A Garden on the Grow!

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We've had some nice weather lately - in the low twenties celsius - and it really helped to give the garden a kick in the pants. Below is the still very dead blueberry bush, which will soon be pulled and replaced with a tomato plant, but the raspberry bush looks like it's struggling to make a comeback!
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Dead Blueberry Bush (Left) and Struggling Raspberries (Right)

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The strawberries have started to flower, and the radishes are plugging along, although I thought they'd be bigger by now. Perhaps I planted them too early... I hope I don't get a repeat of the Great Radish Famine of 2014!
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Strawberries (Left) and Radishes (Right)

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I planted a few of the pepper seedlings I had growing on the window sill, and as you can see, the kale is filling into those two pots nicely. In a week or two, I should start some more seedlings so I have something ready to go into those containers once the kale comes out.
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Peppers (Left) and Kale (Right)

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The carrots have come up well - and early. I left much more space between them this year, so hopefully they grow larger than they did last year. The two tomato plants seem to have survived the one night of exposure to the frost in the beginning of the month - it looks like they'll make it. 
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Carrots (Left) and Tomatoes (Right)

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The five cucumber seedlings, however, didn't make it. They struggled for a couple of days after the frost and then gave up the ghost. I had two seedlings still left inside, which I transplanted, and for the rest, I just planted some more seeds directly into the soil in the pots. I put a wire mesh behind the containers and planted close to the edge of the container. Hopefully I can get ten cucumber plants growing up there in total and get a good crop of them while still leaving most of the pot open to grow other vegetables.
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Cucumbers & Mesh

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Well, that's all for now. See you next time!
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Aaargh! Frosted Seedlings!

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So, my five of my cucumber seedling and two of my tomatoes have been growing quite well in my little pots on the window sill since I planted them back in the end of February...
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Tomatoes sprouted up!

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I'd been watching them every day... watering them... talking to them... loving them...
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Tomatoes (Left) and Cucumbers (Right) growing bigger

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And the weather had been so nice over the past few weeks... it must have been a month since the last frost, so I started bringing them outside to harden them up before transplanting.
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Tomato Seedlings (Left) and Cucumber Seedlings (Right) Hardening on the Balcony

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Strawberries

And finally, after a few days of hardening, I proudly planted my little darlings, excited to get such an early jump on the growing season... until the next morning when I went out to my car - AND HAD TO SCRAPE FROST OFF THE WINDOWS!!!

Aaargh!
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Oh well, what can you do?

The strawberries have perked up and the radishes and kale have poked up nicely, so I guess that's the silver lining to this cloud.
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Radishes (Left) and Kale (Right)

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... But I don't think I'm going to get much from these raspberry and blueberry bushes I bought last year. Gesh! $60 between the two of them, I didn't get more than a few berries to eat of off them, and they're toast by the next year.
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Dead Blueberries (Left) and Condition Critical Raspberries (Right)

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Those things were such a waste of time, effort and money, I think I might just take them completely off the "garden cost list" and write them off as a mistake of nature. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
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Pests on the Balcony

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It's been a little while since I posted an update on the Balcony of Eden, so I figured I'd better get my ass in gear in case I lose my ever-widening audience! 
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The past few weeks have not been kind to me. One of the neighbours had pigeons nesting on their roof, and now that the little buggers are all hatched and half-grown, the entire corner of the apartment complex is plagued by these pesky birds. They are warbling all night, crapping on everyone's decks, and in my case, eating my fricking beans like there's no tomorrow!
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Death to all the pigeons that ate my beans!

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When the beans flowered and then began to fruit, I was really excited and thought perhaps I'd bring in 100 or more beans. I was planning on building a root cellar and everything. Then the pigeons came, and within two days ate almost every damn sprouting bean that I had! They left me three beans - yes, only three! Stupid birds didn't even let them grow. I seen the beans come out in one or two days, just tiny little sprouts, and the pigeons came and gobbled them up before they even had a chance to grow. What a disappointment! I went to Wal-Mart and bought one of them fake-owl scarecrows... which seems to work, but it was too late to save the bean crop. What a waste.
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Lettuce completely destroyed by worms.

