Our Balcony Garden

With much help from my wonderful mom, Alex and I have a nice assortment of plants and vegetables on our balcony this year. Last year we had tomatoes, LOTS of them, and some herbs, including chives, parsley, dill and basil. So far this year we have tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, snap peas, a fig tree, cat nip, leaks, and herbs (parsley, chives and dill). I still would like to get some basil out there this year and once the lettuce is done mid-month I'll have an empty plater for something else.

Last year the tomatoes (and one pepper plant that didn't fruit) were in a large planter with mostly composed soil. This spring all the weeds in the composted soil started to grow and since I didn't have new tomato plant yet, I let it grow. Every time we opened the balcony door our cat, Tula, would race outside and into the planter and aggressively eat the grass. When it came time to clear it out and plant this year's crop, Tula was so angry, she jumped into the planter when I was half-way through and started chomping away. Alex tried to pull her out and she meowed like she was dying. I realized then that there was a cat nip plant growing in the weeds! NO wonder she was so drawn to this planter. I transplanted some grass and the cat nip into a cat sized pot, just for her. She nearly ate the cat nip to nothing that day. It's doing okay now and mom's provided some more plants for her entertainment. At least it keeps her from the real edible plants. =)

We have been enjoying the lettuce for about a week now, we planted it a little late. It's growing back in fast where we've harvested already, so we'll get a couple more weeks out of it. The peas will go well in a salad once they're a little bit bigger. We have tiny figs growing now too! I'm so excited mom brought me one of her trees, they are just one of my favorite summer treats! We'll also be overrun with tomatoes before we know it. I'm so excited to try some new salsa and tomato sauce recipes (posted then, of course!).

Here are some pictures of our balcony garden:


Our fig tree.


Little figs coming in!


Snap peas, hanging on!


Baby snap pea!


The peas hanging off the balcony.


Tula with her pot.

Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Yesterday I made my first attempt at homemade veggie burgers with guidance from a recipe on the Whole Foods Website (link). They came out so well, my meat-loving fiance even had seconds!! This is a quick easy recipe that allows for a lot of customization. Check it out:

1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1/2 onion, chopped
1 c bread crumbs
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried basil
1/2 t garlic powder or granules
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
olive oil (for cooking)

1. Mash beans with a fork in a large bowl.
2. Add egg, onion, bread crumbs, spices and hot sauce and mix together thoroughly.
3. Form into 6 patties.
4. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat and cook patties in single layer until brown on both sides and cooked through (approx. 10min total).
5. Transfer to buns and dress as desired.

I actually didn't have an onion when I made these, so I cut celery really fine for crunch and added onion powder to the mix. I do plan on using an onion next time though! I also used some seasoned salt, pepper, oregano, chili powder and hot sauce instead of what was suggested. I went a little heavy on the hot sauce and it was pretty amazing. We dressed them with some lettuce from our balcony garden, pickle relish, ketchup and mayo. Mmm!