How a balcony gardener was able to harvest fresh vegetables every day!
Create an edible oasis in your home and enjoy the satisfaction (and stress relief!) of growing your own fresh food.
Have you tried gardening before, or fear the worst if you were to start?
Sound familiar?
🌱 How did it feel when you tried to grow potted grocery store tomatoes and basil but failed miserably?
🌱 How did it feel to eat your first 'home grown' food?
🌱 How does it feel to purchase plants but then they usually perish?
🌱 How does it feel to enjoy cooking from fresh herbs regularly?
🌱 How did you feel when an infestation of aphids spread across your entire balcony crop?
🌱 How does it feel to grow something from seed for the first time?
🌱 After chasing pigeons away, how does it feel when those blasted squirrels ruin some of your best crops?
🌱 What was it like when your garden kept your spirits high and anxiety levels low during a very difficult period?
How It All Started…
I started out in the world of gardening not as a gardener, but organizing workshops in the St. James Town neighbourhood of Toronto for other gardeners.
The participants who attended the workshops lived in the high-rise buildings that make up St. James Town. They hoped to learn how they could grow food on their balconies, and left the workshops with seeds and pots to get started on their new gardening adventures. But there were mixed results..
When the Growing Gets Tough...
People who came to the gardening workshops didn’t all get consistent results from their plants. Part of my job was to follow up with participants and do an evaluation. So I ended up hearing about dozens of experiences with balcony food plants. I got asked a lot of questions – even though at the time I was new to gardening myself!
One comment I repeatedly heard was that plants had lots of healthy leaves but no fruit, or they had green tomatoes that didn’t ripen. The tomato, though such a popular plant, did not in fact work for everyone. But then, what would be more satisfying to grow on more different balconies?
Cultivating solutions…
Through listening to many residents’ gardening trials and triumphs, I learned about the obstacles people face with balcony gardening and tried to think of solutions to help. High-rise balcony conditions are tough for plants! For instance, growing vegetables on the 26th floor, with a shadow from the neighbouring building and gusting wind, is not ideal for all vegetables.
I thought: Maybe we shouldn’t be starting with which vegetables people want to grow, but which plants are actually going to work in these harsh conditions. I wanted to answer the questions about growing more healthy food with less space...
A Better Way to Grow…
I myself started growing my own vegetables. My roommate and I dug up some of the lawn out back for a little garden. I’d also hang boxes off our fire escape and plant my most frequently used herbs in them… So I could step out my back door to pick some chives for my scrambled eggs in the morning!
By this time, I had organized the St. James Town balcony gardening workshops for a couple seasons and felt more confident in what was needed: the right type of planting pot, how much soil and compost to use, and what kind of seeds could be planted on balconies. It was time for the next step: Putting all of my learnings together and sharing it back...
Sharing is Caring…
I wanted to make a book. But I was asking myself: really, aren’t there already enough gardening books in this world? So I thought I could come up with something super simple. Not inundating people with more information. I also wanted it to be super accessible, small, low-cost and full of illustrations.
This is how An Illustrated Guide to Growing Food on Your Balcony came about. Its starting point was to create a summary of the bigger experiences I gained through organizing workshops
From Newbie Gardeners to Empowered Growers ...
“This is my first time exclusively growing food. I’ve been enjoying the fruits of my labor for a few weeks now and it’s an incredibly satisfying feeling.
Knowing someone was available to get me started gave me the confidence I needed to jump in and get my hands dirty.”
- Shirley T, 2020 subscriber
[pictured at left: Purnima with balcony herbs, a balcony gardening student who soon became a workshop teacher herself!]
It's Your Turn to Dig In!
You too can be living high up in a building with a small balcony, busy working full-time, with a discouraging history of killing your plants, and still get started on a fun and fruitful gardening journey.
You too can make space for your plants on your high-rise balcony, and still have room to relax outside on your lounge chair.
And you too can enjoy all of those beautiful vegetables and herbs daily throughout the summer, and have the satisfaction of knowing that it was you who grew them.
Avoid these common gardener rookie errors!
Thinking that more is more… but getting less from your garden.
Growing your seedlings by the window – but never knowing why they got so sad and weak.
On a hot day, moving all your baby plants outside at once.
Start off the growing season on the right foot!
Choose the right plants.
Talk to your plants – build a relationship with them so you learn what they need.
Approach balcony gardening as a constant learning experience.
And you'll learn more gardening pro tips! when you subscribe to my training program and Grow Your Best Balcony Garden!
Why balcony garden with me?
Because it’s what I love! And I’m not just a gardener, but also a great teacher. I specialize in making information accessible and breaking it down into digestible pieces.
I meet you where you’re at in your gardening skill level. If you don’t want to be overwhelmed, I’ll tell you just a few important nuggets of information without getting too technical. If you’re a visual learner, you’ll love my resources.
If you’re unsure about anything, I’m good at answering questions. So you won’t have to lose sleep over internet searches and on-line gardening forums.
My lessons are available for you to use at your own pace, on your own time, and most of your learning will happen out in your garden as you learn by doing!
With me, you will get:
Resources you access on your own time
Lots of drawings and diagrams
The chance to learn by doing
Help sourcing garden seeds and supplies
My “plant doctor” expertise and remedies for your garden troubles
Helpful advice whether you’re a first-time gardener or have been doing it for a while
To improve your gardening skills, and harvest more than ever!
