m@: überesque vägaries.

A quick pictures update on our Brooklyn balcony garden. We’ve had to add a 2nd layer of caging on the tomatoes they’re getting so big (now easily 7’ tall). We’ve enjoyed a few harvests of collards and kale (I’m amazed they keep growing in the heat), a half-dozen cucumbers, a few peppers, and one sad little pea.

The self-watering containers are working really well, and allow us to actually get away for a weekend without worrying too much or trying to get someone to come by and water them. (Although the cucumber/squash bin sucks up water as fast as it gets it, with the tomato bins in a close 2nd place.) Perhaps it’s obvious, but the amount of direct sunlight in a day is directly proportional to the amount of water they drink as well as the amount of new growth. It’s a lot of fun to compare a three day sunny stretch to three days of clouds.

Between our CSA and our own little garden, it’s been a small joy to have a little something local in most of our meals.

• 07/26/12