I have an exciting project in mind, and I want to gauge your interest. I was thinking that we could have a virtual community garden, connecting balconies and patios all over the place. We would share our failures and successes, encourage each other, and generally have a lot of fun growing our own fruit, veg, and herbs.
What this means is that we would all grow the same five plants, from seed, in containers. You don’t have to grow all five, or just those five. I am probably going to create a special message board section of Life on the Balcony so that we can talk about our vegetable gardens. And I will write regular posts with tips and advice about growing these plants, and container farming in general.
So, what do you think? Who’s in?
Photo by JustSmartDesign
{ 63 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds like a great idea. I’m in!
Luis
Yay! Glad you’re interested Luis! Tell me about your gardening space, do you have a yard, patio, porch, balcony? What do you like growing?
AH I in!!!
Sounds like fun! I was already planning on getting some seeds this weekend to start some veggies for the spring!
Glad you’re on board Mary and Megan!
Fern,
I’m lucky to have a good size yard that already had a “garden” area already marked off. The garden is about 4ft x 20ft or so. I have 3 raised beds in it at 3×3 each which takes up about half the space. The other half is used for direct in ground planting. The beds don’t have anything growing in them right now but there are squashes, cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, swiss chard, carrots, snow peas and beets. Everything seems to growing well and looking good. There are also small beds around the yard where I will be adding more edibles and possibly beneficial flowers.
I also have an area where a container garden will be. I used some 5 gallon buckets that will hold eggplant, tomatoes, peppers and whatever else I can find. I’ve got many seedlings started and will be ready when Spring kicks in.
As you can tell, I love growing most everything. I am only in my 2nd Spring season but I got started late last year. I hope to do much better this year.
Luis
Love to join in. Really short on space, but can always cram in one or two more.
Sounds like great fun… count me in… on a side note, this will be a special project for me to take part in as this is my first season of container gardening… I can’t wait to see what happens *grin*
Sounds great! My only issue might be that my balcony only gets maybe 2 hours direct sun this early in the season. I guess it would depend on what seeds you are talking about.
I’m a maybe. I think my wish list is longer than space available this year, but it’s highly likely at least one or two of the vegetables in your “five” are already on my list. How will you account for zone differences, or are you thinking this is more for your local followers?
Glad to have you Christina & Destiny!
Deb–What kind of sun does it get later in spring and summer?
Mary, Megan, Christina, Destiny, Deb…what kind of garden do you guys have?
What a great idea! already tweeted about it to my followers and left a link back to you. Good luck and keep us posted. I do not have a balcony so won’t be joining the group but would still be very interested in the results. I step out my front door and see ten acres of all mine, so my projects are a little bigger. I hope you concentrate on food type plants so that people will also be getting some nutritional advantage + the real joy of growing something.
Thanks for tweeting about the community container garden! Sometimes it’s nice for large property owners to have some containers of herbs close to the kitchen door. Maybe that is a way you could still join in on the fun?
Great idea! I’ve already got my garden planned for this season, but I’m sure some of my picks will be in your “community garden” line up. I have an unobstructed west facing patio. I would love to participate, but I do not have Facebook. Will you have some sort of “forum” available here on the blog?
Melanie–Yep. I’ve already installed the message board software and I am working out the kinks. Should be ready for fun garden chatting next week!
My balcony gets maybe 4-5 hours of sun in midsummer; we are on the second floor and only about 18′ from the neighbors across the way (hello, Rear Window!).
I’ve had success in an earth box with a bunch of different greens; romaine, cutting lettuce, flat leaf parsley that grew into a tree. I’d love to start something from seed for a change.
Lack of sun rules out tomatoes although I had some success with the upside down thing maybe 10 years ago.
Deb–Might be time to dust off that upside down tomato grower….
Fern — I haven’t had one in years… the last I had was direct planted in my back yard… it grew corn, tomato, potato, beans, peas, carrots, pumpkin, broccoli and cucumber along with sunflowers… it was a cool mix of items picked out by the kids… I sure miss that garden
I am looking at tomato (upside down grown), pickling cucumbers (upside down grown), peppers (also upside down), bush beans and bush peas and I’m not sure exactly what else yet… it’s pretty ambitious at this point but isn’t all planning lol
The AAS picked an orange bell pepper called ‘Orange Blaze’ as a winner this year. If you can find one, that would definitely be worth trying. Peppers do really well in containers.
http://www.all-americaselections.org/Winners.asp
This sounds like fun! I’m in … probably. It really depends on what’s on your list and how much space I have, since I went a little crazy with buying seed this winter. I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to fit everything I already have on my balconies once the snow disappears, never mind any new additions!
