Many people ask me how they can grow vegetables successfully in containers.

This is for a variety of reasons: they may be renting a property and intending to move to a more permanent location in the near future and want to take their garden with them, or they might be living in an inner-city apartment or terrace that doesn't have enough room for a conventional "in-ground" garden.

I love the benefits of growing plants in containers for whatever reason, even for the gardener who has enough room in the ground but finds that this area can be particularly shady due to surrounding trees. With containers, you can identify an ideal micro-climate anywhere you live and grow vegetables all year round. This is especially so with a sunny and protected courtyard. This is a great spot to have tomatoes growing right through winter months when they become so expensive in the shops to buy. Likewise a shady corner in the middle of the summer heat can provide a welcomed retreat for leafy crops like lettuce that usually fail when exposed to hot conditions in the garden.

So what are the best containers to use? Without a doubt, I'd have to say the old broccoli box from the green grocer! Recycling polystyrene boxes into a thriving veggie patch makes sense from an environmentally sustainable perspective as well as a smart decision horticulturally. The foam acts as insulation from temperature extremes (which is so often is the cause of plant deaths) and it holds enough soil to support a range of vegetables.

Remember to punch some holes in the base of the box for drainage and fill it with good quality potting mix. A premium mix contains fertilizers and wetting agents to retain moisture in the soil. If you're an organic purist then the best growing media is an equal mix of home-made compost, sand and coco-peat.

What are you going to plant? Almost everything! Lettuce, zucchini, silverbeet, spinach, broccoli, cabbages, eggplant, capsicum and tomatoes are all ideal. Look for smaller, bush varieties that go better in pots. You can add a trellis with bamboo stakes to grow climbers like beans, peas and cucumbers. If you want some root crops also, then make sure you grow another different crop in fresh soil before you plant root crops. Soil that is too fertile can lead to disaster.

Containers leach water and nutrients more than in the ground so make sure your maintenance includes regular watering (especially in summer) to keep the soil damp but not wet and fortnightly liquid feeding.

Stick to that and you'll have your veggies all year round no matter where you live.