Hi,

I have been trying to read up on how to grow vegetables outdoors in
containers, most of the advice I have found is a bit general though, as
a beginner I guess I need someone to spell it out to me!

Questions:

1. I live in central Scotland, I would like to grow peppers, chillies,
cucumber, potatoes, asparagus, lettuce, tomatoes, garlic. That's what I
would like, could someone comment on which of these vegetables I can
realistically grow in containers, in Scotland? Should some of these
(chillies/tomatoes) be grown on windowsills? I have seen seeds for most
of these in the local garden centre, but I'm not taking that as gospel.

2. I have no idea about potential yields of the above vegetables,
unfortunately I am from the supermarket generation! How many plants of
each kind do you think I would need to provide for two adults for the
duration of the growing season of each vegetable? What size of
container would you recommend and should it be one container per type of
vegetable?

3. Are the quality of seeds sold at garden centres acceptable or is it
better to buy mail order (or other?)? Could anyone recommend a source?

4. This is probably a completely stupid question, if I buy the seeds to
start the plants off is it feasible to gather seeds that they produce
later in the year and store them somewhere to use again the following
year? I say a stupid question because I assume the answer is of course
I can - but are there particular storage considerations?

5. If I buy a pack of seeds, can I sow them directly into the intended
containers or do they need to be sown into a small tray and then
transplanted at some other date?

6. Could someone recommend a soil/compost that should be used to fill
the containers, as I understand it is not a good idea just to use soil
from the garden?

7. It is now mid-late April, could someone recommend some varieties of
the above crops that I could realistically sow now to give me a project
and some experience this year?

As I'm writing this I can see that I am expecting answers to a lot of
questions, perhaps someone could recommend a book or website that may be
helpful?

Thanks in advance for your time,

GC