A Fresh Start

I had to take a break from the balcony in 2020. For much of that summer we had a maintenance crew dangling from cables off the roof, replacing deteriorating bricks and patching/painting stucco. They were on and off my balcony a dozen times that summer. Mostly chipping out cracks in the concrete and refilling it. So for a big chunk of the year I couldn't have anything on the balcony. But I hadn't really planned on doing anything that summer because we had two family vacations planned that would have kept us away for most of the summer. Those travel plans had to be cancelled for obvious reasons so I was stuck at home all summer without a balcony garden. And I couldn't start one even if I wanted to.

Just a few containers left.

There were some good things to come out of the building renovations. I got the balcony cleared off and it was power washed and painted. Looks new again. It forced me to deal with a growing pile of junk that needed to go. And I had to give up the pigeon netting which wasn't all that bad because it was starting to come down on its own anyways. 

So once again I have to deal with that annual decision: what should I grow? I have some seed from previous years that may still be good. Might have to try something new though. I'm not sure. Depending on how things go with the virus and vaccine roll-out we might try for a vacation again this summer in which case I would have to abandon the garden at its peak. But I'm willing to risk it. I don't want to be stuck at home for another summer without a garden on the balcony.