02/08/2026
This is what a $0 container garden looks like when you stop overthinking it — grab baskets from the house, fill with soil, and grow dinner on your porch all summer.
- Line each basket with landscape fabric or burlap to hold soil while keeping every drainage slot open and breathing.
- Group sun-lovers together — tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers need 6-8 hours of direct light so give them the sunniest corner.
- Put lettuce and herbs behind the tall baskets where they catch morning sun but get afternoon shade from the bigger plants.
- Set baskets on bricks or a pallet so air flows underneath and water drains straight through without pooling on the porch.
- Water every morning before the heat hits — baskets dry out faster than pots so check soil daily by pushing your finger one inch deep.
- Feed every two weeks with liquid fertilizer because nutrients wash out fast through all those drainage slots.
- Rotate baskets a quarter turn every few days so plants grow straight instead of leaning toward the sun.
- Toss a tomato cage or bamboo stake into any basket growing climbers — cucumbers and tomatoes need vertical support by week three.
- By midsummer you'll be harvesting salads, stir-fries, and salsa from a setup that cost you nothing but soil and seeds.