Q: I am planning to do some container gardening this spring due to an over-active digging puppy. What can I plant and on what schedule?

A: Container gardening is much easier now that smaller varieties of vegetables are available. Pepper, tomato, okra and cool-season crops are perfect for containers on a sunny deck or patio. Choose light-colored containers. Dark ones absorb summer heat and cause root damage. I found a great resource for vegetable container gardening and a very useful calendar of when to plant in a publication from North Carolina that is perfectly applicable to our region. Details at http://xrl.us/containerveg.