Backyard Organic Container Gardening

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Discover backyard container gardening with Samantha Langlois of Organic Life Guru. In video lesson you will learn about setting up a backyard container garden which is an great way to grow a garden if you rent or have access to a little patch of sunshine. After watching this video you will have the knowledge you need to get started growing a organic vegetable garden today, so you can start harvesting your own fresh vegetables, fruits, and flowers.

Samantha Langlois is a conservation biologist and organic gardener. As a conservationist she believes she can impart the greatest ecological good by focusing on our food systems. She has gardened around the country from Maine to Alaska. Samantha grows as much of her own food as possible. She currently gardens in northwest Montana.

CONTAINER GARDENING

Container gardening is a great option for someone who doesn’t have a lot of space or for someone who is renting their home. It is also a great choice for a new gardener who wants to start small. You can grow lots of yummy food and gorgeous flowers in containers on your balcony, outside your window, on the roof, or on the front step. Here are a few things to consider:

SOIL

– Just like with a raised bed or an in-ground garden, you need to start with
healthy, fertile soil. Generally, when container gardening, you buy bagged soil. There are lots of different kinds and brands of bagged soil out there — it can be overwhelming. But it pays to do your homework! For starters, make sure you buy a potting soil. Seed starting soil doesn’t supply the nutrients your plants will need for long-term growth.

– Second, look for OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute) certified potting soil. Founded in 1997, OMRI is a non-profit that provides organic certifiers, growers, manufacturers, and suppliers an independent review of products intended for use in certified organic production, handling, and processing. If you can’t find OMRI certified soil, be sure to study the ingredient list and think carefully about what is listed. Just because a bag of soil is labeled organic, it may be questionable (oddly enough, there is no federal rule that forbids non-organic fertilizers from using the term ‘organic’). For example: a particular organic potting soil lists pasteurized poultry litter as an ingredient; unless the poultry litter is labeled organic it most likely comes from chickens that were not raised organically themselves.

– Also, beware of bagged composts and potting soils that may include biosolids. This is a pretty word for sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is anything but pretty! And there are no labeling laws regarding sewage sludge in fertilizers and soils (the term ‘biosolids’ does not even have to be used). So do your homework.

A company that I feel pretty good about is Fox Farm Soil and Fertilizer Company.

For the more adventurous, you can also make your own soil mix for container planting.

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