There is a growing problem in our food chain. Fresh fruit and vegetables are no longer as good as they used to be and many people are starting to grow their own.

If you live in an apartment, however, you don’t have access to a nice plot of land on which you can grow your own vegetables. But don’t let that deter you. You can set up your own balcony vegetable garden and get all the benefits of an outside garden plot, without needing the external space and, quite frankly, with far less hassle.

Balcony vegetable gardens are a great source of excellent nutrition. When you pick some luscious green leaves of lettuce, or a selection of herbs, from your own garden, you can be sure that there will be no unforeseen “nasties”, like heavy-duty insecticides or herbicides.

It is your own garden, so you have total control of what is added to it and what it is exposed to. When you crunch into those crisp fresh leaves, you can be 100% certain that you are not being poisoned.

Why Grow Your Own?

The produce that you purchase from the local store (or from the large supermarket) is likely to have been obtained from a farm that is some distance away. It’s a fact of life that has developed over the years. 200 years ago, the farms were much closer to the general population and it was possible to obtain produce that was picked that day. This is not possible today, partly because many of the farms are now huge operations that are far from the centers of population. Transportation time is a big factor now.

As a result, the produce that you see on the shelves can be several days old. This means that the nutritional value of those items has diminished somewhat. It can also mean, in some cases, that chemicals have been used to prolong the life of the items, or to mask (hide) the fact that it is not fresh.

Having your own balcony vegetable garden means that you will always have, at least those balcony items, freshly picked and untainted salad and other vegetables.

What Can You Grow?

You will be surprised at what you can grow on your balcony. See more detail on this here.

OK, so you can’t grow a crop of corn, or huge fruit trees, but you can grow almost any sort of root vegetable (carrots, parsnips, beetroot, sweet potatoes, etc.) and many of the smaller plants, like tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, beans and so on. And, of course, there are all the herbs and salad vegetables that will delight the palette and boost your family’s nutrition intake.

Looking After Your Balcony Plants

It’s not difficult to keep your balcony vegetable garden happy and productive. You can even germinate your plants from seeds and then plant them in the balcony pots when they ready to burst out.

So, how do you look after balcony plants? Well, all they need is sunlight, water and food.

• The watering is generally easy, because there are many plant containers these days that take care of this for you. You can even leave your plants for a couple of days and these systems will ensure your babies will receive the water they need.
• Sunlight is not difficult, as long as your balcony actually receives some each day. If you are totally in the shade, that may be a show-stopper, but it is best to look at this on a plant-by-plant basis.
• And for food, there are many organic (non-toxic) preparations that will give your plants the nutrition then need to perform their magic (producing the nutritional lyrich food that you and your family will benefit from.)

What You Avoid

You own balcony vegetable garden will give you an ever-changing supply of highly nutritious produce that you can pick and serve to your family as and when you need them.

You will have no fear of eating produce that has been chemically treated or artificially modified. Did you know, for instance, that many of the fruits and vegetables you buy from the supermarket have been chemically treated simply to preserve their shape or color during the several days it often takes to get them onto the shelf for you to select?

Also, some of the mass fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides that are used by the large scale farming conglomerates can have a very serious impact on the safety of the produce they are applied to.

You can avoid all that – at least with the veggies you are able to grow on your own balcony.

Nutrition at Your Fingertips

There is a very satisfying feeling when you harvest a plate full of healthy herbs and vegetables from your own balcony vegetable garden. As you bring them inside to include with the meal, you know that you can do the same thing again tomorrow, and the day after and onward into the future.

Nutrition at your fingertips is a good way to express it. It’s right there, waiting for you each day. You just need to give it a little sunshine, food and water (and a little love!) and it will thrive and produce all sorts of good things for you.