Don't forget to play with your vegetables!

my naughty cat playing with a Black Spanish Radish

Looks like I'm not the only one anxious to play around with vegetables! I caught my cat rolling around the living room with a Black Spanish Radish that he knocked off the table - not only are they spicy and full of flavor, but make good cat toys! Haha!

I just wanted to wish you all a Happy Easter and a great weekend - hope you have some time off to enjoy the holiday. We all can hope that it starts warming up soon - these temps below freezing and the snow still on the ground are really unusual for this time of year here, let's hope it passes soon.

Coming up, pics of the start of my balcony garden 2013!

Out to eat vegan style!

On the subject of growing vegetables, one cannot overlook the main reason for growing vegetables - eating them!

I've given myself a new challenge for the month of April, to go all veggie and no animal product - I'm going vegan for the month! Yeah vegetables! I'd seen a documentary and got the idea - I guess it's just something new to try out, and a test for myself to see how I do cooking and eating new recipes. Plus it's a guaranteed way to use the vegetables in my CSA box delivered weekly!

In anticipation for what awaits me, I went out to eat at a vegan place here in town the other night in the older and more alternative area of town. Here it is!

LEAF
It was great! After getting my pick of tables and being greeted by friendly staff, I perused the menu and arrived at my choice:

Seitan wrapped in a deep-fried pandan leaf with wasabi and lime puree served
with melon and seaweed salsa on a bed of red curry sauce

Whew, now that's a mouthful to say! And was a mouthful of tastes, wow! It had a combination of great flavors, and was very tasty (although I would have wished a slightly larger portion for the price). The palm leaves were of course just served for show, not to eat. And the pureed vegetables tasted like spicy pureed cauliflower in a way - and were great with the red curry sauce. Yum!

cozy atmosphere, homey decorations

Hurray for veggies! I wasn't aware until last night that seitan is NOT a tofu product like I thought, but is made entirely of wheat, wheat gluten to be specific (so not ok for you with gluten allergies, of course!). It is a common meat substitute, and I think it has a similar texture to firm tofu. And gives you the chew like a piece of meat would.

If this is any indicator of my upcoming month, I think I'm not gonna mind going vegan at all!

Mystery Vegetable: Napa Cabbage

Napa Cabbage

Another semi-mystery vegetable has been arriving in my CSA-box off and on for the past few weeks. Having never seen this particular kind in the store or having never purchased it before, I had an idea what it would be like just based on the texture, which is interesting!

Napa Cabbage
The Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis, also known as the celery or napa cabbage, is known here in Germany as "china cabbage", which is not entirely false - this vegetable does originate from China and is popular in Chinese cuisine. This is apparently also the main ingredient of the famous spicy Korean side dish, kimchi (which I didn't know!).

It has a very light green color, and a sort of rubbery texture, a bit like kale, but is still soft like white cabbage when cooked, even a bit more delicate, perhaps. It has a fairly mild taste, so it absorbs the flavors of whatever are being cooked with it well. This one fries great, and it particularly enjoyable cut up and fried with some onion and ground beef in a skillet. Fast, easy, and healthy!

And according to Wikipedia, this veggie is a sign of prosperity in China, so eat up and you will at least be considered rich! :)

Publicity for balcony gardeners!!

article in SHAPE magazine!

I absolutely had to post this one!

I have a subscription to SHAPE magazine, which for those who don't know, is a quality magazine for women about fitness and health, filled with good stuff like: exercises, kitchen/cooking trends, food facts, psychology articles, travel articles, fashion/beauty tips, weight loss stories, recipes, etc. I like it (this is my only subscription) because it seems applicable to the average women - no overly-priced recommendations, not too "star-struck", and in general down-to-earth and cool.

ANYWAY, as I was reading this month's edition, I turned the page and there was a short article about balcony gardening! Couldn't believe it!

The title here is "Gourmet Gardening on the Balcony", and the article draws attention to the growing popularity of personal balcony gardens in New York, in particular. They also mention using planting bags and choosing balcony-friendly varieties of vegetables, and also recommend a few websites where you can find some gardening space here in Germany if you don't have a balcony.

