Grow It Eat It

Welcome to the Year of Container Gardening!

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2026 is Grow It Eat It’s Year of Container Gardening! Growing in containers (pots, planters, boxes, bags, etc.) is one of the best approaches for vegetable gardening beginners. It’s also a terrific way to sneak in a few more plants even if you already have a garden. The key word in container gardening is flexibility. Nearly everyone can find a place where they live to grow something edible in a container.

Different sized containers grouped together on a deck growing a mixture of edibles and flowers like pansies and marigolds.
Container plants on my deck

Maybe you live in an apartment, but have a balcony or patio, or even just a sunny window. You might have a small backyard with no room for planting, but you’ve got a deck, or a spot on a driveway or other paved area. Some people even put containers on an accessible rooftop! (Make sure it can support the weight of multiple pots full of soil if you’re going this route.)

The other big advantage of growing in containers is that you control the soil mixture. Don’t use soil directly out of the ground for containers; it’s too dense and will be full of bugs and weed seeds. You can buy potting soil at any garden center or big box store, or if you’re ambitious you can buy the ingredients and mix your own to order. Different plants may prefer different combinations of peat or coir plus compost, perlite or vermiculite, or other materials. Commercial potting mixes are usually pretty good for all common garden plants, though.

Because you’re not adding weed seeds to your growing mix, you will barely need to weed your containers, which is a great advantage. Pest problems may be lessened as well.

There are some basic rules to follow when growing in containers:

  • Use the sun. Most edible garden plants require plenty of sunshine. Find the sunny spots in your growing area and place your pots there. If you don’t have a spot with more than six hours of sun available, you should still be able to grow some spring crops like peas or spinach (especially if the lack of summer sun is explained by trees that don’t leaf out until late spring), and lettuce grows well in only a few hours of direct sun or indirect light all day. But look around! Maybe you have a sunny location you hadn’t considered.
  • Fertilize. Container plants need nutrients, and they will only find them in potting soils for a short while. Establish a regular feeding schedule according to package directions, and stick to it.
  • Water. This is very important! Plant roots dry out much faster in containers than in in-ground or raised bed gardens. Rain doesn’t always reach the soil through the leaves of plants. Check the soil regularly to see if it’s moist, and if not, give your plants a drink. On hot summer days, you may need to water daily or even more than once a day. If you go away, arrange for someone else to keep your container garden watered.

The other important rule is to use appropriate containers. They should be food-safe (designed to hold edible crops), well-drained (make sure they have holes in the bottom and are not sitting in a saucer unless you’re prepared to empty it), and large enough for the crop.

2 large plastic garbage cans growing large tomato plants. There is a Grow It Eat it sign advertising UMD Extension resources.
These containers are definitely large enough for tomatoes!

Get bigger pots than you think you’ll need. Guidelines will tell you to use a pot of at least five gallons to grow tomatoes; unless you are growing dwarf tomatoes, your plants will be spindly and minimally productive in that size of container. For an indeterminate tomato plant, ten gallons would be better. Grow eggplants or peppers in those five-gallon pots.

Different style containers with various plants (vegetables, herbs, and flowers) arranged in a trial garden space.
A variety of container types in a trial garden

Where do you find these containers? You don’t necessarily have to spend tons of money. Check discount stores; join freecycle/buy-nothing groups; source five-gallon food-grade buckets from restaurants and grocery stores. If you’re handy, you can build your own salad table or planter out of wood. Fabric growing bags are another great low-cost option; many online gardening retailers and garden centers stock them.

What plants can you grow in containers? Just about anything, if the container is big enough. You may want to seek out vegetable varieties that are bred specifically for growing in small spaces.

Start a new adventure this year! We’ll post more about specific container plants, techniques and methods, and solving problems as the year goes on.

Year of Cantanier Gardening graphic featuring the UMD Extension Grow it Eat it program logo, and some drawings vegetables growing in raised beds and pots with a background of a suburban yard with a fence.

By Erica Smith, Montgomery County Master Gardener. Read more posts by Erica.

Grow It Eat It 2023

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This is a follow-up to my May article, Grow It Eat It Celebrates 15 Years of Teaching and Promoting Food Gardening! I visited a number of amazing Grow It Eat It (GIEI) projects and activities in 2023 that demonstrate its essential role in helping Maryland residents and communities become more food secure. 

So far in 2023, University of Maryland Extension (UME) Master Gardener Volunteers from 18 counties and Baltimore City worked 7,544 hours on GIEI projects, educating 10,125 residents! Here are some snapshots from the growing season.

Teaching the Public

List of Grow It Eat It classes offered in spring 2023

Master Gardener (MG) Volunteers and field faculty teach lots of classes and workshops each year. Carroll County has a popular series of in-person classes that are taught each spring.

Master Gardener teaching how to test soil texture.

Esther Iglich, UME Master Gardener, Carroll County, teaches students how to perform the “ribbon test” to estimate soil texture.

