IF you don't think that you have sufficient garden space to grow your vegetables and herbs, perhaps you have no garden at all, or just a window box or balcony, then think containers.

Is this a new idea? No, the Chinese and Romans used containers more than 2,000 years ago. Certainly, there has been a massive surge of popularity in recent years and has proven so successful that more and more gardeners are utilising them. Why? It is not just due to smaller gardens. There has been a prolonged "healthy living" debate linked with the poor nutritional diets and obesity timebomb regularly mentioned in the media. "Eat your greens" moved on to "eat your way to five a day", and encouragement for children to eat some fresh fruit and veg. Sowing a few carrot seeds in a litre bag of seed compost or a potato tuber in a larger bag has proven popular with schoolchildren to see how plants grow and how easy it is to raise some fresh produce. Gravelling or paving a former front garden to make car-parking space is a continuing trend in many towns and cities. Many of these areas could still allocate containers and grow a wide choice of vegetables and herbs.

Basically, growing in a "bucket in the backyard", as long as there is some sunshine available will provide success.

What's the benefits in growing in containers? If you use a proprietary multipurpose compost then this avoids pest, disease and weed problems that can be faced growing in the garden. Some liquid feeding as crops grow, and some enviromesh or muslin over the container, depending on what you are growing, will keep out cabbage butterfly and aphids. Watering is also easily controlled. Crops grow healthily and often more reliably. The containers can be situated wherever ease of access is required, perhaps herbs or salad leaves outside the kitchen door will allow easier picking without having to bend down. A godsend for those with mobility difficulties.

The size of container will dictate what you can grow or quantities of your desired crops. Ideally a 10 litre bag will grow a single potato tuber and give you a kilo or more of "new potatoes", a number of "salad leaves" cutting to add fresh to your salads, "baby veggies" such as beetroot Red Ace', carrot Adelaide', turnip Oasis', parsnip Dagger', kohl rabi Purple Danube', spring onion Apache', radish Rudi' and spinach Scenic'. Look in the seed catalogues for an increasing choice of "salad leaves", "microgreens" and "baby veg".

There are ornamental and dwarf habit varieties of tomato Vilma', Totem', sweet pepper Mini Belle', chilli pepper Pyramid', Demon Red'. A larger container will grow dwarf beans, and climbing and runner beans if canes support are provided for the plants, or use a taller container for varieties such as tomato Tumblin Tom' or Gartenperle', cucumber Green Fingers', courgette Black Forest' and strawberry Sarian' as trailing plants to cascade over the containers to give prolific crops throughout the summer.

Certainly the easiest and most prolific is the vast choice of "salad leave mixtures", similarly as you see as pre-washed poly wrapped bags in your supermarket.

During warmer months you can sow and harvest from 25 days.

Hanging baskets can include some veggies as well as flowers. Tomato Gartenperle' is the best hanging basket variety and if in full sun then some basil plants are a great companion plant, add some trailing nasturtiums for their edible leaves, flowers and immature seeds.