Well, for the 4 summers prior to this one I have had a little bit of ground to plant in. Four years ago it was tomatoes, and lettuce. Three years ago, tomatoes, two years ago, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, green peppers, lettuce, spinach, peas, last year tomatoes, green peppers, lettuce, spinach. This year, no ground to plant in. So, I thought I'd try container gardening on my balcony. There must be some trick I just don't know. Maybe it was the organic soil I used, maybe it needed some organic fertilizer in it, or some yummy chemicals. Or maybe it was the cold, wet summer. Or maybe I overcrowded my containers, I think this may be very true. I planted spinach, it died, I planted lettuce, it died, I planted green peppers, they grew to be about 8 inches tall,obviously no peppers. I planted basil, got enough for one recipe, I planted tomatoes, I got 1. Now, let me tell you about this dear little tomato, for it was the only thing that grew this year. It grew very late, so at the beginning of September it was still green on the vine and I was nursing it along. One day I realized I had overwatered my plant. In an attempt to empty some of the water I knocked my precious solo green tomato off the vine. What sadness. So then I placed it on the window sill, it would still be home grown, just not vine ripened. And it turned, it turned a beautiful orange and then a delicious looking red. One day Brad said, "looks like it is ready". I failed to retrieve it from the window sill on my balcony. That night a major rain and wind storm. I awoke to my precious tomato on the floor of our balcony. Poor little guy. That day we ate him, he was quite delicious, although a little smushy on one side. I think I need to research container gardening before next spring.
