Posts Tagged ‘balcony’

Last night I made another big harvest – snow peas, basil, kale, swiss chard, and garlic chives. There’s no better feeling than walking out to the balcony and coming back inside with bowls and bowls of beautiful, green produce: This was a harvest worthy of a simple, clean preparation, and so a stir-fry was in order. Besides the carrots and garlic, all the produce in this meal came from the balcony of apartment 632! Here’s how the meal turned out: And here’s the recipe: Balcony Stir Fry Ingredients: 6 cups of vegetables, from your balcony, cut into strips or slices (anything will do) 2 Tbs oil for the skillet 1 tbs black sesame seeds 1 tbs white sesame seeds 2 tbs walnuts (or crushed peanuts, or slivered almonds) For the Sauce: 4 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar 2 Tbs Honey 1 Clove Garlic, pressed 1/2 tso Powered Ginger (or one small

Yesterday, I updated you on how some of the crops are faring, compared to how they were doing just four weeks ago.  Today, I present to you the rest of the crops, including zucchini, tomatoes [some sort of yellow variety, brandywine, and currant], herbs [tarragon, basil, and rosemary] and marigolds [a sacrifice to the aphids, and for a little burst of color.] How is your garden growing?  Let us know in the comments.

It’s been a gorgeous few days in Washington DC (Sunday notwithstanding), and the balcony garden loved it!  Everything seems to be taking root really well, and is much larger than the last time I updated.  At that time, I predicted the small seedlings would “explode with growth” once the warmer weather hit.  It’s been a full month, and my, how they’ve grown!  I give you: snow peas, kale, lettuce, garlic and chives, strawberries, and rainbow chard.  More updates tomorrow, including 3 varieties of tomatoes, herbs, and zucchini. Click here to compare the growth to a month ago.  How are your gardens growing?

This entry was originally posted on Planted Cloud. Immediately after moving into my new place last December, I began to design a landscape for the very small balcony space. The dimensions of the space are about 5′x10′ so there isn’t much room. I also decided I was not going to get into dealing with veggies — the space is too small. Instead, I began thinking of ways I could get as much mileage out of the plants I selected — I wanted a big visual effect, without cluttering the space and losing square footage for furniture. Imagine my pleasure when I saw that these 7 gallon containers (from the boxwood I planted at my folks’ place) fit so perfectly in this vinyl chest I found at target. The chest was being sold as a storage container for seat cushions and other outdoor furnishings, but by unscrewing the lid, it make

There’s something special about planting the first seeds of the season. This year, I sowed snow peas right into the soil – there are a few more days of cold, but for the most part, it looks like the freezing cold temperatures are behind us.  Then again, this weird weather may mean that we have some cold weather ahead after all.  Check out the video below, and just remember – the warm spring weather will be here before we know it!

I’ve been updating everyone on the progress of the garden over the past several weeks.  My plants have survived wind, aphids, and extreme heat.  Most of them have made it through August!  I thought a video would be a nice way to show you the progress.  Like last year, now that the extreme heat and sun of August is gone, the tomatoes will likely produce well through October. It was a lovely day today – enjoy this sunset!

The heat is taking a toll on my plants (more on this in a later post), but they’re still producing beautiful basil, tomatoes, and peppers.  Once (if?) we make it through this heatwave, I’ll expct a second round in late August, and, probably, through October. What did I make with all the basil?  PESTO!  (It’s in my freezer now.)