Grow your own: 5 easy crops for pots

Here at Chuckling Goat, we’re passionate about gardening. Have you seen snippets from Shann’s beautiful garden on our blog and social media?

Growing your own fruit and vegetables can feel so intimidating, especially if you’re a beginner. One of the easiest ways to start is with pots.

For the past two years, I’ve mainly grown a few varieties of veg in pots on my small patio. This year, I’ve taken it up a notch with a full allotment! There’s still a lot to learn, but everyone has to start somewhere…😉

Whether you have a balcony, front garden, or tiny patio, pot gardening is perfect for beginners. It’s low-risk, low-investment, and incredibly satisfying. Even a handful of salad leaves or fresh herbs can transform your meals!

Here are five fruits and vegetables to get you started:

1. Tomatoes 🍅

A classic and easy choice. You can start from seed or buy seedlings from your local garden centre or supermarket. Tomatoes need a little warmth for germination, which can take up to 14 days at temperatures above 18°C. You can sow seeds from February to April, planting out once the weather has warmed up. I recommend trying a bush variety in a pot; these are great for small spaces.

For more tips, you can follow this step-by-step guide to growing tomatoes from the Royal Horticultural Society.

2. Cucumbers 🥒

This one may surprise you, but you can grow cucumbers in pots and still have a decent yield. Last year, I grew a pickling cucumber in four 40-litre pots and harvested over 20+ cucumbers. I had pickles coming out of my ears, but they were mouth-puckeringly good.

Picking a versatile variety allows you to use one crop in different ways, especially if you’re limited on space. Cucumbers can be started indoors from seed from April to May, and planted out after the last frost, when Spring has truly bloomed. Use stakes or a small trellis to support your growing plants.

3. Blueberries 🫐

Blueberries love acidic soil (pH 4.5–6), which makes pots ideal. Most UK gardens are more alkaline, so growing in containers gives you full control (if you want to understand soil types better, read this guide to ericaceous (acidic) compost and soil from the Royal Horticultural Society).

While you can start blueberries from seed, most people purchase bushes online or from garden centres.

Blueberries are self-fertile, so if you’re space-limited, you can grow one bush and still get a decent crop. However, if you have space for two or three bushes (different varieties), I would recommend this as the cross-pollination will produce larger harvests. There are some very interesting varieties out there, including one called “Pink Lemonade“, which, if you hadn’t guessed, produces a pink berry! Impossible to find in shops!

4. Lettuce 🥬

Lettuce is easy, fast, and forgiving. Perfect for beginners! It can be directly sown outside in your pots from late March to late July. Don’t make the same mistake I did when I first started and sow lots of seeds at once; you’ll be overrun with lettuce! Instead, plant a few seeds every few weeks or as needed to keep your lettuce supply steadily coming in.

5. Herbs 🌿

A tried-and-true favourite, herbs are low-maintenance winners. My top tip is to only grow herbs (and plants) that you actually like, so if you don’t use sage? Don’t grow it! It may seem like an obvious tip, but it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of growing. Mint is a good herb to grow in a pot, as in a bed, it can take over quickly and crowd other plants.

You can plant one herb per pot or group them together based on soil and light needs. You can grow them from seed or buy pots at the supermarket or garden centre to plant out. Herbs can be very hardy; I have a supermarket parsley plant I potted out two years ago that has been very neglected, but bounces back year after year!

Your garden, your rules!

This is just a starting point! You can grow a huge variety of fruits and vegetables in pots. Dwarf patio fruit trees can thrive in containers, too.

With Spring approaching, now is the time to get your hands dirty! For more gardening tips, check out:

Any questions? Contact one of our Nutritional Therapists via live chat, weekdays from 8 am to 8 pm.