Balcony "Garden"

My balcony gardening experiment in Halifax has gone as follows...

May 14

   I potted up the seedlings on the 12th and put them on our neighbour's balcony yesterday.  The seedlings started in water-jugs looked great, but had almost no roots.  The seedlings started in the Lee Valley kit had much more developed roots.

   Once the weather has warmed up, I'll start some nasturtiums and transplant the pansy seedlings as well.

 

 

Update (June 24th)

 

July 15 - the 'garden' is coming along, though in some respects, not as I expected.  The pansies are doing poorly on both our balcony and the neighbour's (even though she gets more sun). The Chinese cabbage started off beautifully, but some now looks like it might bolt (I have already pulled out one).  The red cabbage is doing well and looks hardy.  The nasturtiums have come up.  They're a bit leggy, but look healthy.  Some of the parsley looks excellent, some looks like it's barely hanging on.  The kale and chard look pretty good.  I hope they experience a growth spurt in early August so we can start enjoying in salads and stir-fries.

 

August 2 - Well, at least my intentions were good!  

   The Chinese cabbage has either been stunted in growth or has bolted, so I pulled all but one.  None of the pansies (which usually grow without effort, like weeds) were doing well, so I pulled them all and used the dirt when we divided and repotted Mom's big fern.  The large container of parsley I will bring down from the neighbour's balcony to ours, as it doesn't seem to be doing any better there than the small pot of parsley I have growing on our balcony.  The kale, chard, and nasturtiums are coming along so I haven't given up on them, yet.  The only thing that looks hardy and healthy is the red cabbage.  I wish I'd planted more than three, now!

August 16 -  After pulling and composting some more things that either weren't growing well (pansies) or got eaten (kale) by bugs (possibly earwigs), I'm down to a few small kale plants, 3 red cabbage, a few very small Swiss Chard, spindly nasturtiums, and parsley.  Note to self: unless you're in a south-facing, preferably corner apartment unit, vegetables might not be the best things to attempt to grow.

It was worth a try.  Live and learn!

 

 

Honeysuckle From Below (Halifax Update)

    It is a cool, rainy day here in Halifax.  There has been a lot of precipitation since I arrived here in March.  I'm not complaining - it has made people's yards and the Public Gardens lush and beautiful, and it has kept the summer temperatures in check. (The same can't be said for BC, unfortunately...so many heat records have been broken in the past week, and wildfires now abound in the province.)

 

   The woman in the apartment below ours is a gardener, and set to creating her own personal garden on the apartment grounds around her first-floor balcony/deck when she moved in years ago. I don't think this is generally permitted.  My impression is that she is not one to take no for an answer and so she went ahead with her plans.  Sometimes, the "ask forgiveness, not permission" approach works out for everyone involved!  

 

   There are all sorts of lovely hosta varieties down there, as well as beautiful pink peonies, assorted annuals, and this honeysuckle, which grew up the side of the building. (Click on pictures to enlarge.)  Mom tended it once it reached our balcony. The chickadees and sparrows love hiding in it. 

 

 

 

 

   The only way I could get a shot of the largest hostas was to take the picture through the bottom of the honeysuckle vines.
 

A few more hostas and some peonies.

 

   

   This picture doesn't do the flowers justice.  These large, fluffy peonies are a gorgeous pink and look like soft powder puffs.  They are a tad droopy following a night of rain.

 

 

   These are a few extra transplants from my "garden" on our balcony.  Mostly kale, parsley, chard, and pansies.  They will soon to be moved upstairs to another neighbour's balcony where the rest of the garden plants are.  

 

 

Update (August 4) - Sadly, the neighbour downstairs who created the lovely garden of hostas, hydrangeas, and other perennials recently went into hospice care and will not be returning to the building.  As part of preparing her apartment space for new tenants, some of the things she planted are being removed.  The first to go was the honeysuckle.  We'll miss seeing the chickadees and sparrows resting in it.  I hope the hydrangeas (one of which is purple - really unique!) and hostas might be left in place.

