2024 - 10
The cold times are starting and the balcony is gonna be a little bare for a while.
I don't really have anything I want to grow in the winter.
Some of the lavas is going yellow and is strating to die off. I might do 1 or 2 aggresive harvests before I clear out the planters for the winter
The Strawberries are still doing fine. I think I can leave these as they are, dropping in mulch every so often. A little colony of isopods were living here, but I haven't checked for them in a little while.
I've already harvested and uprooted the tomatoes, lettuce and the random radishes I planted here and there. Soon I'll get to the potatoes and I'll find a bigger, better pot for that one decorative plant I got a little bit ago. I've also scattered around some Tuinkers (?) because they grow instantly anyway. Can always just pluck, wash 'em and throw them on random food.
The sugarcorn was done and I've also picked the radishes and beets from these little planters. I'm leaving some random lavas grow in these to harvest later.
2024 - 9
The Lavas has been growing well this year, more pops up before I can use it and I need to start looking at preserving a bunch of it over the winter. what I'm lacking in is pots and little planters to put inside. I have a bunch of stuff I'm gonna take cuttings from, but I don't want to end up putting plain pots in plastic bags or somethign wasteful like that.
I bought a small mint plant a while ago and started taking cuttings to make more for in the house. the main one is still growing good, it's bursting out of it's pot almost!
The Sugarcorn in the smaller containters did not really pan out. I will need something larger. The harvest was alright, 2 medium ears of corn from each!
The Strawberries are doing really well and I'm taking more cuttings to see if I can safeguard a few over the winter or give them away to friends.
My little Basil plant has been doing well the last month. Gave it a new pot and it started growing instantly!
1 of the potatoes got sick and I'm not holding out hope for that one, but the other 2 seem to be doing alright!
I still have a row of very late blooming Tomatoes in a wooden planter, I had nothing else I was looking to really plant outside this late in the year. Maybe I'll pull some inside. Last time the cold still got them, but with an actual door that isolates now, maybe keeping some stuff inside will still be viable this winter!
I tried 1 more pumpkin and while it didn;t really produce anything, it did help get bees to the little garden, so it well earned it's keep. It's lower leaves are running yellow and crusty, but the uppper half that has wrapped itself around a lettuce plant is having the time of it's life.
The 2 tall lettuce plants did really well this year and are sprouting seeds like mad. I'm gonna collect what I can and keep it to sow again next year. I really prefer these over the round lettuce plants because they are just build so much tougher. These tall lads take less care and still produce a good lettuce leaf to slap on your bread.
2024 - 8
The last month has been alright! Total harvest for the year is still meh, but we still got a second round to try a few quick things before winter! The Lavas is doing alright, looking a little dry here yes, but it gets it's water at night and I'm using it daily, too.
The Potatoes are looking a little yellow here and there. I should trim a little and maybe get some more nutrients into the soil. Got a few Tomatoes in the back, I don't have hope for them as I planted them a little late and they stayed small.
The tall lettuce is doing pretty well. I've started putting some of the leaves on my bread again. They are starting to flower and I hope to get some good seeds out of these. The Tomatoe in the background is doing well enough, too. It's meant to be a little bush Tomatoe, so it should stay small. Next to that is a random pumpkin. I know I told myself I couldn't do Pumpkins in my limited space and not so late, but I wanted to keep it around anyway.
The Corn is doing alright. I might be able to get a small yield of these 2 litttle ones. I have learned that these pots are not big enough for them. I'll have to find something better if I want to try Sugar Corn again.
I also have 6 pots and a small rectangle planter with Raddish! I have the black little net there to cover it, but sometimes bugs still sneak in and take some bites.
I've also been growing little sprouts and offshoots of Mint and Strawberry. A lot of the dedicated Strawberry planter has been attacked by cattepillars and such. I suppose I'll keep these inside if I can. The Mint does attract these little fluffy moth-like things that make little cocoons and nests on the leaves.
2024 - 7
I've started making little zines and leaving the Solar Cyber Punk themed alongside pots and other things at a local Green Libraries. In these little things I quickly cover where I get my pots, soil and seeds. I then cover a few things to grow,
I cover Potatoes, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Lavas and Mint.When to grow, when to harvest, where you might want to buy and what condition you should keep them in.
I might make more or more coherent ones later on. A mini series with each book covering a handful of herbs, crops or flowers.
2024 - 7
The construction work is done and things are gonna be a little normal until a few months when the door gets replaced. Fun fun fun.
The pots are in place again and are only midly messed up,
Things are looking a little yellow here and there though. I think the corn needed a bigger pots to sit in, it's a shame that the Remia things I use are too small for something like Sugar Corn
The big wooden planter with tons of random herbs is doing fine though! Can always grab a small handfull and use it in the kitchen
The strawberries plants are growing well again, zero harvest because it got messed up, but a good cover and I can keep growing them over winter like last year, Also growing a lot of Lavos,
A lot.
