The sweetest thing... Strawberries

The sweetest thing in the balcony are the strawberries. Last year i had some very small ones, but 100 time sweeter than regular strawberries.

They were the best thing of the summer mornings. It is great to wake up, go on the balcony and search under the leaves, the good, ripe, berries.

This year I am also planting regular strawberries, just out of curiosity...

Good, let's get to work now.

First we plant them in small pots, I used plastic cups. Fill them up just leave 2 fingers left at the top, and add the seeds.

I tried to have around 3 seeds per glass, but as they are small, in some cups i dropped up to 6 :).

Add another thin layer of soil, and press gently to fix the seeds.

Wet, and make sure you keep the soil wet this beginning period.

Totally 18 cups, 9 regular strawberries, and 9 small ones.

 That's about it for now.

Enjoy!

The Basil

You cannot make any tomato sauce without basil :). You cannot miss it! It is great in salads, mixed with cheese & tomato & olive oil, over a pizza or in a simply refreshing drink with lemon and mint. Plus, the scents you will feel over the summer on the balcony will relax and chill your senses.

Till then, we need to work a bit. We will plant lots of seeds in a pot, and later on, we'll move it in the final pots.
I took one big water bottle (11liters/3 gallons), cut it and make holes at the bottom.

Add soil until there are 3-4 fingers left free at the top. Spread the seeds as uniform as possible, but no minimum distance between them.

Add another 2 fingers of soil and press gently. 

As easy as that. Water and put on the window still. Once they are out, we will place some in the pots with tomatoes. They ad a bit of flavor to it.

Have fun!

My precious... Tomatoes

By far the most demanding are the tomatoes, but they are the best.
There are dozens of tomato types, but not that many that can grow nicely in the balcony. Last year I had cherry, but they grew a bit more than expected (last picture here), and they needed loooooots of attention.
Fortunatelly i found some tomato seeds that are suitable to be grown in a pot, do not require too much attention, is very resistant and it offers very sweet tomatoes, cherry size. It is called Vilma, and you can search for a shop near you on google.
Ok, now to work.

I took 6 plastic water glasses, made holes at the bottom (very important to drain the excess water).

Fill with soil until you have around 3 fingers left. Place the seeds, I put 1-2 per glass, but they should be one by one.add again soil until there is 1 finger left. Press gently to fix the seeds.

They can be moved in the final pot after they have 2 good leaves, but we'll see then.
Water, put it on the window still, and maintain the soil wet.
That's it. Have fun!