Awesome! Kudos to SHAPE for giving balcony gardeners a shout out and showing how we are setting a trend! :)

Another balcony paradise?!

my neighbor across the green

On another bright sunny day, I was admiring the building across the green patch of grass from mine, and noticed this balcony (see pic right):

Isn't that great?! So home-y!

Looks like there's another balcony-lover here! Their balcony is also facing southwest, so they (as do I) get nice afternoon sun. They're also on the 4th floor like me, so despite this tree here (which kinda blocked the photo, sorry about that!) they probably actually get some of that sun when it appears as well.

Check it what they've got out there:

1) A solar panel! So cool. I'd thought about getting one too, but didn't know you could get ones that small. Food for thought.

2) An actual bird house! Also cool - not just a food sack, but a little home for the little ones.

3) Obviously tons of plants and the like out there (also inside but next to the sunny window) - hard to see exactly what it all is, but it looks like a large variety, probably some herbs and flowers as well.

Way to pimp your balcony, neighbor! Here's to the "grow-your-own" revolution and living green and cozy in a big city!

Piles of snow on my balcony!

Not spring yet on my balcony...

After a few days of really teasing us all here (see last post), winter struck back again, and hard! I think we got more snow the end of last week and the beginning of this week than we've had all winter, no joke! In northern Germany here, winters have the reputation of being pretty mild, which means lots of rain and gray, gloomy days. Not too good for the psyche.

And just when I and several others I know were totally ready and planing (and planting!) for spring, BOOM, tons of snow and freezing temperatures! It snowed a few days straight here, which is quite unusual! We have had more sun, which is strange...

a pre-storm pic, my cat's enjoy the snowfall on the balcony

Anyway, luckily (other than my newly-purchased lemon balm) I re-potted my flowers in pots that I subsequently moved indoors upon predictions of snow and below-freezing temps. They are still doing ok, but as am I, they are looking forward to the great outdoors again!

On another note, it is high time to start your seedlings indoors! Do you have a little indoor greenhouse? If not, don't despair - just keep the seedlings well watered and in a warm place. I've even done silly things like put a clear tupperware over a pot, or draped a plastic bag over it - just until the seeds germinated.

So, am off to start some seeds and do some planning - check back soon for more pics and plans! :)

First Planting of the Season + Lemonade on the Balcony...

check out those blue and white stripes!

I couldn't resist - I can't wait any longer ..... for SPRING! :)


Today was actually a sunny day and although it's 46°F, it's not terribly windy and actually fairly pleasant for being outside - which means I got started on preparing my balcony for the new season by giving it a spring cleaning!

1. Make lemonade (see above) for this thirsty gardener: juice lemon, add lemon & juice plus 2 Tbs sugar to a shaker. Add some ice cubes, fill to 3/4 full with cold water, and shake!
2. Cut off dead parts of any plants that survived the winter (aka some herbs)
3. Remove dead plants from pots (left them out over winter for the birds and the like to forage in)
4. Remove leaves and such from balcony, still need to wash the floor so my cat can go out there and not bring the dirt inside!
5. Removed some old soil from the pots.
6. Transferred last year's bean soil (see last post) to other pots.
7. Re-potted some flowers I bought: they are both Primula Vulgaris, a type of primrose. The blue one really caught my eye - it's called "zebra blue". Love it paired up with the orange!



my happy lemon balm :)

8. Gave my lemon balm a new home - doesn't it look happy?

More cleaning up to come, and tons of planting of course! Keep checking back! 

The Dirt on Soil: DIY!

I recently went to my local Max Bahr, a Menard's/Home Depot type of store with all the possible home fixtures and building supplies you can imagine, including a garden center, as part of my spring fever splurge! It's still pretty early to really stock up too much, but I did get a few packages of soil and some seeds (needed more cherry tomatoes) to start things out, as well as a few flower plants. While they (the flowers) are supposedly edible, I don't know if I'll eat them - I just like to have that splash of color between all the greens once things are growing out there, and for the time being they're just something living outside to look at!

some soil I mixed yesterday...

