As most of you know, we bid farewell to our garden plot at the Community Gardens, which wasn’t working out for several reasons and was mainly becoming a time-hungry chore and void of much enjoyment as it was when we first started. It had served a vital task of giving the Squire a purpose to his very short days when energy was short-lived, and his immune system was at it’s lowest. There was fresh air and people to chat with in the open spaces without worrying needlessly. Were priceless. Another big bonus: we had plentiful crops; most of the time, we had too much just for us. Giving away our produce, whether it was to fellow gardeners or visitors to the community gardens, was our weekly pleasure.
Then winter came, and all thought of gardening went out the window with each rainy day and icy cold southerlies. Of course, spring appeared to change our minds, and we decided to purchase that Vegepod we’ve been chatting about on and off since leaving the community gardens.
It’s time to introduce you to numerous vegetables and flowers growing consistently in containers on our balcony.
I suggest that those disliking plastic divert their eyes or stop reading as, yes, the Vegepod is made of plastic. No, getting around it, though, we feel that the benefits of freshly grown vegetables in organic soil with no history of other things growing in it, so to speak, outweigh the material it’s made out of.
Our vegepod is a tiny hothouse, enabling us to enjoy picking greenery within two weeks of planting up the spinach, basil, lettuce, coriander and a punnet of cherry tomatoes, which will grow happily in other containers.
So, living in an apartment doesn’t disclude it’s occupants from having access to growing their own vegetables. However, having the ability to creatively use small spaces is a must-have requirement.
Life at No. 22 
Looks the perfect way to grow fresh food at your apartment!
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Thanks, Rebecca; we think so, and it will supply us with a few greens and herbs.
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My parents grew basil for pesto on their apartment balcony.
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Yes, fresh homemade pesto is something I make when I have excess basil. Or even slap a few basil leaves between slices of tomatoes for a snack.
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That view is amazing. I’d live in an apartment for a view like that. I wanted a veg trug which are wooden to grow herbs and salads at waist height, but now I have the new beds I won’t bother, even though they are at the bottom of the garden.
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Thanks, Jude. It’s a lovely space to live in, and I think years of travelling have made us more adaptable to this lifestyle. Yes, I know the trugs you are mentioning. I love garden beds, and unfortunately, in past experiences, my gardening area just kept getting bigger. I do have natural green fingers, so I will always grow something. We do have a few indoor plants, too.
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I was thinking much the same as Jude, except I’m not really very green fingered. I do admire your resourcefulness, Suzanne.
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Thanks, Jo and we all have things we are good at which I have read many of yours; perhaps next year, your lemon tree will prove you wrong 😉
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I look forward to that, Suzanne.
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That seems like an ideal fit for a small space. Nothing, and I mean nothing including the weeds, grows that fast where I live!
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It is an ideal growing vessel for our balcony. Spring warmth, a good soil, water and Bob’s your uncle so the saying goes 🙂
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I’d love to have a small-ish planting platform like that. It would make it easy to keep herbs and greens all in one place, watered and trimmed. I’ll have to see if I can find something similar here in the U.S. (or have my husband make me one 🙂 ).
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Janis, I love access to fresh herbs and other greenery, makes a dish pop. This invention is Australian. A local company has the franchise. A wooden one would be reasonably easy to build. We needed a light built one and wheels help to move it around on our balcony.
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A great way to grow produce in a smaller space, Suzanne. And what a fabulous view!
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Thanks, Cathy. Growing “stuff” keeps my green fingers happy, and we do enjoy living in our apartment. The easy lifestyle suits us.
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You are using your freer time well. I trust the Squire is now fully recovered
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We think so. No, Les is still on the recovery road and we have been told it may not get any better than it is now. Time will tell.
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I wish him weller
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That looks great and could be an option for our small patio garden too. At the moment my husband (who is definitely the gardener in our family!) focuses mainly on flowers with a few herbs but I might persuade him some salad greens would be nice too 🙂 I wouldn’t worry about the plastic, it’s not as if it’s single use, and you can always recycle when it comes to the end of its usefulness.
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Very true regarding the plastic, Sarah. Nothing quite like fresh greens and they grow well in between the flowers. With some flower petals making a salad ping 🙂
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That looks very clever, and something even I couldn’t fail at (totally non-green fingered). That’s a very handsome rooster, by the way.
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Thanks Anabel, it’s a clever design, and for many of us, our home spaces are becoming smaller, and our backs are not so young to do heavy gardening chores.
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