2024 - 6
I'mma be real with you, this year has been really poor,
They started some construction on the side of the house, the walls are getting reworked and fixed up a bit, This also means the walls on the balcony have to get done,
I have had such difficulty cultivating much of anything, snails ate the lettuce, over half the stuff I tried to pre-seed didn't go or didn't survive in the poor weather we had in earlier months,
The strawberries were doing pretty well, but then catterpillars attacked, now they are also coated in brick and mortar dust,
I was able to put 2 Sugar Corn, 3 Potatoes, some lettuce and random herbs on my neighbours balcony, they didn't mind because they like this kinda stuff
So yeah, poor year so far
2024 - 5
The weather was nice for a moment, until it was not for a week or 2,
We had a lot of rain, little hail, fierce winds, some stuff did not make it,
I had another batch of lettuce, but that all left this planet,
The first 2 lads of corn are having a bad time, they got hit by hail and birds one to many times, A random potato did start growing real quick and sneakily ouf of the right pot though
That strawberry plant from last year is powering through though, this little thing is invincible and I think I'm gonna give it the whole wooden planter to grow,
The potatoes I planted a few weeks ago have started to pop up proper and growing
I started some more corn sprouts, let's hope these make it through better!
Nothing that major for the start of this month, next week is gonna be poor weather again, so I'll have to see what I can do
2024 - 4
Mini update squeezed in here!
We got some okay days ahead of us and the potatoes I was saving for sowing are almost ready to walk away on their own!
What I've been doing is just slicing them into pieces with good roots attached to them, I try not to cut smaller then a quarter of the total potato
I feel like growing small batches of potatoes is a good start for some one getting into growing their own crops,
Low maintenance and can still give good results in okay-ish soil,
Just some good sunshine and a good gulp of water every few days
For now, part of balcony looks like this, I'm still in the process of sprouting more stuff in little tupperware boxes, I got Carrots, some more Sugarcorn, Sunflowers, Goldflowers, Basil, Lettuce, Shrub Tomatoes and I'm also trying Chili Peppers this year!
2024 - 4
We're getting more sunny weather here and there, inbetween the bouts of rain,
It's still tricky to transplant things from litte inside pots to larger bins outside, sometimes the temps just drop a bit too much in the night and make things rough on the sprouts,
For now, some of my pots stand empty until we hit at least a constant 10 degrees celcius at night, I have faith in the corn though, I normally grow that over at mom and pop's place because I can put a few in a row, but I wanna see if I can grow a good enough SugarCorn stalk in a simple 10 liter bin,
The simple herbs are starting to pop off though, good stuff, because the first little lettuce sprouts aint gonna make it,
I'm also looking into adding a little "Tips" section, I had some one send me a mini message about how they also tried to grow a few things, but were a little surprised by certain types of bugs just devouring their work,
I want to just throw up little things I've learned over time, which plants you really wana cover with netting from day 1 and so on, Maybe talk about some of the tips I found online that did absolutely nothing for me,
2024 - 3
Halfway through March I bought some bags of soil to help
top things off and provide some simple and basic nutrients,
I've gotten a few more of the food grade bins and I'm in the process of getting rid of one of the wooden planters,
I'm looking to put lettuce in the wooden planters together with maybe carrots if I have the room, herbs go in the plastic dark grey planters and tomatoes and potatoes in the grey bins,
I need to pick a new pot to throw some mint in and see if I have something large enough to grow sugarcorn in, I saw that the roots don't need THAT much space and might fit in a food-grade bin that's a little bigger then the 10L's I have right now,
2024 - 3
It's March! We can start planting little things under glass at the start of this month and some things directly into the soil at the end!
I've started by putting lavos -Maggiekruid, leeks, carrots and iceberg lettuce in knock-off tupperware with a paper towel and some drips of water,
These will chill by the window until they start sprouting and I start transplanting them, I will also get maybe 2 more of these and sprout my other staple foods, stuff like tomatoes and corn,
I will also give surplus away to the local little green library, I hope people will start using it again this year and leave some fun things to grow besides dying houseplants
I've been keeping a Strawberry plant under glass for the winter and it survived no problem! It also had a spider buddy who weaved a web around it which I suppose kept a few pests out of it, For their service I will build a mini roof on the side of the planter for rainy days without the glass plate,
I have my foodgrade bins ready for potatoes and tomatoes this year, I was honestly thinking about ditching 1 of the long wooden planters and getting a few more of these as replacement,
I got my random pots and other junk readyfor either donating or putting in whatever I feel like growing on a whim,
Over at mom's and pop's it's looking a little dreary, The planters have to be blocked off so that it doesn't become a communal litterbox for the neighbourhood cats and such,
We already planned out where our corn, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, beans and all the herbs are gonna go,
They also picked up another baby pine tree that did have roots this year, I found a okay enough bin in the trash to use as a pot for now, but if this baby wants to grow, we're gonna need something like 3 times this size,
This might be a fun, long time project, at least I have to worry less about it dropping dead in the winter!
2024 - 1
Not much to report! Only now are we getting freezing temps,
I did lose one of my more favorite pots though, I suppose it's my fault for leaving it out too long
2023 - 12
New layout! Let's run with this for a while and see how we feel, I wanted something simple
Merry Xmas and happy new year!
.gif){kind=small}
