Balcony Garden 3 months on

OK, so three months after 'the planting' at Dornoch Balcony and this is where we're at. It is amazing what lots of prior planning can do - by that I primarily mean the issue of water. Had it not been for the auto-timer attached to the watering system Scarlett recommended, my attempt at being a high-rise horticulturalist would have failed pretty much within a week. Here I was saying to myself, "oh yes, now it's there, I'll be out there ALL the time, it will flourish with my love & attention"... well, it's nice to have good intentions and all, but with my lifestyle it just hasn't turned out that way. The other surprising thing for me to cope with was my secret intention to get Robert (an ex-farmer) enthusiastic about growing our own, but alas, he has managed a couple of disinterested glances, preferring to soak up the mountainous view to the south over a beer & cheese platter! (actually, I lie - he did check the water system a few times for me when I thought it was playing up ;-)

Produce successfully gleaned to date:

• About 1kg of beans (our biggest success so far)... although Scarlett says they look like they might like a sprinkle of dolomite - "a bit pale, looks like they might be being eaten by white fly, which preys on magnesium deficient plants"
• half a kg of strawberries
• endless handfuls of basil and pinches of oregano, thyme, sage leaves, garlic grass
• pinches of asian greens and english spinach and other small leafy lettucey things
• tall strands of dill
• Tumeric (albeit wind-whipped)
• Chilli Tree (prolifically happy)
  

RIP Rosemary (neglect), Cucumber (just didn't like me), mint (hard to please) and other things I can't remember planting.

So the credit should all go to Scarlett - I have literally done NOTHING apart from throwing encouraging glances through the glass kitchen windows.... Perhaps the new season's planting will mean a new chapter for me as a reluctant, but hopeful balcony gardener... with a little bit more help from Scarlett, who has already suggested some ideas.