I plan on definitely growing nasturtiums, strawberries, tomatoes, various chinese greens like bok choi, spinach, basil, dill, chives, cilantro, kale, hot peppers, and maybe broccoli peas and beans. For pest control, there will definitely be marigolds.
Do you have any other patios you could commandeer? Like maybe one at work? That way you could expand your growing space.
Haha! I’ll try to scout out some possibilities this weekend, right after I get some other seeds started for indoor growing.
When will the secret plants be revealed?
Sounds like fun! I have an east-facing balcony in Downtown LA where I have started a garden of herbs and citrus trees – but I’ve never grown anything from seed and would like to try. I’m most interested in edibles (especially heirloom types).
This will be a great opportunity then. What kind of citrus are you growing? I’m considering adding a kumquat to my balcony this year…
I currently have four dwarf citrus trees – Pomona Sweet Lemon, Mexican Lime, Blood Orange, and Navel Orange. I got them last fall and they seem extremely happy on my balcony – they are all putting up lots of new growth and buds right now. No fruit yet, but I hope there will be soon!
I’m in. I had a large garden in previous years, but we moved to a condo in town and everything has to go into containers on a front and back porch and maybe some gravel area next to my husbands garage. I’m sure I’ll plant more than five, but I’d love to have the community of other groundless gardeners. I’m planning a herb pot, mix of leafy greans, tomatos, flowers, peppers, eggplant, raddishes, carrots, garlic, peas and maybe strawberries. I want to plant squash and melons, but I don’t know if I can round up containers that are big enough for the root systems.
Mary–Glad to have you on board. I look forward to hearing about all your veggies, it sounds like you’ve got quite a green thumb!
I’m in, I’ve already done my planning, most of my seed buying, and started a couple seedlings indoors. My two balconies are somewhat lost for sitting purposes as they’re both about 2-3 feet wide, and not at all private, but one gets great full sun, and the other gets a more filtered part-shade. One side has a trellis already bolted to the wall, so I’ve got peas and climbing flowers planned. But the big monkey-wrench in the plans is that I cant ask for help very easily, as I live in the suburbs of Paris. My french is not too bad, but not fluent, and gardening is a very specific language. So frost zones, seed package instructions, ability to purchase/find things, and all sorts of other seemingly simple tasks are significantly more complicated.
Susan–Hopefully the message board that I plan on launching with this project will be a great asset to you.
By the way, I studied abroad in Paris, I lived in the 14th arrondissement, near the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art. I felt so lucky to walk by Patrick Blanc’s living wall every day on my way to class!
I’m in! I have 100 sq metres of beds but I’m also lucky to have an 80 sq meter courtyard … which I often overfill with container veggies which in turn causes discord in the household. You had to shuffle around last year and there was not enough space for activities
. Can’t wait to see the list…..
You sound like my kind of girl, Kathryn!
i’m in!
Glad you’re on board Schramm!!!
I’d love to join in. My only concern is that my backyard has very limited amounts of sunlight. My plants did not do well last year. So, it would all depend on what plants you decide on.
Jackie–Is there somewhere else you could use to grow your veggies? I grew a TON of tomatoes and a dozen potatoes at my office last year.
Fern,
My “garden” is my balcony off my apartment. I have several containers and some available 36″ planters that are attached to my railing. I have herbs going now: basil, rosemary, cilantro and mint, but I’m looking to upgrade to tomatoes, zuchinni, or something?? I’m not sure what would grow best.
Megan–Stay tuned, I picked some fun herbs and veggies that I think you’ll enjoy trying. At least one of your upgrade options is included.
Oh man, I’d TOTALLY participate, but my balcony gets absolutely NO direct sun ever. I’ve been okay with growing succulents and the like, but that’s about it.
Megan–Is there somewhere else you might be able to commandeer? Like a corner of a patio at your workplace? One of the herbs I picked might do well on your balcony.
Hi Fern, I’m in the Long Beach area. I have a small back-patio, where I grow organic edibles in self-watering containers. Mostly grow dinner basics – tomatoes, peppers, beans, and cucumbers. There are herbs, and a few flowers to encourage pollination.
Also use a small raised-bed at a friend’s place. There I can try small pumpkins and melons…but I only get over there once a week, so I rely on a watering system to keep things growing.
Christina–So glad you’ll be participating. From the sound of it, I think you’ll like the vegetables I picked. More details on that next week.
