I currently live in a tiny 1-bedroom flat on the second floor. Which is alright, but not ideal. I do have a sun-bathing balcony though, which comes in handy, but not in winter time and not in the summer heat :) In the other days and weeks it's great for chilling with a book (or a Kindle, now), spying on neighbours (haha!), eating when inside is too hot, drying the laundry (let's be eco-friendly and give the drying machine some rest in summer time) and of course - growing a pocket-size garden!
My newest aquisition this year: hanging strawberry pot. It does have some fruit, but I fear the flowers have dried due to stress or heat or direct sunlight. Though the berries need sunlight to develop color. They're 2 days on my balcony so I'll just give it some time to adjust to the new place. Maybe they're a bit shy.
I'll tell you who's not shy out there - the cucumbers! Proving my faith (and experience) in them was not in vain! This baby is about ready to end up sliced in my salad. Or a tatziki. Can't decide yet, but there are more cucumbers on their way, so I'm sure I'll try both!
Another one growing as crazy - the basil plant! My consumption can't keep up with the growth. I'll just need to make some spaghetti al pesto, and pronto!
And a view of my pocket-size garden that is just about enough for regular consumption. There's also some rosemary there, which almost died this winter and is beginning to come to its senses, some chives that need yet anther trimming and some strongly lemon-scented plant that I do not know the name or use for, but my mom gave it to me, so I'll just keep it until it dies. What I do need to buy me is some parsley and peppermint to put in lemonades! The only plant I cannot keep outside this year is aloe vera. It grew splendidly last year but this year it just turns brown every time I try to sneak it outdoors. And I need my aloe vera brightly green and succulent for medication, so I'm keeping it indoors until it decides it's ready to go out in the world.
Wow, what a small garden you have at your service on your balcony :) I'm always glad to see how some people take the effort and try to grow their own vegetables even if they live in a city with no garden. I know not everything can be kept in a "balcony garden", but still, it's good that you keep what you can.
ReplyDeleteAloe Vera is a blessing, really. We also have it and at winter-time it did wonders to my nose when I had a flu and my nose was close to being clown-like. :)
I tried tomatoes last year with no success, so I gave up on that. The cucumbers went shy this weekend as well, as most of the young fruit just turned yellow and fell off. Damn. I hope it's related to moving location and it will get better soon.
ReplyDeleteI keep the garden in order to have fresh herbs on hand when needed and to add some "green" to the concrete. It's just refreshing. Plus, it's handy :) But I don't like growing flowers. Besides decoration, I see no point in flowers, only tremendous upkeeping. I do have some office flowers for decoration, cause you cannot have rosemary and basil in the office, can you? :)... Can you??
About aloe vera... it's the best medication for burns. The BEST! A drop of boiling oil in your face? Cut some aloe. The clumsy you pour a pot of boiling soup down your legs and get first degree burns? Aloe. I also found out it's great for reducing shaving itching (I have a really sensible skin), healing cuts and similar. A wonder, really!