Grow Your Own and Save
It takes surprisingly little space — and money, if you plan accordingly — to grow vegetables, herbs, and even fruit instead of buying them at the market. A patio, terrace, or even a windowsill will do, as long it gets about six hours of sun a day. Root vegetables aren't good candidates for container gardening, but many edible plants grow just fine in cheap plastic pots from a garden or hardware store. Be sure to use potting soil — not garden soil, which is too dense for container plants. (Potting soil is easy to make, especially for gardeners who compost.) Water frequently, as container pots can dry out quickly in summer heat, and add mulch to help maintain moisture. Edible plants extract a lot of nutrients from the soil, so it's important to replace those. A weekly application of fish emulsion should do the trick. Here are 15 edible plants that can thrive in containers just about anywhere.