The kitchen garden that survives an Indian summer
Five vegetables that forgive beginners, the watering myth that kills most balconies, and a compost shortcut.
Most balcony gardens die of enthusiasm — too much water, too much sun, too many pots at once. The gardens that survive start small and boring.
Begin with five forgiving crops: chillies, mint, curry leaf, spring onion and a climbing beans vine. All five tolerate missed days, and all five end up in an Indian kitchen weekly, which keeps the motivation loop honest.
Water deeply and less often — a light daily sprinkle grows shallow roots that collapse in May. Morning is the right hour; evening watering in humid months invites fungus.
For soil, the shortcut is a covered bucket of kitchen peels layered with dry leaves and a little old soil. It is compost in eight weeks — and the difference between a pot that produces and a pot that merely survives.
