I bought some veggies including broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas and roly poly carrots as well as some strawberries.
Within a week I noticed the broccoli and cauliflower were covered in tiny grey mites, agh!
I read online that some good plants to deter insects are thyme and nasturtium, so I planted seeds of both of those, around the broccoli and cauliflower. They're now growing, it's fun to watch them get taller and taller. I hope they work!
Here are some nasturtiums I planted in the pot of the Sad Plant. I don't know what type of plant Sad Plant is, but I've had it since I moved into my first apartment and it was left behind the person who lived there before I did. A new baby Sad Plant is now growing at the base.
About two weeks ago I went out to water my veggies and a little snail came out from under the broccoli and I watched him/her for about 10 mins as he/she crawled over the broccoli leaves and then out of the pot. I also noticed the leaves looked chewed on and then found a bright green caterpillar. I moved the pot of snow peas & carrot further away and I don't think I'll be eating the broccoli and cauliflower, they're looking ill and discoloured as the number of mites has increased.
The snow peas have been growing well and I have picked a few, they are crispy and sweet and I have also picked out one roly poly carrot, they're so small and cute.
At our local markets I bought a chilli plant and I look forward to using them in my cooking and I've also planted some calendula that will eventually add some more colour to my mini garden.
The markets are located in Frenchs Forest in the carpark of the Parkway Hotel. There are lots of (non-vegan) food stalls plus lots of people selling fruit and veg, bread, clothes and jewellery.
I was really excited when I saw a stall with a banner for Addiction Food because I noticed the words vegan and gluten free. I talked to the couple at the stall and they had three vegan options including a fig, apple and walnut slice and a bliss ball so I bought one of each. They had plans to have their vegan goods sold in Funky Pies and they are now being sold by them. I liked the flavour of the fig, apple and walnut slice.
We carried on walking around the market and a few stalls later I saw another stall with vegan and gluten free baked goods! The Laughing Planet bakes with whole grains and no refined sugar but not everything is vegan. I bought a chocolate zucchini cupcake and some raw fudge. We also went back last weekend and I purchased the ginger fudge and a chocolate mini muffin. The cupcake was very cocoa-y, as was the mini muffin. Out of the fudges, I liked the ginger the best.
The Frenchs Forest Organic Market is located at 5 Frenchs Forest Rd East, Frenchs Forest.
15 comments:
Yay chilli plant!
D sprayed our plants with a mixture of garlic and water spray, and that worked pretty well for deterring insects nomming.
Your garden is so very nice. I need to try to grow brocolli.
best of luck with your garden! it looks great so far. this year my broccoli didn't grow at all and it was so sad :( my peas are still in the works, i'm glad yours have sprouted some actual peas. i just discovered a blackberry plant in my backyard and i'm so happy!
Growing food is hard! I have complete respect for farmers and home gardeners. I bought a basil plant last summer for my windowsill, and when it got those gray bugs I just threw it away. Best of luck to you! Your slug was cute.
your balcony garden looks similar to mine, except a bit more impressive! them friggin snails chomped my plants and i caught one of the little buggers in my herb pot the other day. my chilli plant hasn't produced any chillis yet though.
your balcony garden rocks, Mandee! we grew broccoli last year and every day i would check it for those little green worms & pull about 3-5 off each day. they munch away like crazy! eek! those mites are no fun either - i hope they leave your garden alone! the snow peas are the cutest, and that pepper plant is going to be most awesome! hooray for your Sad Plant having a little baby - it's adorable! i'd also like to add a hooray for the goodies, especially the gluten-free ones! mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
you have a lot of fauna for a balcony garden! the garlic spray steph suggested is a good idea, you can also sprinkle the soil around your plants with sawdust or fine straw to keep snails away - they don't like the scratchyness. the nasturtiums will become sacrifice plants and hopefully get nibbled instead of your veggies. and any strond smelling herbs are great to confuse insects and keep them away. those little mites are aphids and a great way to deal with them is to encourage ladybirds into your garden, as they love to eat aphids. they are attracted to nasturtiums, corriander, tansy, dill (YUCK!) and fennel.
Your carrot is so cute!
Broccoli is hard to grow - watch out the mites don't take over the other plants!
Yummy. You're making me so jealous. I had a container garden two years ago on my boyfriend's patio but when he moved I no longer had any outdoor space. The microgreens were my favorite. They were so cute and fun to snip fresh for a salad.
Your garden is so impressive! I wish I could share your green thumb... ;)
Your "mini" garden is much better than mine. I'm jealous.
Pesky or not, I still think the snail is cute.
Your garden looks fantastic! Can't wait to see how you use all that food. I've been trying to use stuff my garden in my blog at
http://alphabetcook.blogspot.com/
Stop on by!
John
Gorgeous chilli plant! I bought one for the Mr once...but it died :( (I was looking after it for him at the time....typical!).
It's lovely to see your garden growing. Those carrots are adorable!! Sorry to hear about the mites :(
Yay for raw vegan desserts! They look wonderfully tasty!
Your container garden is really cute, especially that little baby carrot! And I absolutely love snails, but they creep me out a little still. Your snail friend is very cute.
Love the snail pictures. How cute!
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