Newbie city farmer needs help

[Plantboy]

Hey I'm plantboy
I have recently become obsessed with becoming self sufficient and buying as little as I can from shops or supermarkets,

I have a small flat with a balcony and I'd really like help and advise with utilizing my built in concrete flower bed that I'm in the process of clearing out this summer.

I'm all for non GMO organic fruit and vegetables.
And i want to go the extra mile and do things the long way!! time and money isn't an issue at all I don't subsidize when it comes to my grub

My bed I have to work with runs along the whole bottom of my balcony railings like an L the largest bed being the front is about 11ft / 1ft and the smallest bed being the one left side of my balcony opposite my door is about 4ft! / 1ft

I like to be creative and understand tomatoes can be grown in pots and potatoes ect can be grown in bins and sacks ect so I wouldn't take up precious flowerbed space with them ....
But any advise / hacks on them also would be grand.

Before I jump the gun and start asking for advice on how and when to plant what I'd like to grow, I'd like to list off what I'm hoping to grow for advise on what organic Soils / Clay's are best for my soon to be empty beds

This is all extremely exciting for me and I'm hoping to make lots of friends on here and possibly swap some seeds ect! I'm currently building up on my collection as we speak.

Tomatoes

Onions

Spinach

Carrots

Lemons

Chilli's

Garlic

Basil

PS I know some things I have chosen can't be grown outside in the UK at all and some I'm guessing only at certain times of the year I'm fully open to growing indoors with lighting ect this is my life / hobbie I don't go out so time and effort isn't going to be a problem HELPPPP MEEEEE

 

[oneeye]

Plantboy sounds like you have a good plan for gardening this year. I love to garden too, and I garden many different ways all year long. If you want some good advice, you would get many more suggestions if you posted a photo of your garden, so we can see what exactly would help you the most. You are at the right place and Welcome.

 

[Plantboy]

 

[Plantboy]

Mr Owl is useless at keeping the birds and squirrels off of my balcony the pigeons this morning have ravaged through my freshly potted sliced tomato and my garlic cloves
I planted them for an experiment last night! I'm sure they didn't get anything though ‍ I feed them all as much as I can as it is down stairs not from my balcony!
The two pots have been brought in now as its way too cold still I'm guessing. I'll keep them indoors in a warm place that has lots of light?? @oneeye hope the pictures are ok really appreciate your reply the support is very encouraging for me.

 

[karstopography]

I see shade. Does the area get any direct sunlight? If so, what portion of the day? Lighting makes an enormous difference in what can be done.

You have a natural trellis there for anything that does better growing on a trellis. I think any potting or raised bed mix would be the choice for soil. Many come with fertility built in and some mixes are organic.

There are dwarf versions of citrus such as lemons, but that’s something that could be in a container and moved indoors during sub freezing weather.

If you get 3/4 hours of direct sun, you could still potentially have success with some vegetables. There are lists of vegetables that do well in less light. Carrots and spinach are generally on those lists. Peas are too if you happen to like those and those produce pretty flowers and might appreciate the railing for support. London, isn’t that like the perfect climate for peas?

How to Grow Peas | Thompson & Morgan

Learn how to grow peas with T&M’s guide. We reveal how incredibly easy growing peas is, and how to achieve good yields in small spaces.

www.thompson-morgan.com

 

[Plantboy]

@karstopography thankyou very much for your very helpful and informal reply, My balcony is Southwesterly facing!
It's 12 midday now and my whole balcony basically has sunlight! And has since around 10.30 am I'm sure? Apart from a small section near my door of around 3ft that has sun at 12.30 ok As the sun comes up an around... For the majority of the day until it sets my balcony has good light

As for the soil!
Im currently clearing out what is there and will be giving my beds a good wash ready for fresh new chemical free soil... This is a long term project and I'm very passionate about my hobbies so I was maybe thinking of giving my beds a thin Clay base before I add soil of any sort for natural minerals / nutrients ect.
As for fertilizers ect I'd much rather buy my own organic horse manure or another natural alternative. What's your opinion on that?