I would love to join! I am in Orange County, CA and I have a patio. Last year my plants (mostly vegetables) did not do so well, the year before it was awesome. I am wondering if it was because I did not rotate my crops. This year I really wanted to grow them containers. Anyways, I would love to join!
Susan–We might be neighbors! I’m in OC too. Maybe we could organize a local meetup too. Growing in containers will definitely guarantee that you’re starting with healthy, disease free soil.
Hello Fern,
This is my first time here and first time doing any type of container gardening. I live in NW suburbs of Chicago and have a long narrow open balcony above the street level. It gets a lot of sunlight and wind. The balcony is covered with wooden railings. I have just bought some flowers in pots before and didnt survive more than the summer.
I would like to participate in your virtual garden and learn how to do simple balcony gardening (both veggies and flowers) without killing them and which looks cute, low maintenance and mess free. Thanks for taking the initiative. Do you answer any basic gardening questions through email ? could you let me know your email id and some reference links?- Thank you.
Hi Ramya! Glad you’ll be joining us! I answer *specific* gardening questions via email. I can’t answer things like “what plants do well in Chicago” because that would require a book’s worth of info. But if you had a question like “how should I fertilize my tomato plant.” I’d be happy to help. Once the message board is launched alongside the community container gardening project, you’ll be able to ask questions there too.
My contact info is available under http://lifeonthebalcony.com/contact
I would also love to join. I have already started a garden here at the office and have another working at home. So far we have started from seed – chives, rosemary, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, tomatoes, and onions. I have wanted to add a container garden, so this will be great!
Looking forward to growing with you Sprout!
I would love to join!!
Tune in on Wednesday the 23rd!
I would love to join in. I live in north Texas with a western balcony about 4 X 9 foot. Wind and heat will be a problem during the summer.
About 10 days ago I started some large cherry tomatoes, chives, basil and slicing tomatoes from seed on my kitchen window. This past weekend I started seeing them pop out of the soil.
Last summer I bought my first aloe vera plant, now have about 15 babies in small pots.
I am very new to container gardens after years of a inground garden. I’ve been wondering about the upside down veggies would love to learn more about the process, pros and cons.
Glad to have you Debbie! Check back on Wednesday for more details.
Hi Fern,
sounds like an interesting project, I am in.
I have got a garden which is around 200 m².
It is a bit space left for these plants.
Greetings from Germany
Glad to have you Isabella! I’m excited that this project now has an international flavor!
I just moved to Boston and wanted to plan some vegetable growing for our balcony. I googled the topic this afternoon and VOILA! So glad to have found this.
Our balcony is about 3′ x 12′ and it gets a lot of sun.
We still have snow so it might be awhile before we can plant.
Hi Fern- not sure if you still remember me! I have been on a long hiatus due to some medical issues but I’m back! I’m very interested in this project! However I’m rarely successful in starting from seeds! Any tips?
Love, love, love this virtual community garden concept! Those of us on the frigid, but warming, east coast may have to wait a bit or grow indoors. Fern, this could be your next book…or dare I sugget that?!
Robin–Growing indoors? Hm. Maybe. My editor asked me to cut out the section on indoor gardening from this book. Though it’s hard to think of the “next” book while I’m still recovering from the first one!
Great Idea! I´m in!
I (gardening-neewbee) started container-gardnening last year on my roof terrace (34qm/365sq ft). I had a craze with loads of herbs, beans, cucumbers, peppers, aubergine, radise, lettuse, strawberries … all in 90L mortar buckets. My plan for this year is more flowers and decorative plants – turning my roofgarden into an outdoor living room – well as much as the weather in the middle-west of germany will allow it. But a bucket or two will definatly be reserved for fruits and veggies.
Denise–Glad you’re on board! I’m like you, most of my plants are ornamental, but I do try and grow some of my own produce each year.
Wouuu, i felt in love with the idea. I am currently leaving in Germany and have a small balcony that I would love to change into wonderful garden…I am not very good with plants, still learning. So, alerts
and advices are more than welcome. When is proper time for seeding? Am I too late already?
Wish u an amazing day and all the best.
I am so interested in this!! This is my first year trying out a garden, my parents do the raise bed gardens, but I have a really small yard here in H. Ranch Colorado, so its going to be containers, and maybe one small raised bed. This is going to be fun!!!!
Dirt Gently–On Wednesday of next week. I’m working with a friend to offer the seeds at a discount, and I still need to finish tweaking the message board.
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