You can successfully grow a wide range of vegetables and small fruits organically in containers on your patio or in a very small garden space.
Many vegetables and small fruits lend themselves well to organic container gardening. Even at our farm, we tend to prefer to grow many small fruits such as dwarf blueberries and alpine strawberries in containers that are adjacent to patio areas rather than out in the main vegetable garden. With some thought to selecting bush or dwarf varieties, almost any vegetable or small fruit can be adapted to growing in a pot.  When you think about what container to use, don't forget to keep in mind that many vegetables and small fruits also grow well in hanging baskets. Ideal hanging basket varieties include: Supersweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes, Sunsugar Cherry Tomatoes and Alpine Strawberries. Vegetables that take up little space, such as carrots, radishes and lettuce, or crops that bear fruits over a long period of time, such as Early Girl Tomatoes and peppers, are perfect for container vegetable gardens.

What you decide to grow in a container vegetable garden is limited only by the size of the container, the time you have to care for your plants and your imagination. A few of our favorite container vegetable gardens that we grow at our farm are:

• Garden in a Barrel: Requires 1 whiskey barrel or similar size container. Fill container with organic potting soil for vegetables and work in a small amount of Down to Earth All Purpose fertilizer. Plant one 4" plant of each variety: Bush Early Girl Tomato, Cal Wonder Pepper, Purple Basil, Chives and Oregano. Water well. Fertilizer every 2 weeks with Maxicrop Liquid Kelp Fertilizer.

• Carrot, Radish & Herb Combo: Requires a container with a minimum size of 24" or a whiskey barrel. Fill container with organic
  potting soil for vegetables and work in a small amount of Down to Earth All Purpose fertilizer. Plant in the center of the container one of each variety in a 4" plant size: parsley, sage and oregano. Sprinkle the carrot seeds around the parsley plant, then sprinkle radish seeds around the outside of the container staying 1" inch away from the container wall. Top lightly with soil and mist. Keep moist until seeds germinate, then thin as needed. The radish plants will mature and be harvested first leaving room for the carrots which can be harvested as baby carrots for salads or stir-fry. The herbs are hardy perennials which can be left in the pot to over-winter with adequate water. 

• Salad Greens to Go: Use any size or shape container. Fill with organic potting soil for vegetables. Sprinkle salad greens, spinach or mesclun seeds and cover 1/4". Mist and keep moist  until seeds germinate. Cut as needed for fresh, organic salad greens!

We you think of container gardening don't forget about including small fruits. Two of our favorite small fruits for container gardens are Northcountry Blueberry Bush and Alpine Strawberry Plants. Northcountry Blueberry was bred specifically for use in container gardening or  very small gardens and is hardy to USDA zone 4. Alpine Strawberries are runner-less strawberry plants that produce all season long and are ideal for containers or hanging baskets.