Healthy eating is a wonderful way of life. It’s also really demanding! High quality fresh foods can be expensive, and when you’re eating highly perishable foods you find yourself going to the store more frequently than is convenient. There’s only way to tackle both of those challenges in one fell swoop. Grow your food at home. You don’t have a garden you say? No problem. Many foods can be grown in pots or containers. For purposes of this post we are going to focus on berries because they are highly nutritious, and they tend to disappear fast because they are so delicious. Here’s the how-to!

Blueberries

• Easy to grow at home!
• Minimum 12 inch diameter container – fill it with compost mix.
  • One part ericaceous compost because it is ideal for acid loving plants.
  • One part soil based compost.
• Plant blueberry plant at its normal soil level and water it thoroughly.
• Place the plant in an area that gets lots of sun.
• Due to the substantial sun exposure, make sure to water frequently enough that the compost always stays moist.
• If you live in a rainy climate consider collecting rain water for your blueberry plant because it is conducive to the acidic soil that the blueberry needs.
• Feed it regularly during its growing phase and use ericaceous plant food.

Strawberries

• Super easy to grow!
• If possible, use a ‘strawberry planter’. If you don’t have much space try a vertical garden planter.
• Fill it with multipurpose compost to which you’ve added a slow release fertilizer.
• Plant the strawberry plant almost completely. Leave only the crown showing above the soil.
• Water it A LOT. Strawberry plants are sensitive to any periods of dryness.
• If it produces any baby plants (known as runners,) be sure to cut them off. Otherwise they will compromise the strength of the main plant.

Raspberries

• Ensure you choose a container that is large enough! Look for something with a 24 inch diameter.
• Fill it with a soil-based compost.
• Plant six raspberry plant canes around the edges.
• Never let the compost dry totally, always keep it moist.
• Feed it with a high potash fertilizer on a consistent basis.