I love waking up in the morning, stepping outside my bedroom onto my balcony only to be met by a cluster of ripe and juicy strawberries and blueberry bushes!  It only gets better at the end of a sunny day when they are nice and warm and the flavor is intensified!  Container gardening is a wonderful way to enjoy your own home grown organic fruits and veggies.

I also have artichokes providing a hedge and Chinese eggplant  with it’s luscious burst of color!  Never having grown them before, it was a pleasure to discover the gorgeous purple blooms that become the fruit!

Tips for container gardening:

1. choose deep containers for deep root development.  The soil won’t dry out as quickly.  Holes for drainage a must!

2. fill with an organic compost. You can make your own!  Look up Biodynamic farming!

3. Use heirloom seeds or seedlings that look sturdy and have several leaves.

4.  water once a day for the first week until the roots take hold. After that, water only when soil is dry to touch.

5. direct sun for at least 4 hours a day. If they aren’t thriving, they may need more sun.  You can tell if you have several planters in different areas and some plants are growing faster than others.

6. Be vigilant about pests, keeping snails and slugs off.  I check them every morning, remove any I find and step on them!!! (Or feed them to my hens). They sneak in through tiny eggs hidden in the nursery potting soil!!!  Pesticides poison your food!

7.  Plant them with flowers!  In addition to adding a burst of scent and color, they attract bees and hummingbirds that will increase pollination and fruit yield!