Chinese Leaf Garlic

   On the way home from a walk last night, Mom popped into a community garden in the area to look around.  It's large and literally just a block away from the apartment, but has a 3 year waiting list.  She chatted with a man who was tending his plot there and told him about my garden in northern BC...and of my attempts to get a plot while I'm here in Halifax for a time.  He gave her something out of his plot to bring back to the apartment: Chinese Leaf Garlic.  (Also called, "Chinese Chives", "Chinese Leeks", I gather.)  I'd never heard of it before!  It has a strong taste and will be nice in soups and salads.  I hope to run into that fellow this summer so I can thank him for his thoughtfulness.  It will be fun to see what the community garden members have growing over there, too.

Early May in NS and BC

   It's a chilly, damp 11 degrees C at 2:45pm here in Halifax.  We've had a string of cool, overcast days with a fair bit of rain. Most of the seeds I sowed have germinated.  It’s nice to have something growing, even if it’s not growing particularly well.  Between the cloudy days and the limited hours of sun exposure the seedlings get on the apartment balconies, some (especially the kale) have become leggy and will likely have to be started again.  The cabbage seedlings are small, but I might try transplanting them into pots this week anyway.  Fingers crossed for sustained sunshine…

 

My little "greenhouses"  

 

 

Dwarf Siberian kale, "Hilton" Chinese cabbage, Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss chard, and Kalibos red cabbage

 

 

 Leggy oregano

 

 Pansies (and a volunteer brassica of some sort!)

 

 Chinese Cabbage ("Hilton")

 

 Swiss Chard 

 

 

   Meanwhile, in northern BC,  R. turned the raised beds, working compost and dry manure into them this past week. He was also able to till the main garden plots, as the weather has cooperated and the ground was dry enough. He'll be able to do another round or two of tilling before planting in the plots near the end of the month.  The garlic has started to come up in the south garden, the first "garden season landmark" I look for.

 

The north garden 

 

 The south garden (which contains the garlic patch this year).

 

Lou, with a graceful après nap ballerina stretch, kindly points out the first garlic sprout of the season.

 

Starting More Seeds

   On April 18th, I planted some more Dwarf Siberian kale, "Hilton" Chinese cabbage, Five Colour Silverbeet Swiss chard, and started some Kalibos red cabbage in a Lee Valley Self-Watering Seed Starter kit that Mom had on hand.  I also started some more Swiss Giant pansies in a pop bottle greenhouse, and some oregano in a small pot that now sits at the back of the stove under the stove light.  I have never grown oregano before, and after seeing how tiny the seeds are, I think success will be a long shot without a heat mat and proper grow light.  But you never know!

 

Lee Valley Self-Watering Seed Starter

   Yesterday, I moved the seed starter kit (above) and my water jug greenhouses to the balcony of a neighbour on the 4th floor with a better sun exposure than we have. Another neighbour (5th floor) offered her balcony as well. It's nice to have options if the seeds take off and do well.  Each balcony gets a half-day of light compared to what I have in northern BC because the building blocks the sun for part of the day.  Still, that should be enough to grow greens and some flowers.  Fingers crossed!

In Halifax

 

Hello from the East Coast.

   I flew to Halifax March 26 to be with Mom following Dad's passing last month.  It is good to be home, though we all wish it was under happier circumstances. 

   Staying at a hotel, flying, and going through airports in the time of Covid was an interesting experience. I'd never used so much hand sanitizer or done so much hand-washing in a 24-hour period in my life.  Mom and I started our 14-day quarantine period as soon as I arrived at her apartment.  The time passed quickly.   Easter Sunday (Day 10 of quarantine) was quiet and cozy.  We woke up to freezing rain that had been coming down for hours. Everything outside was covered with a thin layer of ice. 

   Mom's friends in the building have been wonderfully supportive.  During our quarantine, they left cards, wine (Mom forgot to buy some for herself before our lockdown), Easter chocolates, encouraging notes, and grocery staples outside our door.  Some also left empty boxes for us to use for sorting and packing some of Dad’s things. I’m so grateful they were here for Mom until I could get home from BC.

