A few years ago I lived in a lovely timber A-frame style cottage in the beautiful little town of Robertson in NSW. It was my dream home in many ways, nestled into the edge of a rain forest and filled with some of my favourite trees and shrubs. There was a beautiful magnolia tree taking centre stage in the backyard, a lemonade tree, an apple tree and a beautiful big hydrangea bush along with a variety of other mature trees and a hedge acting as a fence between the front and back garden. There was something pretty special about picking produce and flowers from my own garden. In the back corner behind a very well established tree was a little corner tucked away like a fairy garden.

I can’t take credit for the garden, it came with the house, but I truly loved what I had been blessed enough to inherit with the home when I purchased it. There was also a chicken run down one side of the house which I dreamed of buying chickens for but I never did get around to it. I still had my dog George at the time and he would have no doubt gone a little crazy about having chickens around so it’s probably best that I didn’t! I did have have the occasional wombat visit from the rain forest and a fox that would come looking for the rabbits that used to pop into the backyard now and then. It really was a beautiful little property.

I have moved many times since then and now find myself in a rental unit in another little town not far from family but far enough away from the city to make me feel like I can breathe. I’ve only been here for a week but I find myself dreaming of what I can create on the balcony here, which is a decent enough size to play around with and north facing so it gets plenty of sunshine! I’m not a gardener at all but I have this desire to start to educate myself on how I can create something special in the small space that I do have and to provide myself with at least a small selection of herbs, flowers and vegetables.

My starting point is purchasing a vege pod and to keep it simple, adding 1-2 veges to see how I go. I have room to add some pots around the balcony to grow flowers and herbs in as well. I have a book called ‘The Village’ by Matt & Lentil as a source of inspiration for growing all kinds of plants and foods and to learn how different plants compliment each other and grow better together than others and which seasons to plant in. I’m hoping to adapt their knowledge to my much smaller balcony garden and create a space that has a purpose and makes it a beautiful space to spend time in.

Not quite the garden I used to have but something to have fun creating and to reap the rewards from.

Nel x

my small balcony garden