Edible Dreams

OMGosh.... I have always wanted to grow blueberries (amongst other fruits and edibles) on my balcony, but had been unsure until I saw this as to whether growing them in pots was a yes/no/maybe....

IT'S A YES!!!

The site I found this pic on, and other information is http://gardenofeaden.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/how-to-grow-blueberries.html   -  and even better it's an Australia website!

Stay Tuned... one day I will do this....

Happy Potting! K.

T.I.L: Pest Deterrents

I'm not an expert in the garden, so I'm not really sure that offering tips and tricks and advice is the right thing for me, however, I would love to share with you "Things I've Learned" (T.I.L) along the way with my little garden.

This fist T.I.L post, comes curtosy of the little green bugs I mention so often and are again re-appearing in force in my garden - that's right, Aphids.

Through trial and error, I have found that there are 3 methods, used in conjunction with each other and used regularly, that work best for me in keeping my apparent Aphid population at bay.

1. My hands - with a pair of gloves on, and some warm soapy water, the quickest way to rid plants of aphids is to physically remove and squash them! Not the nicest job, and I am careful to not squash the plants in the process, but this method reduces numbers immediately!
2. Pyrethrum Spray - an absolute must for me in regular applications.
3. Home Made Spray - I have a couple of pyrethrum plants in my garden now, so I take the leaves and mix them with water, detergent and oil to make my own spray. The oil and detergent is supposed to clog the pores of the aphids and therefore suffocate them. I sometimes think this spray works better than the pyrethrum, so I use both. Another benefit of using the detergent is that if it gets into the soil (and it's a good idea to spray the soil for aphids too), it is said to help with water retention, particularly if your pots have dried out a little like some of mine! I also plan to try adding a little garlic or chilli to the mix once I start planting tomatoes, as this is supposed to help deter pesky caterpillars :)

- This is the product I am currently using, also available as a concentrate, but there are also many other brands available -

One of the things I have tried and will never do again;

• On advice I was given, I added some sugar to the mix as this was supposed to attract lady bugs (natural predators of aphids). What I ended up with were zero lady bugs, and a crunchy sticky mess with bugs trapped in it!

What I would like to try, and am preparing my garden for;

• Mail order lady bugs.... That's right, you can have a box of these pretty little predators delivered to you for around $40-$50 (AUD). )You can get them here...   http://www.bugsforbugs.com.au/.)  I have been seriously tempted to try this already, but through some research before hand I discovered that without aphids and flowers, the ladybugs are unlikely to stick around! Not such a bad thing, but I thought if I can prepare my garden to best of my ability for some lady bugs, perhaps they'll hang around a little longer, and protect my garden. (A post to come about my lady bug preparations!)

So there you have it... some of what I've learned about pest deterrents (in particular to aphids!). Hope if you're looking for some things to try, this might give you a little hand - my pansies are benefiting from it, such happy faces - 

Happy Potting! K

Inspiration...

There is almost nothing more entrancing than a pot/container overflowing with blooms/edibles. Here are some great combinations of colour - I hope one day my pots will be as successful as these!

- Petunia's have never really been all that enticing to me, but I may just have had my mind changes, don't they look stunning! (Could not get this image to import at the proper rotation, sorry about that) -

- I love the mix of orange, magenta and purple, plus the site I've borrowed this image from has some great tips and advice (http://www.costafarms.com/Public/NewsView.aspx?News=Gardening&Type=News&Id=71) -

- I just love pinks and purples! Make sure to include some trailing plants to add more dimension to your pot/container as they spill over the sides -

- different types of foliage mixed in with flowers can be just as stunning -

I am a firm believer that anything can be grown in pots and containers, and that you don't necessarily need huge containers for plants to flourish. See my last post with my pair of pansies - that pot would be approx 20cm diameter. 

What I have learnt and would strongly encourage, is make sure that whatever pot/container you use, you have a saucer for it - I (shamefully) thought pft to this, but sure enough, when the water drained straight through the pots, the plants weren't getting enough water (and the food in the water was being wasted)!

And boy do pot plants need their food - unless you give it to them, they don't get any nutrients once they've drained the soil of what it did have. I feed all my plants at least once a week with a soluble fertiliser, and perhaps every 1-2 months top up the pots with a bit of fresh compost. They sure seem to be loving it.

So give it a go! Now is the best time to plant spring blooms, so get going and do it! Just remember, pots and containers can sit on the ground, on shelving, or even hang!

Happy Potting. K. 

More like an oasis every day...

My goodness, how time flies!

Much has changed on my balcony since my last post (back in April!!) - I am so sorry to have been gone so long, and that I have missed out on updating you all on what's been happening in my little oasis.