To further disappoint, the lettuce which I planted a month ago had finally started to really grow... until the one morning I came out and they were just dead. And I mean dead. Full of life the one day, completely dead and flat on the ground the next. I just couldn't figure it out... until the next day when I had a closer look and seen these little worms amongst the leaves. They were pretty gross looking - almost like maggots - but they're not because they move along like inch worms. I looked around online and figure they were some kind of cabbage worm that will later turn into moths. It was incredible, these little buggers. Not only did they kill the lettuce overnight, but over the next three or four days, they ate every last bit of it! I mean, there's nothing left! I wish I would have taken a picture each day, but I had no idea they would simply devour the lettuce like that. Now they're all dead because there's nothing left to eat. Ha ha! Who's the smarty pants now?
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Cucumbers starting to fruit

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As for the rest of the garden, it is coming along fine. I had a pile of cucumbers flower - over twenty - and of the several that fruited there are five or six pretty good sized ones starting to form. I don't know if the smaller ones will continue to grow, as they are obviously now lagging the larger ones.
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Don't need any cucumbers dropping down there, do we?

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You'll notice that the cucumbers are no longer attached to the railing as they were last month. I had to move them because there are some people living on the bottom floor who have little kids and they set their patio up as a playground. As I watched my cucumbers flower and fruit, I started to get worried that as they grew larger... what if one of them fell off the vine and dropped four stories onto some poor kids head? So, I transferred the cucumber plants to some large sticks I had, and later also bought a trellis for them to attach to. It doesn't look as nice as before, but it's better than becoming the guy who killed some kid with a falling cucumber.   
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Raspberries looking healthy again... but now the blueberries are hurting!

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In a strange turn of events, my raspberry plant which I was sure was going to die last month has perked right up with signs of new life. But now my blueberry plant is suffering the death look in almost the exact same fashion as the raspberries were last month. Neither of these two plants produce enough fruit worth mentioning. I hope they both survive and work out better next year. Time will tell, but for this year, they were not worth the money. ($60 between the two of them!)
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Nasturtiums

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The nasturtiums I planted last month have come up nicely, but no flowers yet. I should have planted these all in one pot, or better yet, I should have planted them in with the tomato plants, since they are companion plants. Out of the package of 20 seeds which only actually contained 19, seven of them came up. Not a blazing success, but they do fill in quite well as they grow. Still, I shouldn't have used two pots for them.
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Peppers starting to flower

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The peppers have finally flowered and, if you look closely on the right, have just begun to fruit. So far, out of the five pepper plants, four have flowered. These things sure do flower late in the year - the same as last year when they flowered so late I didn't think they would at all - but then, around the end of July or beginning of August, bam! And they were ready to pick by September. This year seems like it will be a repeat.
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Cherry Tomatoes

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The cherry tomatoes are coming along alright, what few of them grew this year. Usually I have oodles of cherry tomatoes, but this year it looks like I'll hardly even get a handful.
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The best damn tomato on earth!

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But my, oh my, look at that one nice, big, juicy tomato, eh?

EH?

Isn't that beautiful?

I plucked that work of art and ate it all by itself, with only a little salt & pepper added. It tasted as good as it looked.

Good job on that one, Mr. Gardener!
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A Mid-June Changing of the Crops

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Well, the Balcony of Eden has been chugging along for about two months now and it was time to harvest the kale, with the leaves having turned dark in colour. I had been picking through it already for several weeks, adding it into salads and making two good-sized meals of Stamppot with the rest. Altogether I harvested 20 ounces of kale from that one container. I did a little bit of Googling and found that Kale sells for $1.57/bunch, which is about 130grams or 4 & 1/2 ounces - the next time I go to the grocery store I'll check the prices locally and then weigh it on my scale at home. Quite obviously, this was a financial disaster, since I bought the kale as six pre-grown sprouts which cost a total of $8.94 plus 12% tax = $10.01 expenses. Take off the $7.07 profit I made by growing it and I have a net loss of $2.94 for my efforts. Uh oh! This is the road to bankruptcy! Quite obviously, one must grow from seed or gardening is not cost-effective. At that rate, I won't even pay off the $12.84 (incl. tax) for the container and 30litre bag of soil in which I grew the kale in.
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Heh, don't get me wrong - I'm not doing this to make money or to feed myself. This is more of an experiment than anything else, but I do want to monitor the expenses versus yields so I can become a more effective gardener. This was the first time I tried growing kale and it was a nice plant to grow - easy to care for; it looked wonderfully lush out on the balcony; and it tasted great. I'll plant kale again in the fall, since kale is one of those plants which can withstand frost and actually even tastes better after it has been exposed to frost. Of course, I will also grow it from seed next time, which will lower my expenses to around $2.00 - rather than the $10.01 I paid this time.
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Also, the Mesclun Lettuce Mix had turned to flower and, like the Great Lakes Lettuce, was starting to look a little ratty. Both lettuces grew about as long as I expected them to - two months - before starting to turn. I harvested a total of 18ounces of salad greens from both pots, but like the kale I had bought them as pre-grown sprouts rather than from seed. Leaf-Lettuce is worth $1.88/lb, so I produced $2.12 from an expense of $10.01 (incl. 12% tax), creating a net loss of $7.89. Therefore, coupled with the Great Radish Famine of 2014, I am once again losing money and the Balcony of Eden is not only failing to make a profit, but is creating debt as fast the Federal Reserve and leading me into bankruptcy.   
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Left: Carrots & Cucumbers - Right: Radishes & Climbing Beans

