That I don’t have a garden doesn’t mean I have to do without fresh herbs, fruit and veggies. Here’s a view of my balcony. ;)
On the drainpipe are hanging baskets with oregano, sage, strawberries, thyme and rosemary. On the little tiled table you see lavender (not sure it’s an edible variety though, when it gets awfully quiet here you’ll know it wasn’t ;) and in the back are a 3-coloured raspberry plant and blackberries.
And that’s not even the end of it. Outside of the picture are cherry tomato plants, red hot & sweet chili peppers and a yellow bell pepper. The fruits are an experiment but we have successfully grown vegetables on our balcony before.
We also have some additional herb plants within reach in the kitchen: parsley, basil and cilantro. But these usually don’t survive for very long.
Thanks to Carol of There’s Always Thyme to Cook who pointed me in the direction of Jamie Oliver’s Let’s Get Naked Cooking Club in her contribution to Weekend Cooking.
Now I can’t join the club today because I didn’t cook up a recipe of Jamie’s, but it inspired me to post about our own little herb garden anyway.
It seems appropriate to conclude by recommending a recipe by Andy McDonald, the ‘vegetarian Jamie’, that’s an all-time favourite at our place: Beetroot risotto with herb oil (in Dutch). We usually substitute some of the stock for wine and since turning vegan I just leave out the Parmesan cheese or throw in a little soy cream and nutritional yeast.
I’m curious what Jamie’ll be cooking up tomorrow!
I hope it’s something vegan :)
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Join Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking with a food-related post!
Graasland 
12 reacties
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zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 16:44
Leeswammes
It sounds maybe strange, but I envy you your balcony with all those nice herbs and other plants. Yes, I have a back garden (you’ve seen it, it could handle a lot of edible plants) but it has somehow never inspired me to make a corner with edibles. I guess the amount of creepy crawlies that you find in a garden (as opposed to a balcony) has something to do with it too.
We do have an apple tree (wasps), two plum trees (don’t trust them a bit) and a grape vine (sour stuff) but you can read between brackets that I’m not keen on them. I’m a spoiled woman, that is obvious. Now, how do I start my own veggie corner?
Oh, on a positive note, we have planted and potted (directly in the soil, in pots in a sunny spot in the garden and in pots in a sunny spot indoors) some red chilli pepper seedlings (which we grew from seed). I’m really looking forward to see what will be coming out of that! Since you’ve been growing them, I’m sure it will be possible, one way or the other.
maandag 30 mei 2011 bij 14:42
Gnoe
LOL your comment made me laugh Judith! Who would’ve expected that. Can’t you have one of your men make you a herb garden — and do the picking, though?
Chilli peppers are one of my fav potted veggies! You probably remember the bunch I harvested last year? I’m hoping to make my own sambal/chilli sauce again!
maandag 30 mei 2011 bij 15:30
Leeswammes
Yes, I remember your chillies and I hope to get some nice ones too. I’ll need your recipe for sambal and/or chilli sauce (do you have one for sweet & sour sauce?) – that would be great to make!
zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 18:32
Lyndsey
Oh what a beautiful garden! I can’t wait to see how it grows. How clever with the pole holding the pots.
I do have many herbs that I have had success growing in pots, except my rosemary that grows like wild fire in the yard. I have grown pineapple in ground and in pots, but they take a good long time to fruit. I just did a post of my fruits, and the trouble I am having with the squirrels eating my mangoes! ARHHH!
Keep us posted!!
zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 19:12
Carol @ There's Always Thyme to Cook
WOW, your have a beautiful garden balcony! How cool you can grow vegetables, too! That risotto is so pretty, great color. Just delicious.
zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 19:17
Nan
Oh, I LOVE your balcony. It is just wonderful. So cool the way those pots hitch to the drainpipe. I’d love you to post the view off it someday.
zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 22:19
Beth F
That risotto is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color. And what a wonderfully inviting balcony you have — I bet it smells heavenly.
zondag 29 mei 2011 bij 23:44
Bentobird/Jenn
Awesome little garden, look at all the bright flavors you are growing, Gnoe!
maandag 30 mei 2011 bij 12:05
Uniflame
Wow! I love this! Where did you get these drainpipe baskets? :) I only have basil on my balcony now that’s edible. I had cherry tomatoes, strawberries, oregano and thyme last year. The strawberries, thyme and oregano made it through the winter, but not through the dry period we had :( I watered them twice a day, but they didn’t make it anyway :(
maandag 30 mei 2011 bij 14:38
Gnoe
I got the baskets at the garden centre, Tuincentrum Overvecht. They’re not really expensive either ‘cause they’re made of recycled plastic. That’s “green living” for ya ;) Sorry to hear your plants didn’t survive the drought! :(
maandag 30 mei 2011 bij 15:06
Louise
I love those drain pipe baskets too. So ingenious for small spaces. I have quite a big yard, with a few fruit trees. None of them did particularly well this year with the end of the drought. too wet! Although we just discovered that one of our trees is actually a feijoa tree as it bore fruit for the first time- that was cool. Actually, I must try and re-establish garden beds this year. We pulled them down a couple of years ago at the height of the drought, as we couldn’t grow anything anyway.
vrijdag 3 juni 2011 bij 23:46
Heather
YOur garden looks amazing. My goal this summer is to clean our my herb garden and replant with the herbs I actually use.