Summer break (literally) and garden update!

Dear Readers,

If you are reading this then you have survived my summer hiatus-type-break! Welcome back and enjoy the regular upcoming posts again!

Here's an update on what's been going on and what the break was about:

First off, pretty much on the day that I was going to post here again, I got into a bicycle accident here downtown (heavy bike traffic) and ended up falling full-speed onto my arm, breaking my elbow and wrist!! Yes, my "summer break" was meant literally! That required surgery on my elbow and a hospital stay of 11 days, after which I was not really in a position to be typing and editing pictures and the like here between my physical therapy and doctor visits and social calendar. A big thanks to all my friends who came to visit me and meet up!

Things are looking up though, my arm brace is off now after 6 weeks and I can type with 2 hands again as well as use a mouse - hurray! My latest x-rays show that the bones are healed, so I just need to work on gaining the strength back in my arm (biceps and lower arm muscles are shot!) as well as more range-of-motion such as twisting my wrist and bending my elbow shut, mostly. I will hopefully be able to go back to work soon and continue life as usual - albeit riding my bike a bit more slowly.

In addition, a few weeks after the accident I was still able to fly to the States for my yearly visit! It was unfortunately postponed a bit and shortened this year because of my arm, but I was still very happy to see family and friends again as I always am! It's great to catch up and see everyone in person. On the visit I did a bit of traveling, so I was barely at the computer at all - had to make the most of the time I had!

Garden Update:

My balcony garden has not had the best circumstances under which to thrive this summer - upon my release from the hospital, I came home to find my building completely surrounded by scaffolding! It turns out they are (still!!!) doing renovations on the roof to make it more energy efficient, which means not only lots of loud banging and drilling right above me since I have an upper unit, but also dust/scraps falling on my plants and a lack of sun since the scaffolding is almost completely covering my balcony! Dislike!!

Here's photo proof of what I'm dealing with:

lots of dirt out there

poor, sad microgreens! at least I harvested some before I left!

lack of sun and shrapnel killed these herbs

...and my flowers...gross!

yes, those are supposed to be radishes, but got leggy and not bulbous at all!

these survived the best, just a bit dusty.

Some vegetables are a total loss, but it looks like some will pull through, like my beans, tomatoes and chili peppers, hurray for that! Some herbs have survived so far as well, and the onions have shown how tough they are as well.

I anticipate that the construction should be done fairly soon...I hope! I think I saw them putting on rain gutters this morning - it is VERY weird to wake up and see legs outside of your 4th floor apartment!

Stay posted for more!

Pictures / Overview of this year's balcony vegetable garden so far!

This year's balcony vegetable garden so far!

So! I'll get right to it, the moment you've been waiting for - I present: this year's vegetable garden, balcony-style!

Here you can also see the approx. size of my balcony. I wanted to leave room for a table and 2 chairs, as well as for not only the plants to grow, but spots for more pots, such as some chili plants that are not ready to go outside yet. I got a few plants transplanted this week (zucchinis, tomatoes, chilis), and seeds out last week, and as you can see, some have already come up! Exciting! It's been pretty crappy weather lately, pretty rainy and not all that warm, but I'm hoping things will shape up soon and I will see some germination in my peas and pole beans.

Herbs (from left to right): lemon balm, cilantro, mint; chives, rosemary, parsley; oregano, sage, thyme. The far left pot are plants I bought and transplanted, as well as was the rosemary, since mine didn't survive the winter after all.

My lettuce was a paper band of seed, with 3 varieties of leaf lettuce: Batavia Lettuce "Teide", Leaf Lettuce "Grand Rapids", and Leaf Lettuce "Lollo Bionda". Three kinds in one planter, it's great! And the bands make it really easy to plant.

I also now prefer red onions (here "piroska") because of their milder flavor, which are also great picked and eaten as green onions!

I decided to try something else new this year, micro greens, here the "mild mix - Brassica and Amaranthus", from Botanical Interests! I'd seen a package at the seed store last summer, and it just seemed appetizing. It's basically a mix of various seeds (such as red beets, cabbage, kohlrabi, pak choi, and swiss chard) that are meant to be planted together and harvested once they reach about 1-3 inches. I'm hoping they all grow at the same rate! I may also let them get a little bigger. They'll be great to top salads, in sandwiches, or on crackers with cream cheese!

The only other non-standard items are my pole beans - they are purple ones, which also bear pretty purple flowers. They are pretty much the same consistency when ripe of a normal green bush bean, but are deep purple in color. Here, "blauwschediger spek".

Here's how my window sill inside (right next to my balcony) is looking so far:

Here you can see a few chili plants (jalapeno, purple jalapeno) in the front, a basil plant, an aloe vera plant (which won't go outside), and my greenhouse, which is home to an extra tomato plant and my "white lightning" habanero chilis, which seem to be growing very slowly. I suspect they need a lot of heat, so I'm keeping them in the greenhouse as long as possible. I'm also glad I decided to keep a jalapeno and purple jalapeno plant indoors - the ones outside are looking a bit beaten up, probably due to wind and cold temps. Plus, something ate off a few leaves on both plants! I don't think it was my cat, so bird? Squirrel??

Things are definitely shaping up in my edible balcony paradise, now let's all hope for some warmth!