Is the year really halfway over? It’s true, and the onset of July seems like a good opportunity to reflect on my garden progress so far. I'll share what's been growing well on my NYC balcony garden this summer and what hasn't. I'm also thinking about what's still to come for the rest of the planting season.
In general, the extra attention to planning this year has really paid off. Nearly all the crops I planted are doing well! Even though it didn't all work out perfectly, I still consider the first half of the growing season a successful one.
What grows well on my balcony garden
The most important factor in the success of my balcony garden this year might be the use of larger containers. I purchased a 4-tiered vertical planter, as well as a set of pots in various sizes. As an amateur gardener, I’ve always suspected that I was trying to grow plants in pots that were way too small, and now my suspicions have been confirmed.
This is especially evident with my tomatoes and chili peppers. I transplanted several seedlings of both into five and four gallon containers. Those have all grown tall and have needed to be heavily staked and trellised to the balcony railing. We contemplated buying a wire cage to contain the tomatoes, but I suspect that even that would have been outgrown by now. The peppers and tomatoes are only barely starting to ripen, and I hope to be overrun by both in a few weeks. I did cut a ripe cayenne peppers to use in a batch of Vietnamese Nước chấm and it was perfect!
The other big success of my balcony garden this year are my perilla leaves. I'm growing Korean kkaennip and Japanese shiso. I germinated both indoors in peat pellets and they took three weeks to show real signs of growth. Once I saw the distinctive perilla leaf shape form, I knew it was time to transplant them to their containers outside.
As soon as the weather stayed warm overnight, both varieties grew rapidly and exponentially. I’ve read that in some areas, perilla plants are considered invasive species. Seeing how quickly they can grow makes me believe it. I’ve harvested several rounds already and they really show no sign of slowing down. The key is not to cut too many leaves at once, as that would put the plant into shock.
And what have I been doing with all these perilla leaves? Aside from giving some away to friends, I learned how to make Kkaennip Jangajji, which is Korean perilla leaves preserved in sweetened soy sauce. It's a great way to preserve the flavor after harvesting. Shiso goes in many things, from rice noodle bowls to lemonade. Both are very versatile and are likely my favorite plant to grow.
Most of my other crops are doing well. They might not be quite as prolific as my perilla and tomatoes, but still good enough for my purposes. My mint plant is thriving and I’ve been harvesting and cooking with it all summer. I have come to realize that mint might be the perfect summer herb. In the middle of this NYC heatwave, the cool and fresh taste of mint is welcome in sweets, savory dishes, and beverages alike. I will say that many of my mint leaves are not very big. This is likely due to the container being a little too small, so I might try and use a bigger one next season.
I’ve planted two rounds of cilantro and while it grows well, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t grow back after harvesting as quickly as I thought it might. I cut about ½ cup from my plants to use in a curry I made, and they never recovered. When I cook with cilantro I usually need larger amounts, especially when making a batch of pico de gallo. This might be tricky trying to harvest that much from one single plant.
If I decide to grow cilantro in the future, it might be best to grow more than I estimated this year so that when I do need to harvest, I’m only small amounts from each plant.
What didn't grow so well this year
Let me briefly discuss the crops that haven't grown as well. I dedicated a lot of space in my new tiered vertical planter to lettuce. At first, they grew just fine and I was able to harvest enough leaves to supplement some meals. But then the summer heat arrived.
I’ve dealt with bolting lettuce at work before, but never quite like what I saw on my balcony. After nearly two weeks in the summer heat, the once compact heads of lettuce bolted to twice their height and developed thick stalks in the center. I harvested the leaves quickly before they got too out of control. The lettuce even started to develop a bitter taste, but thankfully we were still able to use most of them.
I also struggled with fenugreek. I’ve used dried fenugreek leaves many times when cooking Indian cuisine, but have never used fresh. I was happy to see sprouts appear when I bought some seeds online and planted them directly into one of my rectangular planters. They haven’t grown much since, and I’m not sure how long it might take before I’m able to harvest any usable quantity.
What's next for the rest of the season
I gained some extra container space since harvesting all the lettuce, so I planted some new basil seedlings. It’s actually the first basil I have grown this year since unfortunately, the Thai basil seeds I sowed directly into soil didn’t sprout at all (except for one). I’ll be harvesting the basil soon, as well as some of my lemongrass, which really grew well! I’m going to experiment with harvesting just some of the upper leaves first and use them for flavoring dishes.
Lastly, I’m going to focus my efforts on getting a good tomato and chili pepper harvest. They both look like they’ll ripen any day now, so I’ll keep pruning and supporting them as needed to help them along. Stay tuned!
Leave a Reply