Holiday time & blogging milestones

Uh oh - next week I am away for 3 days of cheese, wine and general tourist fun in Paris. I wouldn't usually be so worried, but then I don't usually have so many plants that require daily watering. What do veg growers, especially container growers, do when they go on holiday?

I could pray for rain, and my outside plants would probably be ok. But the plants inside, especially the chillies which are really thirsty, would probably die.

Plan A - ask a friendly neighbour to water my plants and ply them with macaroons and bottles of wine.

Plan B - soak the plants before I leave and invent some kind of Blue Peter style slow watering device, possibly involving a drinks bottle, duct tape and whatever else is around the house.

Let's hope the neighbours are around!

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In other news, I'm really happy as I have just checked my stats and this blog has just reached 1000 views! That's incredible. Thanks to everyone who has come to visit.

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I couldn't possibly post an entry without a photo in it. Here is a photo of my tomatoes looking amazing, but still an unapetizing shade of green. How long until they will be red? I'm so impatient! Perhaps when I come back from my holiday they'll be a more edible colour.

The story so far (month 2)

It's a gorgeous sunny morning on the balcony today and the perfect time to take stock of how my little growing project is going.

My tomatoes are a great success. I took a good look at them yesterday and discovered I had missed a few side shoots which had turned into large stems. I performed a bit of surgery and they are looking better now. There's lots of flowers on all 3 plants and some fruits forming. They are growing visibly every day.

The chillies are also thriving, they love their sunny spot, it's the hottest place in the house. There are so many flowers and fruits forming I can't even keep up. They are still green at the moment (I am pretty sure they will turn red when ripe) - it shouldn't be long before we can pick these.

Similarly the beans and peas. They seem to love the netting and are growing happily.

My strawberries are a little healthier since the trim, I haven't lost any more leaves so that's a bonus. Still, I find myself quite indifferent to them now and I don't even know if I should make the effort to keep them for next year. 

I've got more salad on the go - something a little milder this time because the spicy mix was so strong we could hardly eat it by the end. This one is a mild green mix, and sown in nice neat rows this time so that they are easier to thin out!

Also my sunflower kit has produced 2 healthy plants, I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out - I love sunflowers. It's all quiet on the chilli kit front, although I did plant those a little later.

P.S. A note on blogging

I had never blogged before 2 months ago when I started my little balcony garden and this blog, and I am thoroughly enjoying both. I find blogging therapeutic, creative (especially the photography) and the perfect way to record the developments of my gardening. But the best part about it by far has been the comments and messages from other gardeners - help, advice or just a friendly "hello" from people all over the world. Thank you to everyone who has read my blog, given me advice or wished me well, I really appreciate it and I love reading all of your blogs too.