Wednesday 22 June 2011

Chili Plant Madness

My boyfriend, Zac and I started to grow Chili plants last year, neither of us had ever grown these before, but as I started to prepare my other seeds, Zac decided he wanted to grow something also, so off we went to the local garden centre and as soon he spotted the Chili section, he decided that was his thing.

This year, we have grown Serrano Chilies from seeds, which a local Mexican restaurant were giving away and I also ordered the Chili Plant Collection from Thompson and Morgan which contained two plants, of each of the three fiery varieties Tabasco, Inferno and Thai Dragon.

                                                                       Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: July 2011

The Serrano seeds were planted in the propagator in late February, along with other seeds and were moved into larger pots once they germinated and reached 5cm to 6cm tall. As with the other plants they were hardened off, outside for around two weeks. Once the warmer summer days started they were planted out into larger pots and planters.

                                                                               Photo: Laura Lunt   Date: July 2011

The Chili Plant Collection arrived as small plants in late May; these were planted into a large trough with starter compost and are currently sitting on a south-east facing windowsill. Now in Mid June, the first flowers are beginning to appear and I'm looking forward to our first batch of Chili's for my famous Chili Jam recipe and our favorite Chinese / Thai dishes.

Tomato Plants for the Summer

I have been growing Tomato plants for around 5 years now. My first plants came from my mother, like me she always grows more that she needs, I remember taking them thinking 'lets try not to kill these' and within a few months I had lush red Tomatoes growing crazily in the small back yard, which I made into great Tomato sauces all summer.

Due to this success, the following year I decided to grow my own and I headed to the local garden centre to pick up some seeds. I never really know which brands or types to buy, so I tend to pick the types I get at the supermarket, such as plum and baby Tomatoes, which I've grown successfully year after year.

This year I've grown Gardener's Delight and Moneymaker varieties from seed (both collected from garden magazines). In late February I placed 2 to 3 seeds in two rows of my propagator, which all germinated very quickly and any unsuitable weedy plants were removed. Once they grew to a suitable 5cm to 6cm, these were transferred into small individual pots, placed in a tray which was kept topped up with water daily and left on a very sunny south-east facing windowsill. These were again left to grow to at least 15cm to 20cm in size and once the frost started to disappear, during April, they were taken outside during the day to harden off, but always brought back in and placed on the windowsill during the night.

                                                                                    Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: June 2011

After hardening for at least two week, the plants were ready to be placed in their last growing place, a very large patio planter bag, filled with muti-compost and water crystals. Due to my large amount of Tomato plants (12 in total) only 6 of these were put into the planter and another six were placed into larger plant pots, all with small cane supports, which will be removed and given larger canes as the plants grow bigger. These have been watered at least every other day if not every day since being planted out.

                                                                                    Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: June 2011

It is now Mid June, the Tomato plants have grown to around 4ft and the first signs of flowers are just developing. I've been pinching out the small shoots that have been appearing between the branches and as a little added bonus I have been feeding the plants with Tomato feed, a few times, just to help encourage growth and this will now continue every 10-14 days, while the plants flower and grow the Tomatoes.

Sunday 12 June 2011

From Seeds to Plants

Having just moved into a new flat with a great size balcony, late last year, the preparation for this years crops started in early February. As normal I tend to sow far too many needs, which I prefer to do rather that buying small plants later on in the year, with the exception to Garlic, Strawberry runners and a very hot Chili plant collection, containing Thai Dragon, Inferno and Tabasco.

My little propagator has been well used over the years and always creates great results. This year it held: Carrots, Peppers, Serrano Chili's, Baby Sweetcorn, two varieties of Tomatoes (Moneymaker & Gardener's Delight) and Aubergines and small pots held Courgettes.

                                          Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: March 2011

I grew these to a suitable size, before re-potting into smaller pots, making sure each plant had sufficient water to keep growing. Around late April - early May I started to harden these off, by placing them outside during the day and bringing these back in at night. After a couple of weeks of hardening, these were planted out into larger pots / vegetables containers, using multi-purpose compose and as an added water helper, I added a small spoonful of water crystals, which will soak up water and release slowly.

                                           Photo: Laura Lunt  Date: May 2011

My Balcony is a south-east facing balcony, so it gets sun all morning into mid afternoon, but as a large part of this is covered I have to make sure that I water the plants daily.

The Beginning of My Garden 2011

Gardening has been something I've been interested in and dabbling in for many years. Living in London I've found it very challenging, as many of the places I've lived in, mainly flats with small balconies, are not ideal for growing fruit and vegetables. But with a little imagination and some research, I've managed to grow many things in very small places, in tubs, pots and hanging baskets.

My inspiration for this years garden, came from my idea to create a cook book. I wanted to put together a book of my favorite recipes, simple dishes containing foods I love to eat and all of which contain the fruit and vegetables I love to grow in my garden or my Little Balcony.

I've created this blog to follow the creation of my first cook book 'The Little Balcony: Cook Book' and along with it, how I've grown the fruit and vegetables which will be used in these recipes.