Truth be told - for a while it wasn't feeling much like an oasis - remember those aphids?? Well they've been right little pains that's for sure! But these days, whilst there are still aphids around, I am in better control, and my little oasis is really thriving!

At the moment, my balcony is quite awash with flowers, and it's just marvellous! I have had tulip and now freesia bulbs sprouting and flowering.....

I have lots more happy faces... including a stunning pair in a lovely turquoise pot as a centrepiece...

I was inspired to plant sweet peas to tumble out of a hanging pot, and having planted the seed a couple of months ago, you can see how healthy the sweet peas now are, and flower heads are already apprearing - what an amazing flowering mass they will be...

(sweet peas in the lower hanging basket)

The above photo also shows one of the edible components of my garden, the 'herb wall'- there's chocolate mint, coriander and basil on the top shelf, flat and curly leaf parsley and thyme on the middle shelf, and more mint below that. There are chives keeping company with the sweet peas, and look! My daisy is finally flush with flowers!

Below see my blushing strawberry plant - such delicate and beautiful pink flowers that are going to give me yummy berries to eat!

Finally, as far as photos go, the old lady of my garden.... my Jasmine... in full bloom and amazingly fragrant!

What a lovely little oasis it is now... and I'll have more to share very soon... my dianthus is finally about to flower, I have yellow button squash seeds sprouting, plus more flowers, I have healthy beets, spinach and radish plants ... and more herbs establishing themselves including common mint and rosemary.

Can't wait to share more with you soon!

Happy Potting! K. xx

Happy Faces

Since my last enthusiastic post about my lovely little seedlings, my balcony garden has become somewhat of a battle field - aphids, sudden weather changes causing sunburn and heat stress, and slight overwatering when the temperature suddenly drops!

But, all is not lost, and the garden is hanging in there (me too!)

At the moment these happy smiling faces greet me every morning! I've decided, all gardens must have pansies and johnny jump up violas!

K. xx

Big and Strong!

My seedlings planted just over 4 weeks ago are still growing well!

Above - beans right, radish left. Below - spinach left, beets right.

I discovered the aphids had moved in on my radish on Sunday, so I sat and carefully removed them all by hand (there weren't too many at that stage) - Going to have to keep a close eye out to avoid a major aphid offensive!

K. xx

Partial to Pansies

I added some spreading pansies and jump up violas to my garden over the weekend to bring in a bit of colour and interest. I just love to see their little colourful faces in the morning!!

A Temperamental Birthday Girl...

My wish for a Gardenia for my birthday was kindly granted, and so with great excitement I transplanted my Gardenia into a larger pot and placed her in a sunny yet protected corner of the balcony.

I carefully monitored her progress as she settles into her new environment, watering and feeding when I thought it was required.

But then it started happening - flowerheads dried up and or fell off for no apparent reason! Lots of them did! I was devastated as some of them looked ready to open, and I didn't know what to do.

I decided the best plan of attack was to go back to basics;

1. Check the soil level - Gardenia's have sensitive roots so need to be well protected. The soil level seemed a bit low so I topped it up with potting mix and compost.

2. Water - I checked the soil daily and gave her a nice long soak with water when needed.

3. Feed - as well as the compost when topping up the soil lever, each week I give a feed of liquid food after soaking. By soaking first and then giving the liquid feed, the plant gets the water they need, without wasting the liquid feed!

Thankfully this seemed to work! My Gardenia started to grow, and formed flower buds -  and this time,  they fattened up and bloomed!

Just as everything seemed on track, the aphids moved in! The had moved in quickly, massed around the new growth and flower buds! I began a daily routine of spraying a concoction of water, oil, detergent and sugar and am managing to keep them mostly under control. Phew!

K. xx

Morning Flowers :)

They looked so lovely and bright this morning I just had to share them... The white is my lovely Gardenia of course, and the pink is my tuberous bergonia!

Note to self - must check Bergonia for caterpilars! (See the holes!)

K xx

Seedlings Update

Over the weekend I thinned out my bean, radish and beetroot seedlings into larger more permanent containers as they'd all reached the '2nd-leaf' stage.

I'm so excited at the progress they are making, and can't believe how quickly they are growing! I took this photo yesterday, and when I checked them this morning, the beans (bottom) were already standing upright displaying 2 open leaves!

I actually bought these containers from Kmart for $2 each, including the trays! I put a thin layer of styrofoam in the bottom of each planter to assist with drainage, and as I was using old soil from some pots I had, I made sure to add blood and bone to give the nutrients the seedling will need. (Make sure to follow the directions for amounts on the packet!).

Once planted, give them a good water and leave them in a nice sunny spot.

