Garden on the Balcony: Day #1

This year, I’ve decided to try to grow a garden. This is hard in an apartment, because I do not have a spot of land I can till and sow (I think those are the terms). Anyway, I’m still going to try. Kaint none of the worlds problem be forgotten when yer gittin yer hands in the dirt.

I went to Pinter’s Flowerland and Lowes this weekend and spent part of the $600 government check I haven’t gotten yet. I realize most people won’t really care about any of this, but it’s more or less a way for me to keep track of the progress throughout the summer. Or, there will be a comedic payoff a few weeks from now when all the photos will show massive plant death.

As you can see, I bought a bunch of “window hangers,” those thin long tubs that hang over balconies. I intend to do just that, but for this week they are staying inside. It’s supposed to get in the low 40s this week and I don’t want to risk it. Next weekend I will put them out on the balcony.

Clockwise, from top-left to bottom-left, I have:

Romaine lettuce and green peppers (shown on the right in this photo). No idea if that’s enough room for them to grow. I guess I’ll find out. Same goes for the ones on the left side… those are strawberries. They are a little droopy ever since I planted them yesterday, but I think it’s just because they have to get used to the new dirt. I also slightly watered them a bit today so maybe that’ll help.

Then:

On the right is more romaine lettuce, and then on the left are four green pepper plants, then above them in the same window box is three cherry tomato plants. Again, not sure about the room once they (hopefully) start to grow. I might have to move things around.

Katy wanted to grow some sunflowers, so right now I have six seeds I’m trying to sprout:

Nothing yet. It’s only been a day, though, so give ‘em some credit.

Next to it in the same style pot is:

Four broccoli plants.

Then, I have another window box with some other seeds:

On the left, the area with no toothpicks, are a bunch of green onion seeds. Four rows of the toothpicks are green bean seeds, and the rest are pea pods. No idea about the size requirements once they sprout, so I’m planning on transplanting them later. The goal right now is to just get them to sprout. The labels say I should see something within 10-15 days.

Then we have a tomato plant. I bought one over the weekend but in the process of putting it into a bigger pot, I broke the stem at the root. No idea if another one would have grown, so I had to throw it out. I went and got another one:

And repotted it:

So there it is… Adam’s Garden: Day #1. Technically, Day #2. Hopefully there’s enough growth by next week, I really want to keep track of this.

Anybody out there know any gardening tips? Usually I’m pretty good with plants so I am optimistic at the moment, but if you have any suggestions I’m all ears. Just please don’t tell me “uh, you can’t grow fruit and vegetables on a balcony in pot’s from Lowes,” because that’s really discouraging.