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On the other hand, I now have several empty containers that aren't doing anything. When I harvested the radishes I made the mistake of doddling around for over a week before planting again in the empty container, costing me valuable growing time. I replanted radishes in the one pot (above right), since I want to try them again, and in the other pot - the one with the carrots (above left) - I planted some more carrot seeds in between the plants that didn't get demolished by trying to grow them together with radishes, as so many people recommend. No more radishes mixed with carrots for me, thanks! However, since radishes grow so quickly - about 3-4 weeks from seed to harvest - losing 9 or 10 days of growing time will cost me in overall production. The new radishes are popping up now and soon will need to thinned - this time with the proper spacing as said on the package - but if I hadn't been lazy about it, they would have been much further along by now.
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I didn't make "the lazy mistake" with the kale and lettuce though, and had my seeds ready for planting as soon as I pulled out the old plants. I don't know how this will work, perhaps it's too late in the season already, but I planted ten nasturtium seeds in each of the previous lettuce containers. It says on the package that they should be planted indoors before transferring them outside two weeks after the last frost. Well, that time is well gone by, but the package also shows they grow until October, so I figured that's still quite a bit of time to have them. I made the mistake of planting a non-edible flower (Petunias - below left) to attract pollinators when I started the garden this year. From now on, nothing grown that isn't edible, I figure, so I wanted to try nasturtiums and see what they're like to grow.
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Left: Wave Petunias -- Right: Potatoes

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In the container that used to have the kale (above right) I planted two new rows of lettuce. We certainly liked the Great Lakes Lettuce better than the Mesclun Mix, so this time I'm going to try a different variety - Grand Rapids Lettuce - which looks similar to the Great Lakes variety. Lettuce grows best in the spring and fall, so I don't know how well this is going to work heading into the heat of July and August, but time will tell. I will be planting more lettuce later in the year when the other crops are harvested and the weather cools again, and this way I can kind of get a feel for what it's like to grow lettuce from seed - as well as seeing the difference between growing them in a small container versus a large one. Since my potatoes have grown like bloody palm trees (above right), once the lettuce sprouts out of the soil I'll move the lettuce behind the shade of the potato plants to help keep them cool.
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Tomatoes

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As for the rest of the garden, there are two beautiful tomatoes growing next to my chair (top right above) and a few more of the flowers are just beginning to turn into more tomatoes (bottom left above). The cherry tomatoes (bottom middle above) have flowered, but none of them have turned into tomatoes yet - they are certainly struggling compared to the full-sized ones, which is just the opposite of what I experienced for the past two years.
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Top: Blueberries -- Bottom: Raspberries

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The raspberry plant (above - bottom left) is struggling more than the blueberry plant (above - top right), although there are a couple of raspberries on the one plant, and so far, I see no blueberries at all. I suspect that since these plants are perennials, they won't really produce until the next year - like the strawberries (below) which are now cranking out abundant, tasty little berries for me, of which I sampled my first few only a couple of days ago. Mmmmm... you know, homegrown strawberries are certainly smaller than store-bought ones, which are sometimes almost as big as an apple, but the taste of the homegrown strawberries is one hundred times better. I cringe to think of what kinds of genetically modified tinkering goes into those huge store-bought strawberries.
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Yummy Strawberries

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Sweet Mix Peppers and Hot Mix Peppers

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The peppers which I transplanted from the window sill a few weeks ago are now taking root and growing to just where they are peeking over the rim of the pots. I had planted eight seeds and five made it, and out of those five, only one is struggling after the transplant (below right). Grow, my little babies, grow! You can certainly see the difference between topsoil-mix and potting-soil-mix in those pictures (below), can't you? The topsoil is full of little bits of bark and stuff, while the potting soil (the soil in the large containers) is nice and clean with no debris in it. I've read that potting soil is lighter than topsoil too.
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Sweet Mix Peppers & Hot Mix Peppers

