After all my outdoor plants died in my kitchen during our upgrade, I was required to start anew. I diligently worked the soil, carefully planted beans and seeds, added plant food and hoped all would thrive. Spring can let me down and it has — again and again.
Lettuce leaves popped up, snow peas said hello, but not for the first time, green onions were a no-show. Observing the progress of my balcony garden is most exciting at harvest time.
Here’s what I got:
4 wispy shoots of dill
7-8 snow peas
20 little lettuce leaves (approx)
7 chives
1 tiny baby kale ***
***I grabbed the tiny kale leaf shown in the photo below before three little birds could get at it. They always arrive together, are smaller than robins and absolutely fascinating. They consider my kale ‘best in the neighbourhood’ and as soon as any dares pop up through the soil, whammo. All gone!
I’m happy as a lark watching this unusual trio and pondering their unusual sex-life. They devastate my pot of kale and make a mess on my new balcony floor, but they are certainly fun to watch.
Frankly, it looks like a menage a trois to me. That handsome male is full of himself, cock of the walk — strutting about with his magnificent scarlet head and posing this way and that as he watches over his two brown females like a stallion watches over his mares. Weird? True!
Wanna see the action? Seats on my balcony are available for lucky you at a reduced rate of $3 an hour to observe this unusual threesome. Everyone else pays $5.
View from Over the Hill 