container were herbs. My family isn't big into "volksvreemde kruie" (strange herbs) so I went for curly and flat-leaf parsley. The same container got a pest-repellant marigold in and a strawberry plant or two. I was quite chuffed with the arrangement, although the parsley grew so rampantly, it kind of overshadowed the strawberries:

Parsley and Strawberry container plus Nasturtiums

Kappertjie bak en Pietersielie plus Aarbei bak in agtergrond

Next I had to beg and plead and go down on my knees for quite a few weeks with the father. You see, he promised me a few wooden containers, but none was forthcoming. After a little bit more irritating pleading I got my way... and three amazing containers! In the first one I sowed cucamelons, as recommended by James Wong. I also sowed chives, but have had no success with them so far. The cucamelons only took  3 weeks to germinate, and the germination rate was quite good as well. Maybe I don't have the right technique for chives yet? I decided on yarrow as the companion plant to repel pests. Two out of the three has come on beautifully:

Yarrow and cucamelons at back/Duisendblad plante en Mexikaanse Suurkomkommertjies

The smallest container would get a few more herbs I thought, but in the end I settled on a comfrey plant, garden mint and a small sowing of Pak Choi. The reasoning behind this combination was that garden mint would be quite useful in summer drinks, and pak choi is apparently a hardy lettuce-like Asian vegetable. It can grow in much warmer conditions than plain lettuce, without bolting or dying. Comfrey is a gardener's best friend, according to some blogs I've read, especially African Aussie. This is because it puts valuable nitrogen back into the soil. So I had to plant at least one:

Pak Choi sowed in front, garden mint left and comfrey right/Tuinment links en Smeerwortel regs

The medium-sized container was a toss-up. At first I wanted to plant some sweet potato slips there, but then I planted those in our front garden. The plan changed to lettuce and green peppers, but our backyard would be too hot and sunny in summer for the former, so I settled on potatoes. Originally I wanted to plant my potatoes in tyre staggers, but after reading horrifying stories about heavy metals leeching into the soil, and therefore into my beautiful homegrown tatties, this plan was abandoned. Now I had to fit 6 potatoes in one smallish container. Lets hope it works:

The Potato Container/Die Aartappelbak

Last but not least was a flat, wooden container the granny and I revitalised. Although it gets mostly shade our thyme seems to do well in it, but since I also bought normal lettuce the green peppers that filled the rest of the container had to go. We also turned the container around, so the thyme would get most sun, and the lettuce very little. Out with the old, and in with the new. Hope this experiment pays of...

Thyme in the background and Lettuce to the front/Tiemie en Blaarslaai

I'm very keen on seeing whether this type of gardening produces good results. I guess it's a waiting game now...