Edible Balcony - Evolution of an Eggplant

December 1st : I plant four long black eggplant seeds in quality potting mix with a little blood and bone mixed through. I shield the young seedlings from the wind with a plastic milk container with the top cut off.

January 26: I've culled the seedlings to two which may still be a little cramped for this container. The leaves are broad and healthy. I'm watering every day.

February 9th : the eggplants are clearly going to be much bigger than I anticipated and their root system has quickly filled the pot. I'm noticing little black bugs on the leaves which I later discover are flea beetles that can quickly suck an eggplant to death. I try to squish as many as I can.

February 13th: Despite a flea beetle attack and rear guard action from some chomping caterpillars I get my first flower.

February 13th: It makes all the angst and sleepless nights worth it.

Feb 15th: The caterpillar and flea beetles attacks look bad but the plants seem to be soldiering on

February 23rd: I think I spy my first fruit

February 23rd: Yes, that is unmistakedly the beginnings of an eggplant in all its glossy purple glory.

I'm now adding a little liquid fruit fertilizer in my watering can to give the fruit a boost.

February 26th: Just when I think I've survived the pest attacks I notice colonies of aphids on all the buds and new leaf growth.

February 26th: I mail order some green lacewing larvae which hatch and hoover up all the aphids in about 6 days. The eggplants start getting their mojo back.(And so do I !)

March 3rd: This little beauty somehow made it through the dramas and should be ready to pick and eat next week.

Phew.... that was exhausting.....

Recipe: Grilled Peppers stuffed with Fetta, Lemon Zest and Oregano

voluptuous curves many women would kill for

Yesterday I picked the 4 lone peppers from my balcony pepper bushes. There are several flowers opening so hopefully I'll get a few more peppers to add to my meagre crop. But where they lack in numbers they certainly make up for in size. These babies were as long as my hand.

I wanted to enjoy their full sweet flavour so I thought I'd cook them Macedonian style - grilled and stuffed with fetta. This recipe is adapted from the one given to me by my Macedonian friend Rosa.

Recipe: Grilled Peppers stuffed with fetta, lemon zest and oregano

Ingredients:

8 green peppers

300g sharp fetta (greek, bulgarian or a good Australian one)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

Heat a BBQ plate or grill or use a gas flame on your stove. Grill the peppers until the skins are a little charred and the peppers are softening. Put the peppers in a plastic bag so the steam loosens the skins. After ten minutes peel off the blackened skins. Don't be tempted to wash them with water or you will lose all the pepper's wonderful flavours. Make an incision along one side of each pepper and carefully remove all the internal membranes and seeds.

Sprinkle the inside of each pepper with a little sea salt and pepper. Now stuff each pepper with fetta, some oregano and a sprinkling of lemon zest. Fold the peppers back into a pepper shape, arrange on a platter, sprinkle with a little more fetta, zest and oregano and a good splash of olive oil. Serve at room temperature.

Verdict:

A glorious way to enjoy your homegrown peppers. The grilling intensifies the sweetness of the peppers and the sharpness of the fetta and lemon zest balance the flavours magically.

Who said 'Money Doesn't Grow on Trees?'

While I was shopping in the Potts Point Woolworths the other day I noticed packets of curry leaves for sale in the Asian vegetable section. I haven't needed to buy curry leaves for more than 3 years. My balcony curry leaf tree provides an abundant supply. In fact I regularly trim off a few branches and give them to my friend Kham who runs the Arun Thai restaurant across the road.

The potted Curry Leaf Tree is thriving in its semi-shady position. I water it twice a week and fertilise it with a seaweed tea once every couple of months. Apart from the occasional caterpillar attack and mealy bug colony its seems to be fighting fit.

It produces these wonderfully glossy, fragrant, quite pungent leaves that I use to make curries, dhals and saffron rice. They are used similarly to bay leaves.

Our tree produces so many leaves I even sometimes think of it as a slight annoyance.

Not any more.

The Woolworth packets of curry leaves were selling for $2 for a folded stem of about 30 leaves!

Highway robbery!

I rushed back up to our apartment to do a rough calculation of how many stems there were on my curry leaf tree and counted about 500 stems.

At $2 a stem my curry leaf tree is worth at least $1000!!!!! And with a new stem emerging each day it's a veritable licence to print money.

And what's more because I don't use any pesticides or chemicals I bet they taste better than the woolies ones do.

I know most food gardeners grow their own food for the superior taste and flavour but it's good to be reminded of how much money we are also saving in the process - or how much money we could make.

... I can picture the shingle above my shop door now..." Indira Naidoo - Providore of Exotic Leaves."

Edible Balcony - Bugs arrive in the mail

My battles with aphids, mealy bugs and caterpillars have been well-documented on this blog. It often feels as though I'm growing more bugs on my balcony than plants. And pest management without pesticides and chemicals can seem like an impossible task.

But there is help at hand.

I found a company in Queensland 'Bugs For Bugs' that breeds natural predators that only attack bad bugs not your plants. After a short phone consultation with a specialist I decided on purchasing 40 native Australian lady bugs (crytolaemus) which eat mealy bugs and 100 lacewing eggs (lacewings eat aphids, mealy bugs, caterpillar larvae) - all for about $40.00.

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They arrived in little plastic cups filled with enough pollen and honey to keep them well-fed during their trip

The lacewing larvae needs to be put in or near the area of infestation so when they hatch they have an immediate food source.

I put them on the chili plant and in the eggplants.

The native lady bugs were parachuted into the watercress and tatsoi which have been battling hoards of aphids.

You sic 'em Rex!

It's a good idea to cover the bugs with some light muslin cloth on the first day. This encourages them to stay and find the food source.

You don't want your pest controllers flying off before they get to work!

Edible Balcony - End of Summer

A hand-drawn plan of what's currently growing on the balcony

Somehow most of the plants survived the wild weather of February - storms, winds, heavy rain, high humidity, pest attacks and mildew.

As I reflect on the toughest month so far on the Edible Balcony I realise why edible balcony gardening is so rare! I'm clearly nuts!

But there have been some small satisfactions...

three eggplants are poking through...

the red oak lettuce is flourishing in the hanging basket...

I'm picking watercress leaves every other day. This variety is not as peppery as the common smaller leaf one.

The zucchini are spreading their large wings....

The tomato plants have had one last gush of fruit. I'll be pulling out the vines next week and preparing the pots for my winter plantings...

The herb wall has taken a battering. The plants are still frail and the tatsoi has had a aphid and mealy bug attack. Hopefully as the sun moves in they'll become more robust.

The common mint sustained a few caterpillar attacks and is slowly forming new buds.

This cherry tomato variety Tom Thumbs has been a huge success ... abundant and sweet.

Still no flowers from the strawberry plants just lots of runners.

The mixed basil has been fragrant and delicious .

The nasturtiums have been my best friends on the balcony. Low maintenance, pretty and delicious!

Just exquisite!

I'll be picking these peppers next week and chargrilling them on the BBQ.

The Thai chilli plant is a slow grower but has just developed a few new fruit buds.

I wonder what March will hold?