My balcony turned into a tomato jungle
A dense rainforest of productive plants.
In previous occasions my balcony has been invaded by snapdragons and marigolds:
With my edible garden project this year, the “invasion” is this time in charge of my tomato plants.
It all started like this as I showed you in one of the first stories about the 2022 balcony orchard project:
Some weeks later, exactly 1 month ago, plants were starting to shoot flowers and even grow some fruits, as I showed you in this story:
And now it all goes like… I will show you here.
Tomatoes by the small pond
You saw in the lead photo some ripening tomatoes with some dirty water in the back. This dirty water is the closest thing I can have to a pond in the balcony.
And although I could keep it clear with chemicals, it’s dirty because it has a use: it accumulates rainwater, plus the tap water I add so that when I water my plants I can take it right from this “pond”. I have lots of pots to water and no hose. The pond makes the whole process of watering plants much easier than having to come in and out of the house with water multiple times. To refill the pond I just use a big bucket, with which 3–4 trips to the sink suffice.
Besides, to my surprise, I found that birds like to visit this pond, especially in the mornings. It’s only bad when strawberries are good because then they not only swim in the water but also have a snack!
Despite the bad color, I like my pond. And from some angles, it makes the whole thing feel quite tropical, don’t you think?
Shot from the right angles, my “pond” makes the whole thing look quite tropical, don’t you think?
The protagonists
Now going to the protagonists of this story, let me share some shots I took around the “pond” and also on the other side of the balcony:
Those above are two different kinds of tomatoes. You can tell from the hairs on the stems, that they are different varieties. No idea which one tastes best, yet. I hope to know soon, during the summer.
Then this is going away from the pond, where in some bigger pots I grow a couple of plants that are fructifying a lot:
Especially this one next to the yellow rose:
And here more tomato plants, in whose pots some cucurbits have also grown (from seeds in the compost I prepared…):
And here one of the youngest plants, without fruits yet but shooting flowers that mix with this pink wildflower:
And more fruits to come soon…
Yes, as you above my younger plants are shooting flowers, which means I can expect more fruit to be growing soon:
I showed you some basil + tomato salads in the past, made with my own basil.
Hopefully, my next salad will have not only balcony-made basil but also tomatoes!
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