How to utilise space on a balcony garden & what to do with those herbs.

Part 1 - How to utilise space on a balcony garden

Sometimes you need other people to open your eyes to what's possible. When Neil and I first came to live in Vancouver I would spend hours pouring over the free paper: The Georgia Straight, full of concert listings and events throughout the city, until I knew of every single opportunity available for entertainment or recreation. Locals would joke that I knew more about the city than them, which puzzled me, surely they also wanted to know everything going on? Fast forward 8 years and now I'm the one being told of free, fun things to do. I suppose you start to settle down when you live somewhere, no longer vacationing and wanting to make the most of every evening. My friend Chelle told me about this balcony gardening class, run by a gardener and a local chef and so we attended on Sunday. It was very interesting.

The first part of the class was hosted by a gardener, part of the FarmFolk CityFolk group in Vancouver. Many urban dwellers who love to garden are hindered by restrictive spaces, (like me), often not having much more than a tiny balcony available. This class was created to help people utilise the space they do have, with possible new ideas. Several things that were mentioned:

1. Introduce some plants to attract bees. It is the pollination of these cute little fluffers, after all, that promotes good plant health.

2. Consider starting a worm composter. Small and compact, they can be hidden in a small corner and provide you with 'black gold', the best soil you can get, plus hours of entertainment watching them squirm around in their mini worm soap opera.

3. Utilise the wall space for planting and think vertically as well as horizontally. Shoe racks filled with soil can make good plant holders, as can hanging plastic bottles and shelving units. The window is another usually neglected source of space, although if I were to use this, it would make my apartment darker, so you should consider the possible effect on the light. 

4. If you have a railing on your balcony, you can use this space to create a pipe garden running the length of the railing. This would be completely open to the light required and also look really pretty if you use trailing plants which would creep down the sides of the walls. 

5. Think outside the plant pot and try other containers in which to grow your nutritious veg. Plastic bottles wrapped in coffee sacks were used as an example.

My own balcony garden is tiny with a solid wall instead of the transparent glass or railings that others have. It has the advantage of facing South West, however and I have had many failures and successes with different varieties of plants over the years. My first balcony in Vancouver was 10 stories up and hardly bigger than 3 foot across. I still managed to grow sweet peas one year, the pale lilac and peach flowers gently fluttering in the breeze, until one night the breeze turned to a full blown wind storm which scattered the petals far and wide, resulting in broken stalks which never recovered. My most successful attempts to date have been tomatoes, which seem to be quite happy gently winding their way up the trellis and producing a few fruits. This year I bought an organic fertilizer stick and left the artificially blue miracle grow in the cupboard. I had more tomatoes than ever before this year, almost 20 of 4 different varieties. I'm proud of that, it's a start.

Swiss chard is impossibly easy to grow and the rainbow varieties look beautiful with their bright candy coloured stalks. Cooked like spinach, either steamed, boiled or fried, chard has a chewy, mineral taste that is the epitome of healthy greens: (in other words, not everyone likes it, but those that do, love it).

A new acquisition: kale (Lacinato), good to grow right through the Winter as this plant actually loves frost and snow, (crazy plant). See above regarding culinary usage. 

More kale and a chili pepper plant that I'm not entirely convinced is edible. 

Mustard leaves are an incredible Winter vegetable. The leaves have a spicy, peppery taste that ends with a horseradish hit. They can be eaten raw in salads or sandwiches or cooked in stir fries or thrown into soups to provide an intriguing burst of heat. The other plant was recommended by a worker at the garden centre. She encouraged us to try the red berries which immediately hit us with a taste I could only describe as medicinal. She explained with obvious amusement that they are wintergreen and used to flavour many things such as chewing gum and toothpaste. An interesting plant to have over Winter, the berries can be used in drinks or even with ice cream, (if you don't mind eating cough syrup in solid form).

Part 2 - What to do with those herbs.

The second part of the class was hosted by a chef. Andrea Carlson of the very swanky Bishops restaurant in Vancouver, (worth a mention not least because he's Welsh). The focus was herbs and the never ending conundrum of growers alike: what to do with them all?

Andrea suggested many things that are popular and useful, such as drying or making herb bouquets, but the two things that fired my imagination the most were pickling in vinegar and making  herb salt. 

 

It was nice to hear a chef commenting that trying to preserve herbs in oil doesn't work too well as I have tried with both basil and thyme with disappointing results. The oil turns rancid pretty quickly, killing any lingering flavour or fragrance. Vinegar, on the other hand, is a far better preservative. One of the images above shows nasturtium berries, picked just after the flowers have died and pickled in white wine vinegar. They make a very convincing caper berry substitute, although I think they deserve merit in their own right, having the same spicy kick as the nasturtium leaves and flowers. (I cannot get nasturtium plants to live for more than a few weeks on my balcony).

Pickled dill was also used as an example, as seen above. The beauty of pickling is two fold. Not only do you preserve the flavour of the herb to be used itself, but are also rewarded with the pickling juice; the vinegar, which can be used in place of any other variety in salad dressings or mayonnaise, for example. Vinegar which has been infused with tarragon is a great base for Bearnaise sauce.

Experiment 1 - Pickled thyme

1 bunch of thyme sprigs

enough vinegar to cover. I used a combination of apple cider and white wine vinegars, but any can be used.

Simply place the thyme in a jar or tub and cover with the vinegar. Leave to mature for a day or two, but don't leave too long. Use the vinegar wherever you would usually use any other type and the thyme to flavour your usual dishes. (Just remember that the thyme will have a fairly strong pickled taste and will add a little more piquancy and tang to a dish than the regular herb).

Experiment 2 - Mint salt

1 bunch of fresh mint

1/2 cup coarse salt

Place the mint into a mortar and pestle and begin to bruise a little to start releasing the oils. Pour the salt on top and start grinding in a circular motion.

The salt will soon start to turn green as the mint is crushed and absorbed by the salt. Keep grinding until the mint is almost completely disintegrated and the salt is vivid green with a strong mint scent.

This salt can be used wherever both salt and mint are needed or would be welcome, such as sprinkled over lamb or used to season peas. I have seen a Jamie Oliver recipe using this technique to make mint sugar, which he sprinkled over barbecued pineapple. 

Some other ideas:

1. Collect wild rose petals and pour warmed honey over to absorb the scent and delicate flavour. (It's OK to pick from anywhere as long as you only take 10%)

2. Make lavender sugar using the same technique for the mint salt. 

3. Gather herbs into a bouquet and hang up side down in a dark, cool place to dry.