   When things settle down and we're not so focused on tending to the necessary tasks that follow a loved-one's death, it will be nice to take some time to really reminisce.  This time of year has makes me think of my family's farm.  When I was little, we lived on a small acreage in Scotch Village, NS.  My parents had horses (draft horses, a quarter horse, and a pony), chickens, a duck or two, sheep (for a brief time), and a large garden there.  In the garden, I remember Dad showing me dry peas and how to plant them. I also have a vivid memory of sitting cross-legged on the warm soil beside the row of tomato plants, hidden by them, munching on a delicious, ripe tomato like I might an apple.  It was salty and warm from the sun. It was a beautiful, hot day and Mom was working further along in the garden.  It's one of my favourite, and earliest, memories.

   I find myself antsy, not having a patch of dirt of my own in which to grow things here.  I keep feeling like I'm forgetting to do something important.  There are a few community gardens in the city.  It would have been tricky enough to snag a plot to rent before Covid.  Now, it is virtually impossible, with the gardening craze having been in high gear for the last 18 months.  I contacted 4 gardens.  The reply from the first garden was a hard, “No”. Apparently, two of their plots were just freed up for people who had been on the waitlist since 2018.  I am now able to walk to that community garden in five minutes flat, so we’ll see what’s growing there soon.  Replies from two other gardens were a polite, “None available, but we’ll put you on the already very long wait-list”.  The 4^th garden, very small but reasonably close to the apartment, I'm still waiting to hear back from the person/group organizing that one.  One becomes reminded very quickly how precious land - even a patch of dirt - is in a city.

   I started having gardening pangs around April 5^th.   “Curly” parsley seeds were the first things I planted indoors (April 12) under the small round light that Mom used to use for her violet plant.  It gives off a lot of heat.  The seeds were old, but the package was sealed.  We’ll see if they germinate.

   On the 16th, I started seeds in water-jug greenhouses. Mom’s apartment faces north, unfortunately, but one of her neighbours kindly offered to let me grow some things on her balcony this summer.  I believe her balcony has a south-east exposure.  The varieties planted are:

Pansies – “Swiss Giant”

Pansies – “Springtime Cassis”

Kale – “Dwarf Siberian”

Kale – “Scotch Blue Curly”

Chinese Cabbage - “Hilton”

Swiss Chard – “Five Colour Silverbeet” 

 

Parsley seeds started...

 

Water-jug greenhouses

   This will be an experiment, and my fingers are crossed that I can manage to at least grow some flowers and greens.  With a small head of lettuce selling for $5 in the stores right now, anything one can grow would help save on the grocery bill as well as being good for the soul.  If all goes well, I'll try growing cucumbers, string beans, and maybe carrots and beets as well.  If I get crazy, I might even buy a tomato transplant somewhere.  After years of growing them myself, that feels like cheating!

   Back in northern BC, R. is looking after the tomato and pepper seedlings.  There is a lot that is demanding his time this year, so I don’t know how much he will be able to do in the garden.  Whatever he plants, hopefully he will take pictures so they can be included on the blog.

   This morning is a cool, drizzly one, 2 degrees C. It has rained lightly much of the weekend. I was awakened by the sound of an industrious woodpecker who was pecking away somewhere on the street over. We hear him often and wonder what he is working on! 

   I put the water jug greenhouses back on the balcony this morning, and left a few peanuts for the blue jays who like to visit early in the day. 

 

Peanuts for breakfast

Posing

   Occasionally, a crow will invite himself to breakfast and take a peanut or two. One we call, “Peg” has been showing up now and then for the last few years.  He only has one leg but seems to be doing fine.  No doubt he has friends (or guardians?) in the South End’s crow world.  We also see chickadees and sparrows, and hear birds whose songs I don’t recognize.  I had a moment of excitement when I spotted what I thought was a squirrel scurrying from the building, across the grass, to the nearby fence the other morning.  I haven't seen a squirrel in ages.  When I caught sight of the little guy's tail, however, it was immediately clear this wasn't a squirrel.  It was a rat.  LOL!  I hadn't seen one of those in ages, either!  You can't live in a port city without crossing paths with a rat now and then.  This guy's appearance was a welcome bit of comic relief.