Tales from the LG 12th Floor Garden...

Hi all,

I've been gardening.  Well, it's kind of a garden.  It's a container garden...on my balcony.  

The story starts with onions or maybe radishes.  Red radishes are really easy to grow.  They grow quickly.  They were the first thing I ever grew and harvested.  The onions, however, were not successful.  I got a sprout but nothing more developed.  (Perhaps another trial is in order?)

Then I learned you could regrow Romaine lettuce.  I had success with several cores until the heat molded more recent attempts.

At the end of May this year after a difficult trip to Mos Burger (that's another story), I walked away with a free gift from them, a packet of tomato seeds.  I sat on them (not literally) until one day I decided to plant them.  Lo and behold they sprouted, and then they grew.  I had to buy stakes to keep them upright.  They grew and grew until they grew flowers.  Those flowers turned into green tomatoes which turned into red tomatoes which I harvested:

And then again:

I used to think cherry tomatoes were just not so great until I grew my own.  These beat anything I've ever bought at the store.  They are so delicious!

Capitalizing on the success of the tomatoes, I decided to go all out.  Go big or go home.  I added to my garden, a cranberry plant.  Not much has changed since I acquired it, but it hasn't died yet which is good news, I guess.  Last week, I planted some more radishes, some snap peas and basil all of which have sprouted.  I also bought a strawberry plant and orange mint (just today).  It's hot and humid but the garden is in full swing!

Why is all this important to me?  For a great many years I thought I was a ruthless plant killer.  I tried in my desert home to grow not only house plants but also basil.  Maybe I thought plants hated me because I feasted on them.  I decided I could never be like my DC idol, Poison Ivy.  Perhaps it was the climate, perhaps it was the timing.   So now I grow and grow and I feel great!

Anyway, here's a look at the LG 12th Floor Garden:

My tomato plant plus a tomato plant I'm babysitting.

Freshly sprouted snap peas.

Mt. Fuji mint (mama mint I am babysitting) plus my newly planted baby mint.

Radish babies.

Baby basil (bottom left and right) plus one reclaimed basil plant (which is finally growing).

Here's the whole garden:

Bottom left cranberry, lemon basil (in recovery stage, live dammit live!), rosemary.
Bottom right snap peas.
Right center mint (mine), mint (not mine), orange mint (best smelling plant ever).
Center strawberry, radishes.
Left center my tomato and basil.
Left top tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers (not mine).

I promised to watch some plants for a friend and she promised me whatever fruits the plants produced.  A fair deal if you ask me.

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the garden.

Happy summer everyone and happy gardening!