Balcony Crop Circles

Just because you live in an apartment doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fresh vegetables picked from YOUR very own vegetable garden.
You’ll need a few very large containers. Those large plastic barrels that people use as rain barrels are ideal when cut in half. Put a few drainage holes in the bottom, add a couple of inches of stones and fill with soil. It’s best to fill them with soil in their final resting place because they are quite heavy. You’ll also need to get several bamboo stakes and a couple of tomato cages. You can comfortably fit 6 ½ barrels on the average balcony.
In the centers of two barrels plant one tomato plant in each. About 3” out from each tomato plant, plant a “ring” of radish seeds. These will be harvested before the tomato plants need this space. A further 2” out plant, a ring of chive seeds. About 2 ½” in from the outside edge plant a ring of carrot seeds with 3 oregano plants evenly spaced. Or better yet, go to www.vesseys.com and order their climbing cages that extend up to 6’ in height over each tomato plant. You have now completed your first two crop circles.
Since square footage is limited the only way to go is up. Choose vineing varieties instead of bush varieties. You don’t have to plant cherry tomatoes; you can plant the slicing type. It takes too many cherry tomatoes to make a tomato sandwich and slicing them is a real pain.
Plant the next barrel with Swiss Chard. This is an amazingly versatile vegetable that is often over-looked. You can use the leaves like Romaine lettuce to make Caesar salad, use it the same as you would spinach and you can slice the stalk to use in a stir fry the same as you would use celery. You can even get varieties with brightly colored stalks for added color. As an added bonus it has more vitamins than spinach.
In the next barrel plant three pepper plants evenly spaced. They can be any type of pepper plants you want. Plant some kohl rabi in the spaces around the pepper plants. This is another vegetable that is often over looked. It’s half turnip half cabbage. The bulb forms above ground instead of beneath the soil. You can use a grater to shred the bulbs for making coleslaw, cook it the same as turnip or eat it raw. It doesn’t have the same bitter taste that turnip can sometimes have.
The next barrel we are going to plant with peas. Draw a circle about half way to the center. In the center circle, plant peas seeds about 1” apart in every direction. Using the bamboo stakes make a teepee around the seeds. Weave twine around your teepee to give the peas something to grab on to. Every two weeks plant another ring of pea seeds, adding bamboo stakes and twine as needed.
The next barrel is going to have beans. You can plant any combination of beans you want. Plant the same way as the peas, only space the seeds about 1 ½” apart.
These are just a few ideas of what you can grow in your containers. Since you plants are growing in container you will need to fertilize them every 10 to 14 days. A water soluble fertilizer like Miracle grow works well.
Enjoy a bountiful harvest from your crop circles.

HYPERTUFA

Hypertufa

Hypertufa, sounds like the school-yard bully on a sugar high. It’s actually a substance that you can mix up to make your own garden containers and art.
You’ll need a wheel barrow or very large container to mix the stuff up in. Hypertufa recipe: 17L vermiculite, 17L peat moss, 11L Portland cement, 13L water. Mix the dry ingredients together then add the water. Wear gloves and mix by hand. You can pretty much use anything as a mold for your creation. If what you’re using isn’t plastic, cover it well with plastic sheeting or garbage bags. Apply the mixture around your mold about 5 inches thick, slapping it to remove any air bubbles. Once the mold is covered, stick dowel or sticks into the bottom for drainage. Loosely cover your creation in plastic to keep moisture from evaporating. Mist occasionally the first few days and wiggle the dowels so they’ll be easy to remove. After a week remove the plastic and let it sit for 5 days. Remove the mold from your creation. You can smooth any rough edges with a file or file the base so it doesn’t rock. Remove dowel from drainage hole. Hose off any lime that might have surfaced. Allow to cure for a couple of weeks before planting.
Hypertufa looks heavy but it isn’t. If it cracks down the road you can fix the crack next time you whip up another batch of hypertufta.
I’m making mine so they will fit in my windowsills for the winter. That way I can just bring them inside and still enjoy fresh herbs without having to dig things up.

Hypertufa