Grow Your Own

My house has had strawberries (which were turned into strawberry sauce for a cheesecake I made), salad leaves, peas, green beans, radishes, beetroots, carrots, cabbage, spinach and tomatoes! Still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen...

Excellent!!!   

Have you had better luck PickledSakura?

Yes, I think so!!  I've got two cayenne peppers growing, and had my first two tomato flowers open up this morning.  (I gave them a little tap to help facilitate fertilisation)

Apart from that-- my marigolds and calendula seem to be keeping the bugs away, my mint is flourishing, but my basil is still a bit shy.

I didn't expect much from my window ledge garden, but it really is nice to see that bit of green every day!!

Everything is growing fine but it's going a bit slower than I think it did last year.

We have had some peas and alpine strawberries, but the salad leaves, basil and tomatoes are still small.  Luckily, I'm working from home now so I can keep an eye on them and keep everything watered in the hot summer sun. Next week I'm working from the office, so hopefully it won't be too hot and dry! 

This summer we got a hose pipe that attaches to the kitchen faucet and it makes watering sooooo much easier. Highly recommended for anyone without a proper hose pipe in their garden. Ours is Hozelock brand and we got it off Amazon - one hose for inside running permanently behind our sofas, one for outside, a connector and the faucet adapter. Works a treat!

In the past we've just used milk jugs or juice bottles with holes poked in the lids and filled them from the kitchen sink.... it took a looooooong time to water plants - most of the time was spent just filling the bottles. Better than nothing and we made do, but the hose pipe is much better.

Has anybody got any tips on watering my garden over a 2 week period, aside from asking a neighbour to help out?  I'd prefer if things didn't completely wither and die whilst I'm on holiday...but I'm also not about to ask a stranger to enter my home on a daily basis, open a window, spill water everywhere, and remember to shut and lock the windows and doors on their way out..

This is what I've currently got going on:
Window ledge
Tomatoes
Peppers

I'll have a look around to see what the internet has to say.  It's kind of a shame we're leaving right when everything will be finally ripening up, but hey, I got more than I expected already!  Over 50 tomatoes so far!

Those look great!

Do you have trays for the pots? That will help retain water and let the plant drink whenever it's thirsty. :-)

Since they're all potted, you could move them to shade (they'll grow a bit slower but won't dry up so much if they're not watered) or to the front of your flat where a neighbour could water them without going inside. We used to use old milk jugs (well rinsed out) for watering and that would be easy to leave for someone.

If they're all in pots you could even move them to a neighbor's flat if they're willing. I'd think someone who already has a bit growing (and has a somewhat green thumb) would be more willing to take them on.

When are you leaving?

Ooooh looking great PickledSakura -

You can try the following things depending on your time, inclination and budget:

Trays with capillary mats on the bottom
Self watering spikes attached to 2 litre bottles
A self-watering spike system
A self watering drip system not requiring mains water or electricity

Thanks for the suggestions.  I'm planning to go down the Spikes+2Litre bottles route, and try it for a bit before hand.   

I have started growing gingers, bell pepper, carrots and potatoes, need to some tips on growing strategies

Back from holiday and came home to this harvest!

Brilliant!!