Balcony Gardening and Starting Over
For a year now, I have been looking for a suitable (and affordable) area to relocate and build a new sustainable home and organic garden from scratch. A relationship breakdown and other factors caused the move originally and it was back to renting/sharing. Early this year, with no suitable (and affordable!) house found I took a temporary move to share a unit with my partner. So 2009 has not only been lived renting, but actually with no garden of our own. I often say that the Organic Gardening material was largely put together for people in such situations. Originally it seemed a huge step back - now its a case of looking at the positive and growing as much as possible in the available space. This is only what I constantly tell others to do. So it is yet another chance to do this better and list some better techniques here on the blog.
I must say sorry for the lack of input into this blog and other material during this period. When originally moving to South East Queensland I had factored in the great growing conditions and not so much the potential relationship and friend/family strain. A word of warning - when moving to live the self sufficiency life, be sure you take into account the isolation factor. Not only that, be sure that the person you are with has also thought about these things.
It has been fun to set up this mobile balcony garden. I hope to make the most of it while the hunt for a new block continues. As there are so many people in the same situation, this period of balcony gardening will provide better info for this blog and the next update of Organic Gardening. Organic herbs and vegetables should be grown by everyone yet specific info on this has been a bit lacking so far. Many people do email requesting info on growing in pots as that is the only option. There are certainly some advantages to balcony gardening also. For example, you can move your garden to suit conditions and also when you move. It is possible to garden at night time when you have time and your home from work. Growing in pots and boxes is also water wise.
The new motto will be to continue to be self sufficient, but do it in a place that does not shut off other important areas of life. You can have your space yet remain close enough to see friends and do other things. A semi farm block is simply not necessary for most people - just look at what Jerry Coleby Williams has achieved on a 400sq.m block up in Wynnum. This type of smaller site that's better selected and impeccably designed is the goal for the next home.
Things going well on the balcony at the moment are Mills Peas and Dwarf Snake Beans. After planting these in early May, the Mills peas shot up then quickly re-seeded. 2 weeks later the weather had cooled slightly and the second attempt was very successful. Beautiful flowers followed by quick growing snow peas. The Dwarf snake bean grows even quicker. Quick growing plants are important as space is the main issue you have. The snake bean has been a great producer even though its having a running battle with aphids. Aphids have been the biggest challenge so far for this garden - more on that in an upcoming post.
How much can you grow on a balcony?
This will be the new project for this year - measuring how much can possibly be grown on a normal size, 3rd floor balcony. This is an important area as many people in populated areas will always be balcony gardeners. I have about 8 boxes at the moment and will soon increase this. Composting is an obvious challenge though I have been working on ways balcony gardeners can do this effectively. It involves creating liquid compost and only including food that breaks down quickly. I hope to pick up my old worm farm in the next few weeks.
Version 4 updates started - More Info for Organic Gardening in Pots
Growing in pots and balcony organic gardening will be better featured when the next version is released. The update is being worked on now and will be available in the near future.