Teaching Master Gardeners

Master Gardener teaching a class about drip irrigation

Robert Cook, UME Master Gardener, Baltimore City, leads a hands-on drip irrigation continuing education event at the Maryland State Fairgrounds.

Master Gardeners went into the MG Learning Garden to use what they learned to help re-install the drip system.

gardeners on tour of the raised bed garden set up on University of Maryland campus

Meg Smolinski, Coordinator for the UMD Arboretum, leads a Master Gardener tour of the Community Learning Garden in front of the School of Public Health. 

gardeners taking a tour of container gardens

Deb Mayfield, UME Master Gardener, St. Mary’s Co., leads a learning tour of the GIEI container garden at their Fairgrounds.

vegetables growing in containers

The container garden is a popular stop during the county fair, demonstrating low-cost methods, like using repurposed containers for growing food in small spaces.

Community Gardens

people holding up a sign that says Farm Unity at a community garden

UME MGs and field faculty provided technical assistance to the new Farm Unity Community Garden at the Crofton Public Library. This is a communal garden with the harvest distributed to people in need of food. The garden was initiated by Jitendra Rathod (second from left).

three gardeners at an information table for the Prince George's County Community Garden Summit

Esther Mitchell, UME Master Gardener Coordinator, with MG Volunteers Linda Campbell, and Betty Gittings at the Prince George’s County Community Garden Summit. Master Gardeners have helped start five community gardens in the county!

Demonstration Gardens

insect netting placed over a row of kale

GIEI demonstration plots and gardens allow for hands-on learning about new sustainable techniques. MG Volunteers in Montgomery County used “micro-mesh” insect netting to exclude insect pests, making insecticides (synthetic or organic) unnecessary.

potted plants and flowers in a demonstration garden

Visitors and classes also learned how to use drip irrigation with a simple timer to water container plants automatically.

a sign that says Building Your Raised Bed

Signage at the Master Gardener Learning Garden at the State Fair helps new and experienced gardeners make informed decisions. MGs from Baltimore City and 12 counties had 3,617 direct educational contacts during the State Fair.

sweet potato plants growing in a container

2023 is the Year of the Sweet Potato for GIEI. Master Gardener Volunteers demonstrated how to grow sweet potato plants on a trellis and in containers in the MG Learning Garden.

Home, school, and community gardens are essential parts of local food systems. Food gardeners collectively produce enormous amounts of produce, much of which is shared and donated. GIEI projects, classes, and demo gardens teach science-based information and practices, help connect gardeners to resources, and facilitate a shared, respectful learning environment. 

I have no doubt that more great work will be happening in 2024!

By Jon Traunfeld, Extension Specialist, University of Maryland Extension, Home & Garden Information Center. Read more posts by Jon.

Grow It Eat It Celebrates 15 Years of Teaching and Promoting Food Gardening!

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Food gardeners are an important part of any local food system. In Achieving Sustainability through Local Food Systems in the United States (PDF) (2013), agricultural economists Dale Johnson and James Hanson, Ph.D. state: “By far the greatest, but often overlooked, local food source in the United States is gardening.”

About 35% of Maryland households are doing some type of food gardening and have lots of important questions: What’s this worm eating my kale? How do I improve my soil and test it for lead? How do I start a school garden? Where can I take a vegetable gardening class?

Since 2009 many residents and communities have received science-based food gardening answers and help from Grow It Eat It (GIEI)– one of the six major sub-programs of the University of Maryland Extension (UME) Master Gardener Program that teaches and promotes home, school, and community food gardening. This article serves to introduce this amazing program and some of its successes. I plan to write a second article later this year on some of the exciting 2023 GIEI projects from around the state.

What is GIEI?

Grow It Eat It was developed late in 2008 by UME staff, faculty, and volunteers in response to the Great Recession. Many people were already interested in trying their hand at food gardening as a way to eat more fresh produce and connect with nature. The economic collapse forced folks to find ways to reduce household expenses.

The main GIEI objective has been to increase local food production by combining the power of grassroots education and technical assistance delivered by field faculty and Master Gardeners, with UME’s digital gardening resources. Master Gardeners (MGs) have taught hundreds of classes, developed demonstration gardens, and helped thousands of individuals and groups start food gardens and learn and use best practices. Residents can learn about GIEI classes and events by visiting their local Extension web pages and connecting on social media. MGs also help residents solve food gardening problems at Ask a MG Plant Clinics around the state. The Home and Garden Information Center (HGIC) supports GIEI by training MGs, creating and maintaining digital resources, and answering food gardening questions through the Ask Extension service.

GIEI intersects and collaborates with other MG sub-programs– Bay-Wise Landscaping, Ask a MG Plant Clinic, Composting, and Pollinators– and with UME’s nutrition, natural resources, youth development, and urban ag programs. This helps the program address four of the five Strategic Initiatives guiding the College of Ag & Natural Resources.

