HOW TO START GROWING FOOD ON YOUR BALCONY

PART I: RESEARCH AND PLANNING

Whether you want to reduce your carbon footprint by producing at home, to control the quality of fruits and vegetables in your plate, or simply undertake a new project: starting to grow your own food is possible and quite simple even in an area as small as a balcony...

The first and only (!) difficult step to become a productive gardener is to learn about plants and how to arrange them regarding time and space. There is a lot of literature online or in your local bookstore to get to know everything about how plants work and how to get the most out of every single one of them. We strongly encourage you to do some aimed research if you’re interested in this topic and we will also provide you with more information in the articles to come (don't hesitate to ask questions if you want us to write about something specific). But to start, you really don’t need to know much. Here are the five most important lessons that we have learned so far:

1) Water

Plants need water to grow, that's a no brainer! Some need more, others less. Rosemary for example doesn’t need as much water as basil, and it's crucial to know how much moisture in the soil your plant really needs to be happy. But lucky you, if you water once a week (or twice a week in case it’s too warm and sunny) all your plants should do fine. When I say water, I mean soak the soil! Not just a drop. If it’s a pot, you should be able to see the water drip from the drainage holes. An easy rule of thumb to add to your gardening knowledge.

2) Soil

Plants need nutrients and they will find them in the soil (just like you do in your plate). But again: Rosemary doesn’t need a soil as rich as basil. Also, different soils have different drainage properties that impact the watering. Long story short: get the appropriate soil for the appropriate plant. For starters, most vegetables will do fine with a universal garden soil. In case your soil is too poor, you can always add natural fertilizer (we will give some examples in one of our next articles)...

3) Light

That's the third - but not final - essential need of a plant. It is what gives your veggies energy to grow. And yet again: not all plants need to be sunbathed the whole day. Some prefer an indirect and dim light, like basil, some like it direct and bright like rosemary. There is no secret recipe, you need to know your planting conditions to solve the equation of what to plant where. An "easy-to-take-care-of" exposure is to have lots of light all day long, but no direct sun in the warmest hours. That should do the trick of easy gardening, but won’t please to all plants. The thing is that you usually don't choose the orientation of your balcony. So check out the conditions you have and select your seedlings accordingly.

4) Pairing

Not all the important things happen above the surface. There’s a lot going on under your feet as well. The plants' roots form complex and resilient environments with mycelium (mushrooms) and bacteria, which helps them build up resistances, share nutriments and so on. The point is, you're not planting a collection of single plants, but an ecosystem that will work together.

Furthermore, plants are naturally competing for space, but not all of them focus on the same layer of soil: carrots need to grow deep and large into the root area, whereas salads next door can use the unused space on the surface for their big leaves. As a rule of thumb, you should always try to pair plants that need similar water, nutrient and light conditions. That will make your gardening experience a lot simpler. In this case, looking a bit deeper into permaculture will help you make the right choices.

5) Timing

Even though you can find strawberries and melons in supermarkets almost all year round, don’t expect to grow them yourself in December. Your vegetables sprout and grow best at specific times of the year. Yet another complexity to address in your planting plan! The good news is: you can use the same space to successively grow different vegetables throughout the year. Actually, it's the best to never plant the same kind twice in a row in the same spot, but to rotate the inhabitants of your soil on a regular basis! Bottom line: know the right season to plant the right vegetable and you’ll get delicious results. But be careful: whether you live in Europe or Australia, the calendar is not the same!

AND NOW - GET STARTED!

After all that, you may think “Damn, there are so many different needs for each plant, how can I possibly grow anything at all?”... Well, don’t worry, it’s simpler than you think. It's all about some prior preparation and organisation, the rest will literally come naturally. And there will be a lot more detailed and useful information in the articles to come, so stay tuned and get ready for some exciting, fulfilling gardening experience!