So many changes!

I haven't had time to post anything for a while and there have been a lot of changes in my garden!

My tomato plant has a few small tomatos on it, but they are so small that the camera wouldn't focus and all the pictures came out blurry. Hopefully they will grow quickly and I can post a picture or two. I also picked all of my peas and steamed them for dinner one night last week. They were so delicious. Hopefully more will grow and I will get to enjoy them again.

My cowhorn and bell peppers are growing pretty well. I have three cowhorn peppers that are about 4-6 inches and a bunch of other smaller ones. I am waiting for the large ones to change color a bit before I pick them.

Cowhorn peppers

I have also picked so many herbs in the past two weeks. I have been growing oregano, basil, and lemon thyme. I have used some of the herb fresh in my dinners, but I have been drying most of them and running them through my spice grinder so I can preserve them and use them later. I am getting the most basil. The picture below is from last week, and I picked twice as much basil this week! I will be making this batch into pesto and freezing it for later use.

Basil, Oregano, Lemon Thyme

I am so excited that I am finally able to pick things! It's nice to benefit from all the hard work of taking care of the plants.

First Flower Sighting!

A few of my plants have begun to flower. I noticed the flowers beginning a few days ago, and when I went out today, they were already in bloom.

My patty pan squash has a lot of blossoms on it. They seem to be open in the mornings, but close up a bit by the afternoon.

Here is my cowhorn pepper plant on Wednesday and again today. The flower was just a small bud on Wednesday, but now it's opened up and will hopefully start becoming a pepper.

 




















My cat loves to sit by the window and watch all the moths and different bugs fly around and land on the plants. He will just sit there for hours, and when something gets close enough to the glass he jumps up and tries to attack it!

What I Planted

Here are the first pictures of my balcony garden!

Most of my plants were starter plants that I bought at a local garden center. I wasn't able to start most things from seeds this year, but hopefully I will be able to slowly transition into starting everything from seeds over the next few years. I only started the lettuce and scallions from seeds this year.

The first two pictures are labled with the type of plant.

The four containers in the third picture are potatoes. Two containers are white potatoes and two are a red, white, and purple mix.

 I planted everything about a month ago and it is all coming along well. I had a little bit of an issue with aphids, but I was able to buy an insect killing soap that took care of that problem quickly. (http://www.amazon.com/Safer-Brand-Insect-Killing-Soap/dp/B000BQL8UY)

Introduction

Hi!

I am a 24 year old girl living in South Jersey just outside of Philadelphia. I grew up with a backyard vegetable garden and now that I have moved out on my own I want to continue gardening. I live in an apartment, so I have a small container garden on my balcony. I have never tried container gardening, so this will be a trial and error experience. I will be posting progress pictures and, if I am successful, recipes that I used my harvest in.

I'm looking forward to watching my garden grow and enjoying the fruits of my labor.