niedziela, 20 maja 2012

empty balconies


This is how my tomatoes look like now :) As you can see they are twice as big! They are not suppose to grow much more and I'm looking forward for the flowers to bloom :)
I looked at other balconies in my building, but only two people have some flowers and that's it! Maybe they will take a look at my balcony within a month, see fruits and veggies and think that it's a good idea indeed ;) Every little step we take can make a difference.

sobota, 19 maja 2012

wild strawberries


There are new babies in the family :) I bought two wild strawberry seedlings, as you can see they have some flowers already. I really like wild strawberries, they are small but full of flavor! I just hope they will grow well :)

piątek, 18 maja 2012

chives



Within my herbs I planted also some chives. It seemed to be growing really slowly... my sister even asked me if it is grass! ;) However it's finally looking good and almost ready to eat. As you can see on the photo, finally weather is good enough to put my plants back on the balcony :)

środa, 16 maja 2012

flowers

Although the weather is recently really bad and I need to keep my plants indoors (not much space here, but it's cold and rainy outside) they still grow nicely :) Plus, as I noticed today they are going to have first flowers! :D And you know what that means? flowers = tomatoes!





The average conventional produce item travels 1,500 miles (2,400 km), using, if shipped by tractor-trailer, 1 US gallon (3.8 l; 0.83 imp gal) of fossil fuel per 100 pounds (45 kg). 
from Wikipedia

czwartek, 10 maja 2012

adopt a tomato :)

Surprisingly, when I mentioned to my friends that I have too many plants they immediately said they can adopt some of them! :) That's fantastic news, because tomatoes are all growing fast and I don't have enough space. It's also good that the idea of keeping your own veggies on the balcony just got a tiny bit more popular ;)

I'm already using my own herbs in the kitchen, especially basil for salads :) I've got really loads of coriander, I'm not really sure what can I use fresh coriander for?

wtorek, 8 maja 2012

new pots

My tomatoes finally got new bigger pots :) There was a lot of fun with coconut substrate and soil! Smell of wet soil and tomatoes' leaves is very nice and re-potting was fun and relaxing :) At the end of the day I've made them a family photo ;) They need to stay in tonight because it's going to be too cold, but I'll get them out in the morning.



poniedziałek, 7 maja 2012

potting substrate



I didn't fancy caring kilograms of soil, which I need to put my tomatoes in bigger containers! So, I bought just a small bag of soil plus a package of a potting substrate (peat free) made of coconut husk :) It is very simple to use. You just need to put some in a pot, add water and the substrate gets bigger within a minute - good fun! :)

before
after ;)














  • 50% of the world's population lives in cities.
  • 800 million people are involved in urban agriculture world-wide and contribute to feeding urban residents.
  • Low income urban dwellers spend between 40% and 60% of their income on food each year.
  • By 2015 about 26 cities in the world are expected to have a population of 10 million or more. To feed a city of this size at least 6,000 tonnes (6,600 tons) of food must be imported each day.
  • 250 million hungry people in the world live in cities



from Wikipedia article on 'Urban Agriculture'

niedziela, 6 maja 2012

hail storm


It woke me up at 5:20 am, at first I thought it's just a heavy rain, so I got up to close the window. When I noticed it's hail I jumped out on the balcony to get my plants inside. I was soaked, but plants were saved! :) Hail stones were really big, my neighbor's flowers were totally destroyed :(
Since there might be again a storm tonight, I decided to keep plants inside, they occupy my both windowsills :)

czwartek, 3 maja 2012

sunny days





My tomatoes make use of sunny days and grow very fast :) It looks like soon I'll have to give them bigger pots or put them into containers. I know I can't keep all of them, because I don't have enough space on my balcony. I already gave two plants to my sister and two to my parents. It is not very popular here to keep something eatable on your balcony - flowers, of course many people have them, but tomatoes?! ;)

środa, 2 maja 2012

sun and water

My balcony is facing East, so plants are getting plenty of sun in the morning and stay in shade in the afternoon. First I was worried that they won't have enough light, but with the recent heat wave I understood that morning sun is not as harsh as in the afternoon and the place is just perfect! I keep herbs in a more shady corner and tomatoes more in the sun.


My mini farm needs a lot of water... really a lot! Especially if you keep plants in small pots or containers you have to remember to give them plenty of it :)  I usually water them in the afternoon - it is important not to do that when plants are in a direct sunlight, they might get burn!

wtorek, 1 maja 2012

Mini Farm

Like many others I like fresh herbs and vegetables and I find it sometimes hard to buy good quality ones in a shop. I also think it is a fantastic experience to plant your own garden (even if it is a very.. very small one!), watch it grow and then make a salad with your own tomatoes and basil :)
So, I decided to start my own mini urban farm! Is it possible to grow your own vegetables if you have only a 1 m2 balcony on a 6th floor? ...and why not?! :) I've started with some herbs and then I planted some cherry tomatoes - they are growing fast and I already gave away few plants to my family :)


basil, oregano, lemon balm, coriander, parsley


some of my tomatoes :)