growing veg without a garden

[sneaks]

I live in a flat but fancy having a go a growing some veg indoors,wan

veg can you grow indoors in pots. Never grown anything before but fanc having a go this year and trying from seed

-- sneaks

[Kathy]

We had the most amazing vegetable garden once on a sunny three by six foot balcony. We had rather little money, so we used leaf mold in

5-gallon buckets from the bakery and trashbag-lined boxes and fruit crates. We had peppers, melons, lettuce, radishes, carrots, cukes, zucchini, and tomatoes in remarkable quantity. If you don't have a balcony, a sunny window might work, but you'd have to pollinate fruiting vegetables with a paintbrush.

[GH]

Sorry 4 my ignorance but how did you get the leaf mold?

[John Savage]

I agree with another poster who suggested the leafy herbs, assuming you can use fresh herbs that is! Also, mustard and cress because they grow quickly. Just monitor these for aphids. Nasturtium are easy, but get the big semi-wild type, not the small decorative ones. Then progress to lettuce and celery, as both of these can be picked and eaten at any stage, or have just one leaf plucked as you need it. Soil and sunlight are very important. Unless you are going to rig up lights, you'll need a sunny balcony to provide almost the full day of direct light (of course, this depends a bit on where you live). For soil, plenty of nitrogen--lots of rotted manure is ideal. With pots sitting in the sun the potting mix dries out quickly, so daily watering is probably needed. You'll be able to gauge this by the way they droop at midday.

-- John Savage (my news address is not valid for email)

[Kathy]

Went up into the California foothills on some family property, swept the oak leaves aside, and took the composted leafmold from beneath. Great stuff.