Container Gardening with Andy the Plant Whisperer – Tomatoes, Carrots and Lettuce

I popped out to get the mail yesterday and when I came back, Andy was planting one one of my tomato plants in a steel drum. I walked around to inspect his technique, and found out that he was going to plant carrots and lettuce in the steel drum as well.

Try not to get too distracted by the glow of Andy’s hair, Gladys is coming next week. {Andy got a postcard from her with all of the details.} Well, apparently Andy got so excited about good old Gladys, that he went a little crazy with the sun-in spray. He says, “you can take the man out of Florida, but not the Florida out of the man.” Whatever that means.

I have to admit, I was a little surprised to find that Andy still reads the seed packets.  He seemed more like a fly-by-the-seat-of-his- pants-throw-it-in-the-dirt-and-grow-it sort of guy.  I asked him, and he said the plants choose to speak to him in many ways.   Hmmm, well, I am not sure about channeling the plant through the back of the seed packet, but Andy certainly seems to know a thing or two about container gardening, so I asked him to give me the 411 on the whole tomato, carrot, lettuce combo.

Andy told me that tomatoes, carrots, and lettuce love to “hang out together” {read:  companion planting}.  Plus, “they each add a different texture and height in the container.”   Then he kissed his fingers and mouthed the word “exquisite”.  This guy is definitely going to take some getting used to.   He asked me repeatedly if I had used potting soil and not just regular dirt in the drum.  I assured him I had.  When I was finally satisfied that I had prepared the steel drums to his satisfaction, he started by planting the lettuce and carrots around the edge of the steel drum.  He said he planted them basically just as the seed packet instructed.

Then, he gently scooped out a hole in the center of the drum and placed the tomato plant in the hole.  He patted the dirt around it, being careful not to disturb the newly planted seeds, and then watered everything in.

Finally, he added a tomato cage, and voila, container magic.

Apparently all of that gardening really wore Andy out, because not even his new BFF Lucy could entice him out of the chair.  Oh well, at least a nap in the sun will accentuate his highlights.

Read More of Andy the Plant Whisperer’s  Container Garden Tips