My Mum’s Balcony Garden

Mi madre, Cath Grealy, with her homegrown seedlings

It took two years of sustained pressure and a looming pandemic food shortage to convince my Mum (AKA Cath Grealy Coaching) to grow a garden on her balcony, but the time finally arrived! She took a very quick and simple route to get started. She bought mini garden beds from Bunnings and filled them with Searles potting mix and used Salisbury Grange seeds she had on hand.

The results speak for themselves! Nearly every seed she planted — rocket, silverbeet, tatsoi, parsley, sage, leek and snow peas — popped up within a week. A few weeks later we planted out the small seedlings into the Bunnings planter boxes and she’s had mountains of greens, including never-ending rocket, since.

Part of the secret to her success was planting at the right time in Brisbane (late July/spring-like weather), putting the planter boxes in a spot that got lots of great morning sun on her balcony, and being diligent about watering everyday. For someone so resistant, she nailed it. And I’ve taste-tested all of her leafy greens and they taste incredible. Go Mum!

Some of the steps my Mum took: planting her own seedlings, daily watering and the finished result of lots of leafy greens! (above)

My Mum hasn’t stopped being in a high rise stop her from growing her own veggies

Showing off her homegrown seedlings to my dog Banjo! #impressed

Looking for more info? Check out my take on The Fastest Growing Vegetables To Plant or my Veggies In 5 Steps Garden Guide.