The Balcony Garden is Growing

I am not going to lie, I REALLY MISS having a backyard with a large veggie garden.  At my last house, we planted no less than 50 tomato plants each planting season.  Several types of squash, beans, eggplants, broccoli, onions, and peppers to name just a few of the plants.  People do tend to have larger yards in the States, but since I now live in Germany, I will manage a balcony garden.

I am happily making due with the space that I have here at our apartment. Dirk was very kind and ordered me two stand up planters.  They hold two tomato plants each.  Dirk’s mom gave me countless pots of various sizes, so I have planted some spinach, lettuce and green beans too.  I also have a zucchini plant set up on a chair.

Zucchini

Cherry Tomatoes and Dill

This week

Last Week

I still have plenty of room to add more veggies on my balcony, I am just in need of some more planting soil.  For this, I need Dirk to drive me to the local Bauhaus.  I do not think I can manage to drag home a few bags of potting soil on the bus, then tote them up the four flight of stairs by myself.  But, it may come to that if I can’t get him to bring me to Bauhaus soon.

I am still waiting for Dirk to take me back to the Bauhaus. I can assure you that I was very well behaved at our last visit, and only purchased a few plants. (In the past, I may have gone a bit crazy with my greenhouse purchases. So, I do understand his reluctance in bringing me to a store that feeds my gardening addictions.)

But, alas, Dirk is not a gardener.  He does not share my love of digging in the dirt.  He also does not share my desire to completely fill the balcony with a veggie garden.  He is more of a Biergarten type of fan. I also feel that, maybe, he is worried that I may manage to grow too many vegetables….. again.  A few years ago, we were eating fresh tomatoes(of all varieties), every day, from July until November.  He felt that was a bit much. He also turns a bit green when I mention we will be eating zucchini. One year, I may have fed him zucchini every day for 3 months.  I did not even try to over fed him with the green beans, I just brought a bag of fresh beans to work, everyday for over a month.

Yesterday we had our first salads out of the garden.  I am really looking forward to the tomatoes,zucchini, and beans, but those will be a while yet.

There are a few benefits to having a smaller, balcony garden.

1. No bunnies are able to eat the lettuce
2. No deer to eat everything else
3. Everything is in pots/containers, so no weeding necessary.
4. Watering is SO MUCH EASIER
5. It’s much easier on my back, not much bending
6. I can rearrange everything to get optimal sunlight
7. I can’t grow enough food to feed the Western side of Germany….yet

So, although I would really like to add just a few more plants to my garden, it really is almost perfect.  I wonder if I can manage enough German on the phone to get a Taxi to take me to Bauhaus……….

Do you have a garden, in the yard or on the balcony?  How is your garden doing this year?  Does you family support your gardening addiction love?