✎ michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony [the libarynth]

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====Bioproductive Balcony====

FoAM offered me to transform their small balcony into a Bioproductive site. It will allow me to practice gardening and garden design.

The balcony is facing East and South. Walls protect it from West and North. Thanks to its position at the last floor of the building, he gets sunlight during most of the day. He can also benefit from rainfalls, as it is not cover by a roof or another balcony.

====Design principles====

I borrowed [[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2785070-the-urban-homestead|this fantastic book]] from [[http://opengreens.okno.be/person.php?id=85|Annemie]]'s library, and extracted most of the following design principles from its deliciously-written pages.

Here are the design principles I will try to apply in the design of the Bioproductive Balcony:
  * **Big planters need less water**: biggest pots & planters dry less quickly and need less watering.
  * **Small plants go in the front**: place the smallest plants on the front of the balcony to avoid shading by taller ones.
  * **Place shade-tolerating plants behind sun-liking**: place the shade-tolerating plants (mostly leaf- and root-vegetables) behind the sun-liking (mostly fruit-bearing plants). 
  * **Apply [[:companion_planting|companion planting]]**: place plants benefiting from each other the one next to the other.
  * **Perform crop rotations**: do not plant the same plants at the same spot all the time & make several harvests within one growing season.

Here are some [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:design_sketches|sketches]] representing potential designs for the balcony.

====Vegetal Work====

After [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:getting_seeds|getting some seeds]], [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:what_i_planted|I planted]] most of them, sometimes looking for [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:sowing_instructions|instructions]].

====Hardware Infrastructure====

Here are some details about [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:seedling_pots|seedling pots made from waste]], [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:growing_bags|planters made out of grocery bags]], [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:self-watering|self-watering trials]] and [[windshields]].

====Sowing Instructions====

I started direct sowing of a few vegetables on the balcony. Here are the information I gathered to sow [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:celeri_a_couper|Céléri à couper]] and [[michka:know-hows:bioproductive_balcony:carotes|Carottes]].

====Getting seeds====

* Fraternités Ouvrières, Mouscron
   * Graines de Troc website
   * Plant Catching website
   * From friends

====What I would like to plant====

==Creepers==

As I have quite a lot of wall surface, I would like to grow many creepers.
  * Cucumbers
  * Creeping-tomatoes
  * Beans
  * Small squashes

==Shade-tolerating vegetables==

* Radish
  * Salads - especially varieties with continuous growth

==Fruit-bearing vegetables==

* Peppers
  * Egg-plants

==Herbs==

* Garlic
  * Green onions
  * Chives
  * Thyme
  * Rosemary

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