The Balcony Gardener

Hello, my name is Brittney, and I'm a plant-aholic! Container gardening on my balcony has become my new obsession! I honestly can't stop myself. The local garden centers are like HEAVEN to me and if you unleash me in a Menard's or a Lowes it will be almost impossible for me to leave without at least one treasure to add to the jungle of plants that are steadily taking over my 5' x 11' balcony. I find myself taking home all kinds of strange plants and seed packets, mostly just to see if I can grow such a thing in a small space.

Susan (one of my gardening gurus) says that gardening is an experiment and a learning process in which you spend most of your time asking "Now how am I going to fix that?" So far, I made an organic repellant to fight a meddling squirrel, built and rebuilt a fence around the vegetable garden (3 times!), moved everything off the deck to lay a tarp so I would stop throwing dirt on my downstairs neighbor, and last night I live-trapped the raccoon that dug up my garden and tore holes in my screen door.

These little buggers can make a lot of trouble in your garden. If you decide to live-trap a raccoon that is damaging your property, you should contact your local animal control,wildlife center, or department of natural resources to figure out what you will do with the animal after you catch it. Your area might have some very specific rules about catching and releasing raccoons. It is also VERY dangerous to screw with a raccoon, they look cute, but they are wild predators; and when cornered or threatened they will bite and claw. Raccoons carry rabies, so if you do decide to live trap and release the little pest without a professional's help, you should take precautions to reduce the risk of a serious bite. You should wear thick gloves, long thick sleeves and long pants.

This is the first year that I have invested some serious time and money into building a container garden, but I have done my best to be a frugal gardener I try to be as green as possible in the garden, I like to use recycled garden materials, organic pest control, and on-the-spot composting for small spaces. One of my favorite places to find garden statues and decor is the housewares department of my local Goodwill Stores. It's a great place to find intersting planters, decorations, even a battery operated tabletop fountain or two. Thrift store finds make some of the best garden treasures.

I got an early start this year by germinating seeds in a 3-tiered miniature greenhouse. The best deal I found on a greenhouse likethis was from Amazon.com, you can buy one for about $35, plush S&H, it'll be about $45-$50. If, like me, you begin daydreaming about building your garden in December, an indoor greenhouse is a good way to feed the urge to play in the dirt. If you're into instant gardening satisfaction, seedlings can test your patience, some people like to see the fruits of their labor after digging in the dirt for hours. Growing from seeds was a little overwhemling to me, I was almost certain I would find out my thumb was black instead of green. Although seedlings are less forgiving than more mature plants, they are realively easy to grow. I used two large Jiffy peat plug trays to germinate my seeds inside the greenhouse. The plugs are handy because when the plant is ready to be taken outside, there is no need to risk damaging the delicate first and second leaves by uprooting. After transplanting the seedlings, you can protect them from frost with towels and blankets, or you can cut gallon milk jugs and 2-liters in half and use each end as a cover for the seedlings.

Starting from seedlings is also cheaper than buying more mature plants from the garden center; and if you're growing vegetables (Yes, I said vegetables - almost anything can be grown in a container!) for between $10 and $20 worth of seeds you can grow more produce than you would ever need buy at the grocery store in a whole summer, for way less. It's also nice to walk out onto the deck and pluck a snack straight from the railing or a potted plant. Vegetables begin to lose their nutritional value and flavor as soon as you pick it off the plant. The veggies at the supermarket were picked days ago. Susan says that grocery vegetables have no flavor after you eat veggies straight from the plant.

I also like growing from seedlings because I like to watch the way my plants grow. At the end of a long work day, I like to walk around the balacony to see which plants have sprouted new leaves or flowers. Each day there are new changes in the garden, the plants get taller or bend to reach the sun. New buds are popping up all over the place, and I enjoy keeping pace with all of it.