You don't need a sprawling backyard or spacious raised beds to grow delicious fruits, vegetables, and herbs of your own. In The Edible Balcony, longtime urban gardener Alex Mitchell shows how to transform whatever space you have, from a balcony or rooftop to a fire escape or window box, into a profusion of fresh, seasonal produce.
While raising your own produce is eco-friendly in itself, you’ll learn how to plant, grow, and water as sustainably as possible to ensure your edible Eden remains green and productive all year long. Plus, with a collection of innovative, step-by-step projects for designing colorful pots and plant supports with recycled containers and other household paraphernalia, you’ll double your eco-friendliness, avoid hours of shopping, and be able to infuse your space with your own personal flair and style. Who knew saving time, money, and the environment could be so much fun?
A collection of practical advice, fabulous container projects, and stunning examples of how gardeners around the world are successfully transforming urban spaces into abundant fruit and vegetable plots, The Edible Balcony is your guide to creating attractive, responsible, and thoroughly rewarding small space gardens—and perhaps never having to settle for grocery store produce again.
The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce in Small Spaces
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Alex Mitchell is a writer and gardener who has grown her own fruits, vegetables, and herbs for ten years. She is a former gardening columnist for the Sunday Telegraph and the author of The Girl’s Guide to Growing Your Own, a book for women with busy lives who want to have fun growing produce no matter how small their space. She lives in London.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic book with lots of inspirational ideas, current information, creative projects, and beautiful photographs
July 25, 2012
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce in Small Spaces. I do not know how they got so much information and so many beautiful photographs packed into this one single awesome reference. Everything but the kitchen sink is covered:
Why should I grow food on my balcony?
Planning your piece of the edible sky
Design Basics
Pot Choice
Best crops for grow bags, window box, hanging baskets, city farming, a windy balcony, raised beds, scarce water supply, shade, fruit tree orchard, heat, exotic, forest roof garden, and futuristic balcony
Easiest crops
Crops that give alot back
Potting Mix and plant food
How to Make it personal
Bee-keeping
How to make your crops work hard so you don't have to
Highly sustainable - worm farming, storing rainwater,
Vertical farming
Hydroponics
Pests & diseases
Recommended suppliers
There are projects:
Peas and sweet peas in a wicker basket
Beets in a bread box
Colorful zucchini in a top drawer
Utilizing a hat rack as a trellis
Colander of tomatoes and nasturtiums
Utilizing reclaimed shoe hanger over over-door organizer
Utilizing balcony railings as trellis
How to make your own simple self-watering container for free
Using recycled bottles as hanging planters
Using recycled bike tires as a planter
Make a scarlet runner bean tunnel
Inspirational gardens and ideas are covered. There are beautiful photographs on just about every page. Maybe it is a little short on the harvesting end; this book is more about the creative inspiration stage and optimizing your space to your personal taste. While I don't recall the author, Alex Mitchell, mentioning the kitchen sink she did mention reclaiming a bathtub as a planter.
The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce in Small Spaces has quickly become one of my favorite gardening coffee table books.
Why should I grow food on my balcony?
Planning your piece of the edible sky
Design Basics
Pot Choice
Best crops for grow bags, window box, hanging baskets, city farming, a windy balcony, raised beds, scarce water supply, shade, fruit tree orchard, heat, exotic, forest roof garden, and futuristic balcony
Easiest crops
Crops that give alot back
Potting Mix and plant food
How to Make it personal
Bee-keeping
How to make your crops work hard so you don't have to
Highly sustainable - worm farming, storing rainwater,
Vertical farming
Hydroponics
Pests & diseases
Recommended suppliers
There are projects:
Peas and sweet peas in a wicker basket
Beets in a bread box
Colorful zucchini in a top drawer
Utilizing a hat rack as a trellis
Colander of tomatoes and nasturtiums
Utilizing reclaimed shoe hanger over over-door organizer
Utilizing balcony railings as trellis
How to make your own simple self-watering container for free
Using recycled bottles as hanging planters
Using recycled bike tires as a planter
Make a scarlet runner bean tunnel
Inspirational gardens and ideas are covered. There are beautiful photographs on just about every page. Maybe it is a little short on the harvesting end; this book is more about the creative inspiration stage and optimizing your space to your personal taste. While I don't recall the author, Alex Mitchell, mentioning the kitchen sink she did mention reclaiming a bathtub as a planter.
The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce in Small Spaces has quickly become one of my favorite gardening coffee table books.
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Good introductory book that gave me some new ideas for my balcony. Until now I have only done herbs and tomatoes but am going to branch out more this summer
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By J. Callahan
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is full of delightful pictures of near perfect planters and balconies, but there is little usable information for someone serious about setting up a balcony/deck garden area.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect Book
I just moved from an apartment to a home and I really don't have time to plant a full garden, so I thought container gardening would be for me. Read more
Published 4 days ago by Nicole Jaber
5.0 out of 5 stars
You need this book!
It includes what to plant, what containers, how-to and everything you need to plant on your balcony. I'm a novice and I'm having a lot of fun with it. So glad I got it. Read more
Published 10 days ago by AdhesiveRaptor
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Edible Balcony Review
This book is well written (very thorough), the photos are beautiful and I can't wait to expand my container garden. I would definitely recommend this to friends.
Published 16 days ago by Diane
4.0 out of 5 stars
learning to grow on my balcony
Because I wanted to plant things on the balconey. My husband has a garden but I want my own and I think this will help me.
Published 1 month ago by Kitty Haney
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love The Edible Balcony
There are so many ideas in this book, I don't think I can use them all this spring and summer. Almost every page has something I can use, or modify for my use. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nancy Doremus
3.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful pictures
The pictures are beautiful and the suggestions for containers are fun. Lots of clever ways to grow stuff, but I need a more hands on - 1st do this, and 2nd do this - type... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Nan McGuire
3.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good Product
I whish it had more on medicine plants, like peppermint, aloe vera, garlic, chamomile.
Something more with substance an a real use. Read more
Something more with substance an a real use. Read more
Published 3 months ago by L. A. Padilla
4.0 out of 5 stars
Love It!
I adore this book and it truly has inspired my partner and myself to start growing veggies in our backyard. We've used a few of the ideas and want to do so much more. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mel
5.0 out of 5 stars
I adore this book!!!! :0) It is my favorite garden book.
This book is full of beautiful pictures and wonderful ideas. This book has inspired me to plant in more decorative ways. Read more
Published 4 months ago by L. Warmoth
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Interesting
I moved to the city recently and was missing my spring and summer gardens - this book gives GREAT ideas - ranging from very simple quick fixes to very intense and extravagant... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Jackie
