Balcony garden Makeover

Balcony Garden Makeover
Its that time of year! spring is in the air and time to get the balcony pots ready for my summer veggies.

this is my 4th growing season so I wanted to get the soil back to a good quality state to make sure I get the most production.
First I  took all the mulch from the top and placed in bag for latter use, then emptied all the pots into a pile and spread over floor, I sorted threw and got rid of all the roots and plant matter.

I then added 2 new bags of good potting mix, 2 buckets of soil mixed with chicken manure from my chooks when they were here, soil from my warm farm, I added a bag of Blood and Bone, some slow release fertilizer pellets and wetting agent, then gave it all a really good mix before refilling all the containers

Replaced my drip irrigation system connected to my 100ltr barrel which makes daily watering easier and waste less and gets the water where its needed down in the roots.

I will replace the Wood chip mulch once the seeds have made their way threw.

Again one of my problems is trying to grow everything and over planting so this year I was a lot more selective and went with what I use the most and best yields, so i duplicated each pot with 1 Cherry tomato, 1 Basil, 1 Bell pepper and 2 x coriander in each pot, I will keep the bell pepper and Basil pruned to a controllable size as they grow.

I also had one pot with Zucchini and 1 pot with my blackberry bush, 2 small containers were used for 1 full of marigolds for pest control and 1 with spring onions and radishes and 2 buckets i planted with Lavendar.

Now i ready for a bumper harvest in the summer just add water!

Sprouts in a Can

So I wanted to to make use off some sardine cans and found them to be a great size and use for growing spouts.
I filled the container with cotton wool soaked with water, then added the seeds, I used Cress and Mustard sprouts.
Make sure you plant mustard seeds 4 days latter than cress to have them harvest at same time.
cover with a damp napkin and place in a sunny window ledge.
now if you repeat about every 4 days you will have a constant fresh spouting Cress and Mustard sprouts or what other sprouts you choose.
Also have a look at The-urban-survivalist for some great tips and Dan does a great daily video with good tips so go check him out at The Urbivalist
enjoy.

Items needed, 1 sardine can, Cotton wool, Napkin and seeds.

Sprouts after 4 days

Cover with moist napkin until sprouts have started sprouting

Sprinkle seeds on moist cotton wool in the can