Summary

The website content is an author's reflection on the development and progress of their edible balcony garden, featuring a variety of plants such as strawberries, tomatoes, basil, and salad greens, with a focus on the joys and challenges of growing one's own food.

Abstract

The author, Luciano Abriata, shares their experience cultivating an edible garden on their balcony. The garden has been evolving over several weeks with the addition of strawberries, which are fruiting well, and the growth of tomatoes and various salad plants. The article includes personal photographs documenting the garden's growth, including images of young tomatoes under the protection of snapdragons and basil. The author also discusses the thriving salad plants, the successful pollination of tomato flowers by bees, and the anticipation of future harvests. Luciano emphasizes the personal satisfaction derived from this urban gardening endeavor, citing reasons such as fun, joy, science, experimentation, and challenge. The project began with compost made by the author, and the article links to further reading on the growth and maintenance of the garden, as well as the author's broader interests and professional services.

Opinions

The author expresses a sense of wonder and pride in their balcony garden, emphasizing the personal satisfaction that comes from nurturing and consuming home-grown produce.
There is a strong emphasis on the multifaceted benefits of maintaining an edible garden, including the joy of consumption, the scientific curiosity in plant growth, and the challenge of urban gardening.
The author values the process of experimentation and observation in gardening, as evidenced by their method for easily reproducing basil and their notes on pollination and plant growth.
The presence of bees and other flowers is seen as beneficial for the pollination of the garden's plants, indicating the author's appreciation for biodiversity and ecological interconnectedness.
The author's decision to start the garden from compost they produced reflects a commitment to sustainability and a hands-on approach to gardening.
By inviting readers to explore further through linked articles and encouraging them to become Medium members or subscribe to their stories, the author suggests that they view their gardening experience as valuable and worth sharing with a broader audience.

Wide view of the balcony garden in its edible edition. This and all other photographs by author Luciano Abriata.

In awe with my balcony’s edible garden

Developing slowly but steadily with salad, aromatics, tomatoes and strawberries.

Starting some weeks ago, strawberry plants are fructifying quite well:

First strawberries out in my balcony’s edible garden

+ a method to easily reproduce basil + checking salads, tomatoes and aromatic plants as they grow vigorously.

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Now also tomatoes are showing up…

…under the custody of snapdragons:

…and of basil:

Leaves for salads

Salad plants are also thriving. From the corn salad and red lettuces I bought in a gardening store, here shot right after a light rain:

Salad plants in and out in my balcony’s edible garden

I just harvested corn salad and planted lettuce.

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To the plants I re-grew from the stems I ate long ago:

And more is coming

Tomatoes are full of flowers, and despite the height, bees are reaching us quite well, so the flowers are getting pollinated. I guess it helps having other flowers too, to attract the bees.

And I also have more salad planted. Yes, I eat a lot of salad!

In awe with the balcony garden in its edible edition

Why do I grow an edible garden?

For the fun, for the joy, for the science, for the experimentation, for the challenge. For awe.

The joy of consuming your own produce

Fruits, salad and aromatics growing in my balcony.

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Basil, strawberries, salads and tomatoes growing powerful in the orchard balcony

Plus… what’s that? Watermelons? Zucchinis?

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Plants of my balcony orchard thriving into the early, hot summer

You’ve already seen the small vegetable garden I’m growing in my balcony up from the very compost that I produced…

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Indeed I started this project up from the compost:

Planning an edible balcony garden for 2022 up from the compost

Still in deep winter although with a lovely sunny day that gifted us with 10 degrees that feel like 20 under the sun, I…

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Balcony Composting -Round 3

Photo-story about one of my rediscovered hobbies

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www.lucianoabriata.com I write and photoshoot about everything that lies in my broad sphere of interests: nature, science, technology, programming, etc. Become a Medium member to access all its stories (affiliate links of the platform for which I get small revenues without cost to you) and subscribe to get my new stories by email. To consult about small jobs check my services page here. You can contact me here.