Good thinking about the dwarf versions of citrus! I'm guessing they might be better for me as a novice and more easier for me to move when they need to come in during cold weather
I'm going to need edible ones because I use alot of lemon for drinking and making chilli sauce ect I'll look into that today though.

As for the peas yes I'd love them!! I'm just thinking about getting the beds ready as best as I can and being finished in a good time to plant everything and to be able to reap the benefits of my hard work sometime this winter

Plantboy

 

[Plantboy]

Plantboy sounds like you have a good plan for gardening this year. I love to garden too, and I garden many different ways all year long. If you want some good advice, you would get many more suggestions if you posted a photo of your garden, so we can see what exactly would help you the most. You are at the right place and Welcome.

@oneeye cheers mate thanks for the reply and advise.

 

[karstopography]

@Plantboy Wonderful! The light your balcony gets would appear to be about ideal. Really about anything on your list could work and the Southwest exposure could help focus and add a bit of extra heat to help with more warm weather types in your grow list like peppers and tomatoes. I’d pick smaller, more compact varieties on the tomatoes and peppers just to not render your balcony unusable to other activities. Jimmy Nardello is a wonderful, compact chilli that produces sweet, delicious frying type peppers. Shishito peppers are absolutely delicious blistered, salted and devoured hot off the grill. They are small plants. Fresno peppers are super nice in cocktails and in the kitchen when a little heat is nice.

I wonder how well those planters you have there drain? Nothing worse than perpetually wet, soggy soil that can’t dry out for a lack of drainage. Drainage and how water moves through those containers is something to consider. You might consider something more porous and permeable than clay in base of those containers just to ensure good drainage.

On the lemon, take a look at a dwarf improved meyer lemon. Meyer lemons, you may already be familiar with them, aren’t a true lemon, but are a slightly sweeter and fragrant lemon like citrus with a lemon flavor. They are often the lemon of choice for cocktail makers and bakers. They are also more cold hardy than a true lemon like a Eureka type. Meyer lemons can grow indoors when necessary and produce wonderfully fragrant blooms. We grow them here and they are very productive and a wonderful plant to have around.

 

[Plantboy]

@Plantboy Wonderful! The light your balcony gets would appear to be about ideal. Really about anything on your list could work and the Southwest exposure could help focus and add a bit of extra heat to help with more warm weather types in your grow list like peppers and tomatoes. I’d pick smaller, more compact varieties on the tomatoes and peppers just to not render your balcony unusable to other activities. Jimmy Nardello is a wonderful, compact chilli that produces sweet, delicious frying type peppers. Shishito peppers are absolutely delicious blistered, salted and devoured hot off the grill. They are small plants. Fresno peppers are super nice in cocktails and in the kitchen when a little heat is nice.

I wonder how well those planters you have there drain? Nothing worse than perpetually wet, soggy soil that can’t dry out for a lack of drainage. Drainage and how water moves through those containers is something to consider. You might consider something more porous and permeable than clay in base of those containers just to ensure good drainage.

On the lemon, take a look at a dwarf improved meyer lemon. Meyer lemons, you may already be familiar with them, aren’t a true lemon, but are a slightly sweeter and fragrant lemon like citrus with a lemon flavor. They are often the lemon of choice for cocktail makers and bakers. They are also more cold hardy than a true lemon like a Eureka type. Meyer lemons can grow indoors when necessary and produce wonderfully fragrant blooms. We grow them here and they are very productive and a wonderful plant to have around.

@karstopography

Fantastic I'm happy to hear the good feedback about the light and my ability to grow more exotic things on my balcony very happy!!!

On the other hand! The drainage I don't think is great, There doesn't seem to be any holes at the bottom of the flowerbeds.... Otherwise they would be draining onto the balcony below so advise on a good organic multi purpose soil that's an all-arounder and will aid in keeping my Vegtibles from spoiling would be great! I can get onto eBay and see what the damage is to fill these beds then i think I'll pass on the clay for now ahah.

Thanks for listing off lots of interesting peppers ect, I'll be sure to come back to this thread once I sort my beds sorted out. I don't want to overwhelm myself it makes it stressful for me and hard to enjoy things.

Thankyouuuuii X