Green Thumbs and All

Hope springs eternal, and Spring is nothing if not about Hope. 

London being the fast-paced urban mecca that it is, real estate is at a premium, and I have to make do with a tiny balcony -well, tiny by Montreal standards, because it is positively spacious for a London flat... If it were only up to me, I'd devote the entire 4,5m² to my garden, but I have my Sweetheart to contend with (oh, and I suppose the cats want to get their two cents worth in there too...) And as much as my Honey adores my soil-mucking enthusiasm, he also likes basking in the sun from time to time. He always has the most puzzled look on his ace when he sees me returning from the flower market with yet another haul of plants.

I try to be reasonable about the plants, but any die-hard gardener will tell you: it is really difficult to think straight when there are so many plants beckoning to you. I'd like to think that I am showing an enormous amount of restraint. Not that I really have a choice: like I mentioned above, I only have a small balcony -I am still debating whether or not I should try for an allotment in a nearby community garden- so it's not like I can tear out a patch of lawn when I run out of digging space (though I would so LOVE to rip up the ugly commons ground...). I am only keeping four tomato seedlings from the dozen that I started from seed (FOUR! A DOZEN! Last year, I kept 18, and gave away at least twenty seedlings!). I've severely limited the amount of ornamentals that I can keep, allocating most of the space to pretty edibles. 

I have written regularly about my garden in the past, and I don't see why I would stop now. In an attempt to prove that anyone can grow a few bites to eat, no matter how small the space, I will be chronicling on the progress (and foibles) I am making within 4,5m² (48sq ft).

Now, if only I can figure out where to put in the strawberries I got on Sunday; the in-laws' ratte potatoes that sprouted in the cupboard; a few salad leaves; that zucchini plant... Oh, and I'll need some room for a worm composter. I wonder if I could squeeze in a rhubarb plant...

Happy gardening, and bon' app'!