Edible Container Gardening Non-Conventional Plant Selection Matthew Ross Owens CC LTM Faculty
Why Plant Edibles? The ultimate local foods program Grocery aisle in your front or backyard Provide diversity to your diet of fruits, vegetables, and edible plant parts not commercially available or heirloom Gratification for success as a gardener
Why Plant Edibles? Reduce the grocery bill Increasingly important with current economy Teaching platform Children s connection with nature Alternatives to overplanted ornamentals Added nutritional value
Photos Taken from Gardens Illustrated ISSUE 156
Container Considerations Be Creative!!! Depth Drainage Porosity Perched Water Table Effect on ph and fertility Durability Air Flow to prevent anaerobic Constrain root growth Drainage Edible Plant Material (?) Semi-Permeable Membrane False African Violet (Streptocarpella) fits this adorable planter
Making Your Own Containers As Homemade as Apple Pie!!! Volunteer, Olga McNamara, assisting with the creation of a planter Hypertuffa Natural Materials Cured Gourds Hollow Tree Stump Natural Basin in Stone Re-used Materials Milk Jugs Cool Food Containers Apple Hampers Ceramics
Hypertuffa Combination of Portland Cement, Peat Moss, and Perlite Can include other materials and dyes Utilized plastic molds for form Can be made into sculptures to accent pots Relatively inexpensive
Converting Apple Bushels Into Something Amazing!!! Made Even Better Original Product Normally Re-Used or Thrown Away with Help From Some Little Hands
Making a Planter From a Gourd Fun and biodegradable!!!
Gourd-eous!!!
Gourd-eous!!! Variegated Society Garlic Annual Herb Crete Oregano Annual Herb Purple Velvet Vine Houseplant
Growing Media Artificial Root Zone Potting Mixes Peat, Perlite, and Vermiculite Decomposed Pine Bark Sand Gravel Pine Soil Conditioner Time Release Fertilizer Kitty-litter Poultry Grit Compost
Successful Plant Selection Making Sure Everybody Gets Along Lighting Conditions Moisture Requirements Aesthetic Synergy Fertility Competitive Nature
Imperative Edibles Grown in Your Own Grocery Bag!!! Blueberries Blackberries Sweet Potatoes Herbs Greens Fruit and Nut Trees Green Taro Nasturtiums Lignonberry Wine and Table Grapes Sprouts Peanuts
Toxicity and Allergenicity Need to break down proteins and other phytochemicals Start in small doses Potential ingestion of pesticides and herbicides Timing
Fruit-bearing Trees Paw-Paw - Asimina triloba Apples - Malus domestica Persimmon - Diospyros virginiana Pear - Pyrus communis Common Quince - Cydonia oblonga Plums (marginal bud hardiness for several cultivars) Prunus sp. Can only grow one kind
Nut Trees for the Landscape Oaks* (Quercus sp.) Walnuts (Juglans cineara, nigra, and regia) Juglandaceae Filberts, Hazelnuts (Corylus americana and avellana) Hickory (Carya sp.) Almonds (Prunus dulcis) and Pecans (Carya illinoinensis) if further south into zone 7 Chestnuts (Castanea sp.) *Acorns can be toxic if tannic acids are not broken down by boiling or cooking
Fruit Bearing Shrubs Elderberries Sambucus canadensis and nigra Blueberries Vaccinium corymbosum Cranberries Vaccinium macrocarpon Lignonberries Vaccinium vitis-idaea Blackberries Rubus sp. Currants - Ribes sp. Raspberries - Rubus sp.
Edible Vines and Ground Cover Blackberry Vines Grapes Vitis sp. Runner Beans Phaseolus coccineus Hops Gac Plant Momordica cochinchinensis Winterberry Gaultheria procumbens
Edible and Herbal Annuals for Landscape Beds Endive Kale Nasturtium Kohlrabi Beets Swiss Chard Fennel Lavenders Pansies Kohlrabi
Edible Herbaceous Plants Daylillies (Hemerocallis sp.) Flowers Flower buds Tubers but NOT THE ROOTS!!! Amaranth (Amaranthus sp.) Seeds used as a grain product Need to remove chemical compounds by washing or treating seeds Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus) Tuber Raw or Cooked Contains inulin Introduced to the Queen of England in 1605
Combinations Making it synergistic
Some of Everything Fully Integrated Design
Some of Everything Fully Integrated Design Vodoo Lily Tropical Bulb Corallberry (Ardisia) Tropical Houseplant Sweet Basil Annual Herb Red Acre Cabbage Annual Veggie Black Heart Sweet Potato Annual Lanatana (Trailing) Tropical Annual Lanatana (Trailing) Tropical Annual Siam Thai Basil Annual Herb Red Acre Cabbage Annual Veggie
Two Phenomenal Edibles
Two Phenomenal Edibles Blue Ray Blueberry Temperate Shrub Large Blueberry reaching 6 in height Great White flowers Redest stem of all high bush cultivars Sweet Potato (Straight Species) Annual Root Crop Dramatic arching branches
Added Value How to Accessorize Your Designs
Accessories Sand Gravel Stones Glass beads Plant Material Moss Spanish Sphagnum Living Fairy Gardens
Vertical Gardening Approach for Aesthetics Maximizing a small space Stacking can reduce amount of soil requirements Structured or implied Popular Greenhouse technique Incorporated into aeroponics
Indoor Edible Designs Functional Centerpieces The kitchen garden Edible arrangements Increased connection with the plant world in winter Early start for long crops