Urban Gardening Update / Growing food in the city on two balconies

image.png

I haven't made a garden update for 2 months! Time has been flying and I didn't realize it has been so long! See the last one here: Urban Garden update

Here's a wide angle view of the front balcony, there are green beans, snap peas, peppers, green onions and some mystery melons (maybe watermelon and squash, we had some badly labeled seeds!)

For reference here is how it looked two months ago:

I haven't done much other than water it and pull a few mystery weeds that popped up.

In the back we have tomatoes, both upright and hanging upside down, potatoes, brocoli, more peppers and ginger.

The back garden hasn't given any veg yet but things are looking healthy, I have noticed that the upside down tomatoes are much smaller than the upright ones but that may be due to the smaller containers. I am curious to see what grows in the back as it's more shady.

Also a few mushrooms have popped up:

We have been consistently harvesting green onions and basil (not pictured, it's in the window and I forgot) and have started harvesting green beans and snap peas!

I think we are probably growing under quite poor conditions, let's consider this a stress test! We aren't doing anything special with the PH of the soil or using any fertilizer. I feel if we can have success on these balconies it will be a nice motivator for when we can eventually have some land and a proper garden :)

Sort:  

Fantastic little garden! I think it looks great considering your space and resources there.

Look for some plants that do well in the shade like certain herbs, mints and even smaller peppers.

I was looking at getting a house or land this year so next year youll see some growing pics from me 😂

Everyone wants land, I can't wait it's going to be a whole new experience

I'm growing food this year too, and have pea pods! but mine are so much smaller......i grew them from seeds...did you also?

Yes all the peas and beans started from seed! They just started flowering a few weeks ago and made peas a few days after

hahahaha ours have peas too! so exciting, i never grew them before.

This looks so good! I have to give the green onions a try. I really like your right side up/upside down tomato experiment. Can't wait to see how your broccoli & potatoes progress

The broccolis are looking a little wishy washy, when they get sun they perk up, I think the potatoes look the strongest they are growing really thick stems. Will sure be interesting to see what happens with the tomatoes, I hope they make fruit haha

That is quite a lovely little garden you have, and it's exciting that it is producing things for you to enjoy already! Honestly, though, your smile is the best harvest of them all! 💖

Awwwww ❤️ honestly didn't have big expectations, before this I just grew basil and mint so I had no idea what to expect and I'm pleasantly surprised!

what a good seed friend, the truth is that there is nothing better than planting and reaping the harvest .. greetings from evenezuela

Yes it's very fun to see the progress and especially when we finally get to eat it!

I am doing almost the same thing...
Growing a few different plants under "window box" conditions, which I also see as a "stress test" for the future!
Have An Awesome Eve.!
👍🏼😊👍🏼

Cool good luck to you 🌱

Thanks A Lot
And have a Great Day!
👍🏼🌅👍🏼

what we do in the house to prep and nurture the ground is collect all organic leftovers from the food and let it go bad for a few days and then pour it in the earth so that it fertilizes it, if you want you can just use the egg shells and the coffee that is already used to help the ground where you are growing things is as easy as that.

my bf used to take a huge container for all the leftovers and even grow worms in it that help better fertilize the ground but that takes a lot of work and space so you can do it in a small way every day all the organic leftovers you then put it in the ground.

We actually did a bit of compost at first but now I am all out of dirt and I worry if I leave it out it will bring squirrels and racoons, maybe I just need to keep it covered 🤔

my bf kept it cover it helps the worms since they like the dark just make sure is moist and it has some air.

Looks pretty good for a balcony, pretty much what I used to grow when I lived in a flat a few years back with a very sunny balcony.

Does the wind affect the plants? I found I had to get some shielding to protect mine, just one of those roll-up wooden slat things.

I was also glad I got on with my downstairs neighbour very well - the balcony could get quite muddy after heave rain, with all the slop from the plant trays

Some of that would always end up down below.

Thinking about it I guess a little gravel in the bottom of my troughs would have sorted that.

One year I even went as far as climbing green beans and cucumbers, I got a bit obsessed with maximising the space.

The mushrooms look pretty exciting!

We actually got some pretty crazy wind a few weeks ago that lasted for about three days and I was really worried they would break but everything seemed fine. I thought the green beans would get taller but I think they might not be the climbing ones and may have reached max height, I was kind of hoping they'd go up and over the railing!

Well I'm glad they held up, it looks to me like you've got the dwarf variety, but they look and taste the same as the climbing, not quite as cool visually though!

That's a lovely balcony garden you have there! Using the space that you have to grow what you can...
I'll be interested in seeing how well your potatoes end up doing.

Thanks Amber, the potatoes have really strong looking shoots, I am so curious to know what's happening under the ground it's killing me a bit to not be able to see the progress lol!

Hello! Yours is a great job, considering the limited space. Compliments! I also want to try growing something on the balcony next year. This year I couldn't because the shops were closed (due to the emergency situation) in the best season for the birth of the seedlings and unfortunately it's late to make up for lost time! It will be for the next year. Thanks for sharing with us :) I wish you a beautiful day!

What a cute little garden, arent you all green thumbs, showing that you don't need an entire backyard to make things grow, super impressed

Untitled1.png

Hey Kyle hope you're doing well! ❤️

Thought about checking in with you today.

Good to see your face.

Be in touch on the discord server by the end of July, I'd guess.

I congratulate you on having a vegetable garden on a balcony. Nature is amazing! Very beautiful plants and very beautiful you.

This is amazing. Gardens are excellent therapy. Enjoy.

This is a proper garden. 😀

healthy food, you know your vegetables are 100% natural, nice photos, you look very young for your age hehe

Good job @juliakponsford and goes to show you that you can grow ANYWHERE. I sort of have the opposite problem in that I have SO much space it can be daunting. Though this year my veg garden (new again trying to find the right spot not TOO hit by wind and salt air) is rather small, it's still giving.

I think Covid will also have made many new Gardeners which I think is great!

Old building? Those balconies must look pretty cool from the street XD

Love your bouquet in the first pic :)

I think our building was built in the 1940s, so yeah very topsy turvy crooked wood floors and scary spiral staircases 😂 It's a pretty common look here in Montreal it definitely has a distinct vibe

Nice work!!! You really packed a lot of stuff in there, I'm trying to grow in 100-degree heat and my garden is taking a beating. I love how there is a resurgence in growing food again it's a great way to connect. I like to get high as fuck, pop my nickelback cassette in my walkman and get down and dirty with mother nature. Can't wait to see how things go for you!!!