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The cucumbers (below - top left) have finally reached far enough out of the pot that I am able to start attaching them to the railing like the beans (below - top middle and right). I am surprised that so few cucumber plants sprouted from the amount of seeds I planted - I have enough plants, but didn't need to thin them at all, so it worked out good but I'll remember that for the future so I don't "under-plant" the seeds and have too few plants sprout up. The climbing beans as well came with only six seeds in the package, and of those six only four sprouted... and of those four that came up, two have really gone gang-busters while two have languished (below - bottom left and middle). However, those two that succeeded are really going gangbusters! They climbed right up the railing lickety-split and and gave off several side-shoots that went nuts and grew about an inch a day as well, so the railing is starting to fill in now and I am able to kind of attach them here and there to fill in the bare spots. Next year I will plant more beans because it would have been nice for all six to have gone like those two. After all, how am I supposed to walk around naked on this balcony one day if I can't fill in my railing like a screen?
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Top Left: Cucumbers -- Top Right & Bottom: Climbing Beans

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Dwarf Blueberry Shrubs

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I bought a dwarf blueberry shrub from Minter Country Garden, so when I say I am growing blueberries on my balcony, make note - these are specialized plants, rather than the regular blueberry plant. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to write down the information that came on the label, to keep a reference to what kind of blueberry plant I am growing, and its specifications.

Blueberry Jelly Bean - A Taste of Jelly Beam

Jelly Bean is a charming little puffball of a blueberrry producing a prolific crop of large, flavorful blueberries mid-summer. The gorgeous foliage of Jelly Bean features uniquely elongated leaves that range from brilliant to darker greens with highlights of red in cooler climates. Try a mini-hedge along the a pathway, in the landscape or in decorative patio containers. 

Fruit Season: Mid-Summer

Berry Size: Medium to Large

Flavor: Sweet/Like Homemade Jelly

Shrub Habit: 1' - 2' Compact, Spherical Mound

Spring Color: Bright Greens

Fall Color: Rich Green with Red Leaf Margins

Planting & Care Notes: Full Sun * Acidic Soil (incorporate peat moss or organic matter into soil). * Good Drainage * Fertilize Early Spring (granular or liquid acid fertilizer) * Moderate watering

Pruning: This blueberry produces new canes each fall and spring. Once fruiting is complete, prune canes that have fruited leaving new canes to the next season. Annual pruning promotes plant growth and berry production.    

Grow Grow Gadget Garden!

I went to the Minter Country Garden today and picked up some more plants and seeds for the balcony garden - plus three more bags of soil to lug up to the apartment. I've never really grown plants from seed before so we'll have to see how it goes. I bought Hot Pepper Mix, Sweet Pepper Mix, Climbing Beans, Carrots, Radish and Cucumber.
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The peppers I should have read a little more closely because it says on the package that they have to be started indoors and won't be ready to transplant for around three weeks. So now I have eight cups filled with dirt and seeds on my window sill, seeing if they will grow. As I've said before, I've had mixed luck with peppers, but I've always bought them as seedlings first. Hey, why not take the plant I have the most difficulty with and make them even more difficult by starting them from seed? Oh well, if they don't work out, I'll just have to buy some seedlings in a few weeks. I really like peppers, but after two years of trying if I don't get some production this year I suspect it might be wise to try something else that's easier to grow.
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I'm really excited about the dwarf blueberry bush I bought for $25. That's it in the above top left picture. I hope it works out well. It's supposed to grow one to two feet high in a compact spherical mound. In the container on the above right I planted a row of cucumbers close to railing (I'm going to try and grow them upwards) and I also planted two rows of carrots in the same container. 
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In the next container I have climbing beans and radishes planted. The companion plant chart says that the two go well together. Radishes are really fast growing and should be ready to harvest in around three weeks. When they come out, I'll plant some more carrots in their place. Then, after the carrots come out in the summer, maybe I'll grow some more radishes before the fall.