Soil: the Salt of the Earth
Speaking of which, I've been thinking about soil and balcony gardening recently (now in the planing stages is the ideal time to think about the basis of container gardening, the soil!), mainly due to a poor soil purchase last year which I'm sure was the reason for some plants not growing or producing. Coming from a childhood in the country, I always have thought it to be kinda silly that I have to buy "the earth" from the store for my balcony, yet so it is!

But...
The benefit is the following: you aren't "stuck" with whatever soil your land is made of! You have free reign to decide what kind of soil suits you and your (various) plants' needs. Last year I ended up getting really cheap potting soil made for flowers, but it was too moist (held too much moisture, didn't allow for good drainage, which is absolutely vital for container gardens) for most of my plants, just too dense. Despite not having had rain for days here now, the soil is still sopping wet - I can practically squeeze the water out of it! Yuck!

DIY Mixing
I've recently seen about ways to mix your own soil for each plant, or even household scraps you can use to enrich the soil - very important for containers since they don't have a whole lot of ground to feed them. Composting isn't just for those with land! Here are a few things you can add to enrich your soil:

1. Coffee grounds - contains the all-important nutrient nitrogen as well as other trace minerals. Start by just adding a few tablespoons for each long planter (mine are about 2 feet long), mixing it into the soil. 
2. Egg shells - you've probably heard this one before! Make sure to wash and let them dry out first, then smash or pulverize them. They've got lots of calcium for your plants, just mix in with the soil or sprinkle on the ground near the plants.
3. Banana peels - lots of potassium for your plants! I'd be a little cautious with this one on your balcony since you probably don't want to invite a bug problem to your building, so maybe cut up the peel in pieces and add a few per planter to the bottom. Worth a shot!
4. Old herbs or grass clippings - just mix in with the soil, but make sure that the clippings do not contain any diseased plant material that could ruin your whole planter!
5. Tea / tea bags - again, cut up and mix into the soil, making sure not to add too much, just a few tablespoon for a long planter. 
6. Think crop rotation is just for farmers? I beg to differ - since beans are nitrogen-fixing, I will put some of last year's bean soil in my other planters to give them a vitamin boost! We'll see if it works/helps. Of course I will still add some new soil as well. I try to add at least some new soil to the planters each season, or completely replace it if it seems that the roots took over the whole pot - don't want to starve my plants!
7. DO NOT add any kind of fat or animal scraps!!
8. You can add stones or anything that won't rot to the bottom of a pot to allow for more drainage!

A few related links: kitchen scrap fertilizer (tlc green living tips), make your own compost (diy life), and composting your food scraps (david suzuki foundation).

Keep in mind some plants are very picky about their soil, so you may have to experiment (some chili peppers, orchids, etc.)

Have fun playing in the dirt! And don't forget to find a suitable liquid or solid fertilizer for later on!

Mystery Vegetable: Indian/Miner's Lettuce

Indian or Miner's Lettuce

Whew, a post here is long overdue! Busy week, so am now coming up for air...

This week's vegetable is one that is really growing on me, one that I hadn't seen before getting my weekly CSA box, but one that I've grown to love now! Presenting....

Indian Lettuce!

Or for you latin-lovers - Claytonia perfoliata, also known colloquially as miner's lettuce or winter purslane (I think I may have heard of that...). This one tends to grow in more northern, harsher climates, like in the mountains or just in cold weather (like here right now, was brought over to Europe in the 1700s). It's a fairly mild tasting and nutritious winter green, filled with lots of vitamin C - it apparently got it's name because California miners used to eat it to prevent scurvy! What do you know!

At first I thought they'd messed up and given me some sort of weed...I though, are you supposed to eat this?!

But in the meantime I really enjoy it fresh (it shrivels a bit when cooked or fried, kinda like spinach, so I prefer to eat it raw) as a salad base or even cut up and mixed into a pasta salad! This is my favorite way to eat it at the moment: whole-grain pasta cooked and the mixed with this lettuce (chopped), cut-up fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, and a pesto dressing. This recipe is filled with vitamins and healthy fats and satisfies you on cold days!