I’ve always gardened. With the exception of an orchid and succulent foistered on me by my Mother, I’m all about eating what I grow.
Having a garden in an urban environment when you only have a balcony is actually easier than I thought. It’s actually more convenient than walking too far into the garden to inspect your water tank, water the plants, or harvest some herbs for dinner.
Presently, I’ve got potatoes, basil, vietnamese mint, tomatoes (x2 varieties), chillis, sweet pepper, carrots, italian parsley, lebanese cucumbers, lettuce, taragon, mint and coriander in production.
When I first run the shower in the morning I place a bucket in the bath until the hot water comes through. This means I’m almost self-sufficient in water. This water I place in the water tank which my Brother afixed a tap to.
I collect our waste vegetable scraps which are collected for a week and then placed in the worm farm. The worm pee and poo are then returned to the garden. The worms can eat all that we can produce. Recently we’ve kept the farm in the bathroom (no odour) while we’ve had continuous days over 30+ degrees Centigrade.
It’s all very easy and relatively low maintenance. If anything the biggest issue I sometimes face is having too much of one thing to eat while it’s at its prime. I don’t have enough to on-sell, but I have enough to be wasted if I’m not diligent in eating it.