In the above right picture is a dwarf thornless raspberry shrub I bought for $35. It is similar to the blueberry bush (same company) and should grow two to three feet high in a dense, compact mound. I also seen that they had grape vines for $40 that were designed for container growing. I really want a grape vine to grow on the back wall. I just love grapes so much. I remember when I was a kid living on Vancouver Island, at one of my friend's house they had an entire wall covered with grape vines. We'd go there after school and just hang-out and eat grapes until we were sick of them... and that took a long time because like I said, I love grapes. But, I didn't buy the grape vine. I had already dropped $100 on the blueberry and raspberry shrubs, the seeds and the soil, and that was enough for one day.
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There's the potatoes, which I moved off to the side, and behind them, in the corner against the wall is a tomato plant and the container with kale.

Grow, grow gadget garden!

Now that the main part of the garden is underway, I can look at filling in small spaces with some more pots filled with herbs or flowers. In the coming weeks, I want to start hitting garage sales looking for a patio-table umbrella which I can lash to the railing, to provide some much needed shade on hot summer days. Also, I want to see if I can find some sort of shelving I can put against the balcony's glass-wall partition, so that next year I can go more vertical.

Tips for Growing Blueberries

Feeding - Blueberries don't need to be fed heavily if they are kept well mulched. A fully grown blueberry bush needs around a pound of cottonseed meal each year to produce heavy yields.

Protecting Blueberries from Birds - If birds are getting into your blueberries, build a frame that will support a netting about six inches from the plant. If you just drape a net over the plant, the birds will still be able to reach it.
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The Blueberry Journal

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Dwarf Blueberry Shrubs
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I bought a dwarf blueberry shrub from Minter Country Garden, so when I say I am growing blueberries on my balcony, make note - these are specialized plants, rather than the regular blueberry plant. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to write down the information that came on the label, to keep a reference to what kind of blueberry plant I am growing, and its specifications.

Blueberry Jelly Bean - A Taste of Jelly Beam

Jelly Bean is a charming little puffball of a blueberrry producing a prolific crop of large, flavorful blueberries mid-summer. The gorgeous foliage of Jelly Bean features uniquely elongated leaves that range from brilliant to darker greens with highlights of red in cooler climates. Try a mini-hedge along the a pathway, in the landscape or in decorative patio containers. 

Fruit Season: Mid-Summer

Berry Size: Medium to Large

Flavor: Sweet/Like Homemade Jelly

Shrub Habit: 1' - 2' Compact, Spherical Mound

Spring Color: Bright Greens

Fall Color: Rich Green with Red Leaf Margins

Planting & Care Notes: Full Sun * Acidic Soil (incorporate peat moss or organic matter into soil). * Good Drainage * Fertilize Early Spring (granular or liquid acid fertilizer) * Moderate watering

Pruning: This blueberry produces new canes each fall and spring. Once fruiting is complete, prune canes that have fruited leaving new canes to the next season. Annual pruning promotes plant growth and berry production.     .
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April 19, 2014
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I'm really excited about the dwarf blueberry bush I bought for $25. That's it in the above top left picture. I hope it works out well. It's supposed to grow one to two feet high in a compact spherical mound. In the container on the above right I planted a row of cucumbers close to railing (I'm going to try and grow them upwards) and I also planted two rows of carrots in the same container.  .
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June 19, 2014
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Top: Blueberries -- Bottom: Raspberries

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The raspberry plant (above - bottom left) is struggling more than the blueberry plant (above - top right), although there are a couple of raspberries on the one plant, and so far, I see no blueberries at all. I suspect that since these plants are perennials, they won't really produce until the next year.
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July 25, 2014
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Raspberries looking healthy again... but now the blueberries are hurting!

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In a strange turn of events, my raspberry plant which I was sure was going to die last month has perked right up with signs of new life. But now my blueberry plant is suffering the death look in almost the exact same fashion as the raspberries were last month. Neither of these two plants produce enough fruit worth mentioning. I hope they both survive and work out better next year. Time will tell, but for this year, they were not worth the money. ($60 between the two of them!)
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April 7, 2015
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... But I don't think I'm get much from these raspberry and blueberry bushes I bought last year. Gesh! $60 between the two of them, didn't get more than a few berries to eat of off them, and they're toast by the next year.
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Dead Blueberries (Left) and Condition Critical Raspberries (Right)

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Those things were such a waste of time, effort and money, I think I might just take them completely off the "garden cost list" and write them off as a mistake of nature. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)
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April 22, 2015
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We've had some nice weather lately - in the low twenties celsius - and it really helped to give the garden a kick in the pants. Below is the still very dead blueberry bush, which will soon be pulled and replaced with a tomato plant, but the raspberry bush looks like it's struggling to make a comeback!
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Dead Blueberry Bush (Left) and Struggling Raspberries (Right)

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