My spinach seeds are also growing well..... and will need potting out soon.

And I can even see pea and sweet pea seedlings starting to push through! (No photo yet!)

K. xx

Super Cress!

Sewing Seeds

I had a busy gardening weekend - as well as planting Cress on Saturday, I got excited and also planted sweet peas, forget-me-nots, pansies...

beans and spinach (cress too!)....

and peas, radish and beetroot....

All now happily sprouting (hopefully!!) in their little trays..... not necessarily a conventional seedling tray, but fingers crossed it works!

Check back for when I share the ideas I have in store for these little guys :)

K. xx

The Original Survivors

After sadly saying goodbye to my damaged, pest overrun plants, I looked around and took stock of those that remained.

My two tomatoes were actually fruiting! They had been severely attacked by caterpillars, but the fruit was intact and delicious

The chilli was thriving - covered in green chilli's that turned a wonderful deep red when they ripened - and I had salvaged 2 of my strawberry plants, which needed some TLC.

The edible plants had by far fared the worst in the onslaught of pests.

Of the others, my star jasmine was taking off - climbing strongly and branching out. I'd lost my yellow daisy, but the pink was branching out. The last of the flowers on my Ivory Prince were fading, but the sharp green foliage added a nice structure to the garden.

My purple blob succulent was a bit dry, and my nemesia aromatica green and healthy, but wasn't flowering.

So, with only a handful of plants left, it was time to pay attention to the problems at hand - how to best encourage growth and get my plants to flower and flourish.

K. xx

Cress Update

This photo I took this morning - it has only been 3 days and my little seeds are making such great progress!

I'll be enjoying them in a salad, or garnishing a meal with them soon.

K. xx

Quick Cress

So as we're not living in the past for weeks until I get all caught up, here's a little something I got going over the weekend (Saturday).

For anyone who has ever wanted something so easy and so quick in their garden (or even not, your kitchen bench will do fine!), and as a bonus is edible, look no further than Cress!

All it takes is a little paper towel, and a container (can be as simple a container as you like - takeaway lids work fine...). I've chosen a cute little plate I picked up at my local dollar store.

Then just add seeds, and water...

And cover with paper to keep it in the dark until the seedlings start to sprout! Easy! I peeked at mine this morning and it's happening - I'll take a pic to post tomorrow so you can see how quick they progress.

K. xx

Overload!

Of course, it was only after I'd started my balcony garden with a huge surge of enthusiasm, that I realised I had bitten off a bit more than I could chew!

I'd started with too many plants, not enough knowledge and not enough planning.

Unfortunately, more than half my original edibles are no longer with us - engulfed by aphids and muched to within an inch of life by caterpillars, I decided to put them out of their misery :(

This experience taught me two things;

1. who my balcony garden enemies were going to be - aphids and caterpillars - we're still at war!

2. for my balcony oasis to be successful, I was going to have to take this more slowly - too many new plants all at once is just too much!

I decided I needed to take time to nurture my remaining plants until they were well established, and be carefully selective and allow the same attention to new plants introduced to the garden.

A few months have passed since this disaster, and my garden is growing well! Following posts will reflect on my gardening time that has passed (until I'm caught up!) and current adventures of my little oasis.

K. xx

Garden Dreaming...

When I moved into my place in July 2011, I had a lovely big tiled balcony. It sat stark naked for a good 4 months before I got tired of looking at those hard surfaces of brick and tile, and started longing for something to brighten it up, and give me something to look after!

I started out 'planning' my balcony garden by studying the movement of the sun - how much sun, at what time of the day - and thinking about what I wanted to achieve with my garden.

My balcony faces north-east, getting full sun in the morning, and full shade in the afternoon. My goals came down to 4 main points - organic, edible, always colourful, and fragrant.

I already had in mind a number of plants I would like to grown on my balcony - jasmine (for it's fragrance), herbs (love to cook), tomatoes (because they are delicious) and beans (also delish!). Only thing I needed was pots, soil and the plants themselves!

So, after a trip to my local garden centre, I set about potting tomatoes, beans, jasmine, daisy's, capsicums, a purple blob and an ivory prince (plant profiles to come soon!). I watered them in, and shuffled pots around until I was happy with the arrangement.

With my garden now planted, the watching and waiting began....

Inspiration and Beginnings

For Christmas last year I was given a great book "The Edible Garden", written by Indira Naidoo. It was a very appropriate gift as I had not long before started dabbling in gardening with the aim of filling my balcony with fragrant and edible goodies.

Indira's book is filled with such great information, in such a fun format, that it inspired me to start this blog to record my successes, temporary defeats, and tips for gardening in pots.

Stay tuned!

K. xx