5 strategic initiatives of the University of Maryland Extension College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

As the faculty lead, I have loved every minute spent working with UME faculty, staff, and volunteers to shape, improve and expand the program. Master Gardener Coordinators and Volunteers decide how to best shape GIEI to meet local needs. The State MG Office organizes regular GIEI statewide planning/sharing meetings and continuing education classes, and provides seeds, teaching, and marketing materials. MGs responded to the pandemic by moving GIEI classes online. GIEI projects and activities steadily increased in 2021 and 2022 and should surpass pre-COVID levels in 2023.

packets of sunflower and green bean seeds
75K seed packets have been distributed to residents to promote food gardening and the UME MG Program. Sunflower and bean seeds in 2023!
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Microgreens: Tasty Accents from Small Spaces

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My first response to microgreens was: “Why would I spend my time growing 3-inch tall plants to eat?”

Then I thought about all of the tiny leafy green plants (beet, lettuce, kale, basil, etc.) I had eaten over the years in the process of growing transplants at home and in greenhouses. And it started to make more sense: why not plant seeds closely in a container to just grow baby plants?

"Brassica" microgreens
Tray of “brassica” microgreens ready to harvest

Benefits: When you eat microgreens you are ingesting the cotyledons, stems, and small expanded true leaves of edible plants. Some reasons to give them a try:

  • High in anti-oxidants and other health-promoting substances, like vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and lutein
  • Can be grown year-round inside with strong natural light or inexpensive fluorescent tubes
  • Great for kids at home and in school- sow seeds, watch them sprout and grow for 10-14 days, and eat!
  • Wonderful assortment of colors, flavors, and textures

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Upcoming GIEI open house by Montgomery County Master Gardeners

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Please visit us on the afternoon of Saturday, April 29th! We will have all sorts of activities including: educational talks; workshops on plant propagation, mushroom growing, tomato grafting, and hydroponic gardening; children’s programs; plant and product sales; demos in our demo garden; and lots of Master Gardeners to answer your questions.

More information including a schedule here.

Claytonia, or miner’s lettuce

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I’ve grown a lot of different vegetables at this point, but there’s always something new for me to try. Last fall I planted some Claytonia perfoliata, or miner’s lettuce, alongside spinach in my vegetable garden. Both of them have wintered over nicely and are being harvested now.

Claytonia is a odd-looking small edible green plant.

That specific epithet “perfoliata” refers to the way the leaf is pierced by the flower structure. Each of those leaves is about the size of a quarter, so you need a lot of them to make a meal, but you wouldn’t want to overdo it anyway because they contain oxalic acid which is toxic in large quantities. (More than you would want to consume; don’t worry.) You can use claytonia in a salad, or briefly braise or wilt it in a cooked dish. It has a nice lettuce-like, slightly sour flavor.

The plant is native to the western U.S., and gets its common name from the California Gold Rush miners who ate it for vitamin C, to avoid getting scurvy.

I’ve seen claytonia seed for sale in a number of seed catalogs. Try planting it this fall for a spring treat next year. Definitely a cool-weather plant, it will bolt in the slightest heat, so overwintering seems the best way to go. I didn’t give it any protection at all, but if you live in a particularly cold climate you could try it in a cold frame.

Four-season lettuce

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One project we’re embarking on this year in the Derwood Demo Garden is growing lettuce year-round (or as close as we can get). Lettuce is a perfect crop for spring or fall: quick-growing, tolerant of cool weather, useful. But it often flags, turns bitter and bolts in hot weather, and heavy frosts will kill it.

The solutions to this are:

  • Grow in an area that gets more sun in the spring than in the summer – in the shade of a tree is great, or use shade cloth to alter the environment;
  • Choose varieties that suit the season;
  • Keep well-watered in hot weather;
  • Grow under a cold frame or plastic-covered tunnel in the winter.
Our salad tables are shaded by a large maple tree, so that’s where we will grow our summer lettuce. We’ve had success growing well into July before there, but haven’t systematically planned to keep going – it should work, though. We’ll try a few in the sunnier parts of the garden to see how they do, as well. And we’ll get the cold frame out for winter.
We’re starting our spring lettuces indoors for transplant.
Summer lettuces will be started directly in the salad table in part, plus we’ll start more seedlings indoors. We’ll use succession planting to start new plants every couple of weeks. If we are lucky with the weather and our varieties, we should be able to continue this through to fall, when more cold-tolerant lettuces will go in – some in the salad tables and some in the ground to be covered by a cold frame.
You can grow just about any lettuce for spring and fall. Some are particularly cold-tolerant and good for holding over winter. Here’s the list of varieties we’re trying for summer, all of which are supposed to be heat-tolerant and bolt-resistant.
  • Buttercrunch
  • Cherokee
  • Concept
  • Green Star
  • Muir
  • New Red Fire
  • Seafresh
  • Summer Bibb
  • Toretto
There are lots of other similar varieties out there, which we’ll try in subsequent years. This is a growing market niche, for obvious reasons – it’s hot out there, and we love our summer salads. We’re keeping track of which ones do best for us. If you have had success with summer-grown lettuce varieties, leave a comment – we’d love to hear from you.