Posted by Paul Godfrey | Posted in London balcony Project | Posted on 15-02-2010
Tags: city veg patch, gardening, growing vegetables
It has been a long and very cold winter but slowly the first signs of spring are starting to appear. Down on the farm the lambing season is about to start and a few of the ewes are looking like they are going to pop.
Here in London we are about to embark on our first new project of the year – The balcony garden! We are lucky enough to have a north facing balcony on the eighth floor of an apartment block in north London and we have issued ourselves with challenge; to see how much of our own food we can supply ourselves with using only the space available to us on our 4 square meter balcony!
The real challenge is to see what we can actually grow, I mean we have all the usual suspects lined up herbs, tomatoes and strawberries but we also are going to throw some curve balls in there to keep us on our toes.
We will be posting our progress reports on this blog and will be looking to people to ask questions, give us tips and issue us with challenges. I am pretty confident we can turn our balcony into the most diverse growing spot in London.
Just can not wait to see the sun so we can get started
Paul
Hi Paul,
I was interested to read your post on window gardens; I have been living in Manchester for 4 years now and decided to grow my own vegetables in my window box. It has been very successful, I have my own home grown runner beans and herbs which are doing really well. I look forward to your future posts and good luck with your window garden.
Richard
Hi James
Thanks for the post and the comments about the site, always good to hear some positive feedback.
You are right in thinking that you can not just use any old pot or tray for a balcony garden. The first thing to keep in mind is the wind; it Can get pretty blowy up there so a heavy tray or pot is essential.
In my opinion old fashioned clay or cast iron types are best, these can be picked up new from most garden centres but my tip would be to look around street markets to pick up a bargain. Second hand tubs often bring a bit of character to the garden too.
Try Columbia Road flower market in London for a real bargain.
Good luck and keep us posted with your progress!
Daniel
There is no such thing as a bad time to lay turf!
I personally feel the spring is the best time as root growth is quicker but it can be done any time of the year.
The one key thing is to make sure the new turf stays damp until it has taken root.
As for the veg, March is the time for sowing your onions, leeks, parsnips and peas.
Good luck
Hi Paul,
What a great idea! People think that you need lots of room to grow your own veg but there is lots you can do in a very limited space.
Potatoes are great grown in a bin. Just buy your seed potatoes and some good quality compost and going. A second tip is to put a couple of inches of gravel or stones in the bottom before the compost to aid drainage.
Best of luck.