Living in the city doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to renounce to the idea of growing your own garden.
During the last 2 years I’ve been making my own experiments on the balcony and even indoors, and I can tell you that I’ve been able to eat some of my home produced vegetables… They were totally organic and they tasted much better than the expensive ones from the supermarket.
It’s actually quite fashionable to cultivate flowers with all kind of herbs and vegetables to supply your kitchen. It’s fun to see them grow and invite your friends to taste them, when they come over for dinner.
A good idea is to choose the varieties that are hard to find in the shops or the most expensive ones. Normally you'll be able to buy the seeds online, and they will be cheaper than buying the plant and will be enough for the next 2 years.
Growing your own plants from seeds has many advantages: They are cheaper, more resistant and tasteful than the plants from the shop, as they don’t come from the artificial enviroment of an industrial greenhouse and this way they'll get used to the normal conditions of your home.
In the picture above you can see how the basil looks great between the other flowers. I've tried a combination of red basil and a very aromatic variety, that smells like cinnamon. This last one grows very easily and will enrich your favorites plates with its original fragrance until next winter.
Another colorful option is to grow your own chilli plants indoors, they have some delicate and beautiful flowers and the hanging peppers are really decorative… and tasty! In the picture you can see my small green and red chilli plants, which will start to bloom very soon.
If you’re lucky, the plants will survive the winter and they'll produce even more peppers next year. Keep and dry one or two of the best peppers, this way you'll get a lot of seeds for the next year.
Gardening it's an easy way to relax after a hard day at work or school, and even more satisfactory when you experience the delicious flavour of herbs and vegetables grown at home.
I’ll keep on posting more urban gardening ideas, so stay tuned!
