November 02, 2025

How to Start a Container Vegetable Garden at Home

November 02, 2025/ Kelly Pemberton

With commercially-grown vegetables becoming increasingly subject to contamination by synthetic pesticide residue and deadly bacteria, finding quality produce is becoming more of a challenge. Part of the problem with commercial production are the monopolies by big food companies, which threaten food security and public health. A growing number of people have begun to see growing and harvesting their own vegetables as a way to reduce their exposure to these contaminants and exercise greater self-reliance.

March 03, 2024

10 Reasons to Grow Your Own Organic Food in Containers

March 03, 2024/ Kelly Pemberton

Have you followed the recent news in the US about the peer-reviewed study that determined that 80 percent of Americans test positive for the synthetic pesticide chlormequat? This pesticide has been found in conventionally-grown grain crops like oats, wheat and barley, and has been linked to fertility problems in animal studies. Regular exposure to pesticides like these is at least partly responsible for recurring health crises around the world, including major diseases like cancer and cardiovascular, neurological, metabolic and psychological disorders. By growing at least some of your own food, you can reduce your exposure to these harmful chemicals and begin to take control of your health. Container gardening is a great way to get started.

June 04, 2023

5 Innovative Products to Transform Your Container Garden

June 04, 2023/ Kelly Pemberton

Container gardening has gained immense popularity in recent years, allowing individuals with limited space or resources to indulge in their love for plants. According to The Daily Green, the expenditure on container gardening by U.S. consumers has reached a significant amount of USD 1.3 billion.

May 26, 2023

12 ways to create a stunning container garden

May 26, 2023/ Kelly Pemberton

Summer is almost here! Whether you're a seasoned green thumb or a newbie to the gardening world, it's never too late to bring some life to your living space with a beautiful potted garden. While some may have already started their seedlings indoors, there's no need to worry if you're just now getting started - there's still plenty of time to grow good things this season!

March 17, 2019

How to take care of your indoor seedlings

March 17, 2019/ Kelly Pemberton

(updated 01/17/2025)

Although the weather may not have begun warming significantly where you live, there’s no reason you can’t start your growing season a little early. Whether you’ve got the itch to grow right now, or you’re interested in getting a jump start on your gardening, there are a few things you can do today to start growing something good and make sure that it thrives well into the warm season.

August 06, 2018

Container Gardening 101: Small Spaces, Big Yields

August 06, 2018/ Kelly Pemberton

This summer I’ve been blogging about container gardening quite a bit (that is, when I managed to blog! We’re undergoing some big changes here at Green and Prosperous that have taken up most of my blogging time, including developing an online course on container gardening for beginners and experienced growers alike). This post continues our summer theme, with a focus on how you can grow more in less space.

June 08, 2018

Room to Grow: 8 things you need to do to make your container garden thrive this summer

June 08, 2018/ Kelly Pemberton

Updated August 7, 2023

Whether you have already begun your container gardening adventure or are just getting started, you’ve probably realized that container gardening presents many advantages over traditional in-ground gardening. Aside from being a great way to grow some of your own food in small spaces, as a container gardener you can exert more control over a number of variables that can sabotage an in-ground garden, like weather, pests, and soil quality. I covered these and other matters in last month’s post on container gardening. This post addresses some of the practical matters involved in not only starting your container garden, but helping it to thrive. Here are 8 things you should be doing to keep your container garden healthy, happy, and productive well into the fall season.

May 01, 2018

Short on outdoor space? Why you should try container gardening

May 01, 2018/ Kelly Pemberton

Spring is here! For some of us, spring is finally here. Although the crazy weather patterns we’ve been experiencing in the mid-Atlantic region where I live have left many of us anxious to go out and dig around in the dirt, others may only be thinking about making this the year they grow some of their own food (or the year they grow more of their own food). If you’re ready to stop thinking about it and start doing but are challenged for space (maybe you live in an apartment of condo, or maybe you have a tiny yard, or your yard doubles as your dog’s bathroom), this post is for you. Maybe you have a healthy growing operation in place already but are starting to suffer from back problems because of all the bending involved in maintaining your garden. If so, this post is for you, too. Or maybe you’re just interested in trying something new or adding new elements to your garden. This post is for you, too.