the plants have senesced and bared their fruit for the most part... there are still a few things growing but essentially i've packed up and put away most of the farm for this year (that's what you do when you're a container farmer - you pack up).
it was a fun and entertaining season but i will grow things a lot differently if i'm still on this balcony next year. i wouldn't say that anything tasted better because i could pick it from my balcony. the tomatoes and strawberries especially weren't anything to write home (or blog) about. i liked having the herbs the most. next year i will grow A LOT more Cilantro, stick to cherry tomatoes, and try more sweet potato varieties (partly just because they are so pretty)!
in correspondence with the changing season (and lack of new content), i'm going to stop writing this blog and shift my focus back to this currently-neglected-but-more-art-related blog, Lucks VanJeet on Raymond Street.
i leave you with some closing pictures of the balcony/garden/farm's current state, transitioning into fall...
the last of the harvest. there's the ONE pickle that made it through. I have no idea what to do with it. should I go to the trouble of trying to pickle one pickle?
a late sowing of Basil and Cilantro.
Strawberries are still coming forth. The plants seem to grow MUCH better in a traditional container versus the Topsy-Turvy (Tacky) thingy I started with. Young, white strawberries look so neat.
A gang-busters crop of Chilies from just two plants... well, actually four plants in two pots... this is my chosen drying method (mostly because it pleases my eyeballs).
a root-ball from one of the tomato plants (not as root-bound as i thought it would be - still, bigger containers would be better for water retention)
handful of worm compost and worms. the worms seem to be thriving finally - this was a totally random scoop and there are lots of worms in there!!
giving the worms some new, fresh bedding. haven't really figured out what to do for the winter. i don't want them in the house for fear of mites. might have to build them an insulation-unit.
torrential rains. not easy to capture rain with a point-n-click camera so you know this was a super-hard rain!! also, a late sowing of salad-greens and green onions.
and lastly, the remainder of the garden all tucked into one little corner. hung some twinkle-lights to ward off the darkness of the coming days. also, some legit hobo-art imported from Halifax by east-coast-friends on a recent visit (not as technically proficient as hobo-art from the days of yore but heart-warming because of where it came from).