Neglected but not entirely forgotten

It's been a strange summer on the balcony. You would think with everything that's not going on in the world right now I'd have lots of time to play on the balcony. But that's not the case for some reason. I just haven't been all that interested this year. For a while we were hopeful we'd be able to get in a vacation before September so maybe I wasn't fully committed to gardening. But I did manage to get some beets growing and I've got peppers that are doing ok.

When I cleared everything off the balcony last year I had to get rid of all the support structures I had constructed for holding up various plants. It was probably for the best because it was getting really junky out there. But I really missing have those structures. Look at this pathetic black cherry tomato plant. It's an indeterminate variety. It's sprawling pretty bad and I've haven't been pruning it. There are tomatoes but not as many as there should be. I'm just too lazy to got out and buy some sticks. Or anything really. I was looking for some poles last week but they were all sold out.

I'm growing pole beans this year too and they are supported but not flowering for some reason. Timing and weather I guess. I also started cucumbers back in early June and they got off to a terrible start. And I don't have anything to support them. Probably won't bother. Even so, I found this cute little cucumber on one of the vines that was just trailing down onto the floor of the balcony. Some hope I guess. Maybe it's not too late to trellis those vines.

Almost time to plant

Getting closer to that time. Nighttime temperatures around 4C but we did have a frost advisory last week. The weather hasn't been that great actually. Cloudy. Rainy. Windy. But at least it's been consistent. Still a little early for my leggy seedlings. They need a bit more time. 

Whenever I plant too early I get caught by a frosty night or a windy day. I can never seem to get a head start. So these tomatoes and peppers will wait another week... week and a half. Actually, I might pot the tomatoes into larger containers first then wait two more weeks. I should do that now. I also have cucumbers growing in the window sill. Those I will definitely keep inside until the end of May. 

Just realized that I forgot to start my basil. Getting hard to find window space. Too many succulents. 

Germination Test

I started a little germination test over the weekend. I've got a small hoard of seeds from years past and I needed to know which, if any, were still usable. When I get new seed I always forget to write the date on the packet. Sometimes it's already there but not always. Most of the seed here was 4+ years old. And most appear to still be ok. So maybe I won't bother buying any new seed this year. I should probably just use what I have while I still can.

The only seeds that aren't germinating (yet) are 12 year old bell peppers and some watermelon seeds which must be around 10 years old. No surprises there. There are other melon seeds here that are still fine. Some greens, radish, onion and beets. And green tomatoes. I really wish I had more space on the balcony.

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.

Last Harvest

We were told to clear off our balcony for some building repair work. I think the last time we did this was 10 years ago. Just some minor repairs to bricks and concrete and I honestly don't think there's much to do on our balcony but some other areas around the building do need lots of work. Anyhow, I saw it as motivation to get rid of some junk that's been accumulating out there. Unfortunately it also meant I had to pick the rest of my peppers and tomatoes a little early.

I got quite a pile of green tomatoes and hot peppers and they're all slowing ripening in a large box I keep in the dining room. Last week I picked the last of the cucumbers and took down all the vines. They were pretty much done for the season. I thought I'd have to pickle all the cucumbers but we've been eating a lot of salads lately and it looks like we'll be able to use them all. The tomatoes will get eaten as well. But I'm not sure what I'm going to do with all those hot peppers. I grew way too many of those this year.

This was the first year I focused all of my balcony resources on just a few things that I know I can grow well; tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. That combined with an incredibly favourable growing season led to a fairly impressive harvest. I don't know what I'm going to do next year. I think I need a break but I'll probably feel differently next spring.