Garden Log

[Jpsilver]

Unfortunately, the one issue is it doesn't get any direct sunlight do to the positioning of the building and the roof covering the balcony. This is why I really haven't given it a try.

Does it not get any sunlight at all? Because with as few as only 3 hours per day you could already grow leafy vegetables (lettuce, kale, spinach...)

[jennypenny]

I'm looking for advice. I'm starting from scratch. I live in an apartment and i have a back porch i can use with a tiny yard. I can't dig into the yard.

What do you recommend I start with? I want something I can start growing and eating.....

thanks

I like Mike Lieberman's site. It's a nice blend of gardening info and ERE sensibility.
http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/how ... gardening/

Jpsilver's photos reminded me of Mike's first fire escape garden (only better looking than Mike's)
http://www.urbanorganicgardener.com/gar ... re-escape/

[Jpsilver]

@tylerrr - some advice if you want to start on a balcony:

1) Get containers. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the better. Naturally, also the cheaper the better. I bought most of mine in 2nd hand stores by 1€ each. I also got a few for free - they were waiting to be picked up by the garbage truck.

2) The rule I try to follow is that your containers define your seeds, not the opposite. It is much more efficient (cheaper) to buy seeds according to what containers you have than getting into your head that you want to grow this and that and then having to spend crazy money on containers which are appropriate. (I see this as analogous to cooking with the ingredients that you have/are on sale and not buy ingredients just for a particular recipe).

3) If you live in an apartment buy some pot plates, to prevent water from falling down on your neighbors' balconies. Well, here you could think of a better solution if you want to save the money - I bought the plates as emergency, because I didn't plan for this in advance and by the time I realized I had my neighbors from the lower floors going berserk at me because of the water!

I'm with C40: Next season I will definitely grow cherry tomatoes I'm growing normal ones now (Money Maker kind) but they grow a bit too slow, and the plants require big pots.

[tylerrr]

thanks everyone for the advice....Planting soon.

[Chad]

Unfortunately, the one issue is it doesn't get any direct sunlight do to the positioning of the building and the roof covering the balcony. This is why I really haven't given it a try.

Does it not get any sunlight at all? Because with as few as only 3 hours per day you could already grow leafy vegetables (lettuce, kale, spinach...)

It doesn't get much direct sunlight in the summer. The roof overhangs the balcony too far and the sun is directly overhead the majority of the day. I do get a few hours of direct sunlight in the late fall, winter, and early spring when the sun is lower in the sky, but then the weather is the problem.

I should probably just try a couple plants to see what happens, but I dislike trying something I know is very likely to fail.

[C40]

Squash and Cucumbers. These group really fast. Huge leaves on the squash plant.


And these came way quicker than I expected!


Women like flowers. Plant flowers! Gotta start giving these away I guess.




Peppers! Growing already from small plants.


Strawberries. They taste good but they’re really strong! Seem a little sour maybe?


Cherry tomatoes.


Peppers (right), beans (middle, with one big weed), and cantaloupe on the right (I think)


Supposed to be a flower patch. They’ve been slow to come up and grow. There are about 100 of one type of weed in here that I really need to pull.

The 12-15 square feet of lettuce is giving me much more than I like to eat fresh. I’ve started freezing significant amounts for smoothies.

[anomie]

Our garden mid-June and now mid-July



unexpected morning harvest

1 cucumber plant yielding surprising number of cucumbers; will be making many more to come ..

Our strawberry patch yielded this year, all last month. Very nice.
Raspberry season now.

We will have many tomato's this year yet again...
Wildflowers starting to bloom..

forum does not like the width of my images and I am to lazy to crop all of them .. so a link to photo album:

http://imgur.com/a/uBpkk/embed


Best wishes!

[George the original one]

I broke into the "piggybank" this weekend and collected some new potatoes. Glorious golden yukons that were quickly turned into potato salad.

Sugar snap peas are continuing to produce, maybe one more weekend? Looks like blueberries in two weeks, the branches are straining with the load. Rabbits have developed a taste for young green beans... they might let me have some. And the slugs are getting interested in the onions.

[Dragline]

Sounds like you need to develop a taste for rabbit . . .

[jennypenny]

Finally! I also have a few green tomatoes that were knocked off in a storm. The tomatoes are taking a beating in all of the strong storms. Last week's heat finished off the peas. I'm going to turn over that bed soon and plant more for the fall. The bean vines are growing vigorously, but not many beans yet.

[jacob]

@ffj - What is that corn extractor gadget? I've never seen one of those.

[Jpsilver]

What do you recommend to grow during winter?

I have some "Giant Winter Spinach" that I bought last year but never got to sow... Anyone has experience with these? Will they grow well in containers?

[C40]

Where do you live?

[Pronoid]

I'm jealous of all these gardens.

I like in a small studio apartment with little access to sunlight. I don't own much stuff so I have a decent amount of floor space. Is it worth the cost to grow an indoor garden with some kind of UV light to use instead? I don't pay electricity so that wouldn't matter. I'd be happy if I could produce a near daily serving of spinach or kale if possible.

[Dragline]

Me too, given my brown thumbs. But they are lovely pictures to look at. Thanks for all who have posted them.

[Jpsilver]

@C40: I live in the North of Italy.

[George the original one]

At the coastal Oregon house, blueberry season started August 1 (seriously, you can set the calendar by the timeliness of the berries ripening) and is now winding down. This year's haul has been 50 pints with probably a couple more pints available next weekend. Most of the haul is frozen, some is given away, and a couple pints per week are eaten fresh with ice cream or packed into my lunch for the office. Wife made some scones last week with fresh berries, too. The frozen are primarily used in waffles or anything else we dream up.

The amazing thing is all these berries come from only 3 or 4 mature bushes! Whoever originally planted them put them much too close together, so they've grown into a blueberry hedge. They really enjoy the benign neglect we give them.

[llorona]

@GTOO: That's an amazing haul!! We have one bush that gave us blueberries this year, but only a pint or so. I like using blueberries in buttermilk pancakes.

[jacob]

I like in a small studio apartment with little access to sunlight. I don't own much stuff so I have a decent amount of floor space. Is it worth the cost to grow an indoor garden with some kind of UV light to use instead? I don't pay electricity so that wouldn't matter. I'd be happy if I could produce a near daily serving of spinach or kale if possible.

Look up aerogarden. It's possible, but I don't know if it's worth the cost.

[Pronoid]

I like in a small studio apartment with little access to sunlight. I don't own much stuff so I have a decent amount of floor space. Is it worth the cost to grow an indoor garden with some kind of UV light to use instead? I don't pay electricity so that wouldn't matter. I'd be happy if I could produce a near daily serving of spinach or kale if possible.

Look up aerogarden. It's possible, but I don't know if it's worth the cost.

Right on. Thanks. I have been interested in hydroponics but haven't come across that product before.