Giving Urban Gardening a Try at The Bartlett Building

You do have a beautiful garden, both in terms of happy plants and gorgeous view! Keep it up and good luck. What a great plan.

When good vegetables go bad: Last summer, I cleaned all my vegs that went bad in the fridge and I planted them in some empty pots I had on the patio. Typical, normal clay pots. Regular dirt left over from prior houseplants (that went the way of your palm tree).

As of today, I have harvested tomatoes, peppers (bell and jalapeno), and potatoes. In May, a small orchard of peach trees emerged. I have about 8 of them waving in the wind.

My small balcony appears to face the same direction as your garden. I applaud your use of space. Good job and keep it up!

Unless you get the peach trees grafted (when they are sizeable enough), they will not produce fruit.

Better to get a miniature variety from a nursery if you want to harvest your own peachy produce.

Beautiful! The Sustainability Committee of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council has been finding a lot of people such as yourself interested in growing their own food. We're working on developing workshops and educational outreach to help others take on small-scale rooftop container garden projects like this (I too do not have a green thumb but like my salad). Downtown is a perfect venue for rooftop gardens and there is nothing quite like fresh herbs! Congratulations on your successful garden.

Thank you so much for all the kind words ; ) I am definitely hooked and plan on planting more. Besides herbs and tomatoes what are the best veggies to plant in containers that get a lot of sun? Any ideas?

Try Red Leaf Lettuce, but not Romaine, which is always bitter. Ironic because one can sometimes get Romaine in the market that is outright sweet.

Don't mix any manure or fertilizer into soil for carrots. Just use a good loam soil with compost mixed in. Fertilizer will make carrots do WEIRD things.

Try the Brandywine variety of heirloom tomatoe.

Try planting Spinach seeds in September. It prefers the cooler months, rather than the spring and summer. Do you cook with Shallots? Better nurseries have bulbs/sets.

how woderful but may i ask where did u get those yellow tubs? it is metal or plastic?

I got the yellow tubs for $6 each at the Big Lots on 7th Street. They had a lot so I'm sure they still have them...and the tubs are plastic. I drilled a few holes in the bottom for drainage. I liked them because they were bright.

thanks! i will look for them at hollywood's big lot. i like them too and they look bright and pastel!

also, re:Jeannine

If you have left-over or old potatos, you can put them in a bowl or cup and let them germinate. it's a wonderful tabletop, bathroom, or kitchen counter- top house plant.

It's very inexpensive and cute, no guilt houseplant.

too bad they took this stuff off the roof, I actually liked it. havent seen it since i saw the note in the elevator. you get your plants back?