Gardens in a sack started well over 30 years ago. I remember an intern for Disney World growing plants in sacks on a concrete area when I wrote a feature story. Sacks at that time were filled with soil, laid flat, punched with holes and planted. Well thanks to heavy duty bags of soil the project of growing your garden in a sack or bag just got easier.

Any bag of good potting soil or composted cow manure might be your next garden for that cramp quarters, balcony or patio. Scotts Miracle-Gro has even made it really easy with their Gro-Bags available for planting. Now, with a sack of soil you can make "X" slits where you want to plant. And then add several cuts about and inch long lengthwise in the bags near the base along the edges. If you obtain the Gro-Bags this job has been done for you and all you have to do is plant.

Grow bags or sacks need minimal care. Most potting mixtures come with several months of fertilizer in the mix. It is gradually released to the plants over a period of time. With my project I never fertilized the plants once. All I had to do is keep the soil moist. Now this seems simple but you have to check the bags daily. As the plants grow bigger the water needs increase and there is only a relatively small amount of soil. It is possible to need water more than once a day during the really dry times.

Here is some of the fun with this project. You can plant vegetables or flowers. In my bag I planted broccoli, strawberries and dianthus. Everything in this bag is edible but I am not one to feast on a lot of flowers. The buds of the broccoli were my delight. Also if you do harvest flowers make sure the plants have not been sprayed in the last 30 days or so.

What you can grow in a bag of soil is endless and it's a lot of fun for all family members. Just think - everyone can have their own garden.