How My Apartment Garden Grows

I recently returned from a ten day trip to Ohio and was bracing to come back and find my plants kaput.  However, I was pleasantly surprised:  my roommate took pretty good care of them, and a few plants thrived under  his watch.

Greens on the windowsill: spinach, arugula, and swiss chard.

The bush tomatoes grow large in my bedroom.  There is also a hanging planter of tomatoes in the window.

Cucumbers, growing in one of the tubs on the floor.

A zucchini, rescued from a tub that got some kind of mold.  It killed the others, but this guy is doing well.

A tangle of beans growing up and tomatoes growing down.  These are in the kitchen window.

My tomatoes have been making food for me.  I've harvested five bright red tomatoes; straight from the plant and into my mouth!

However, soon after I got back, I had a problem: white flies.  They had come in on the tomato plants, and were now infesting all of planters, crawling around the dirt.  While they don't damage the plants, they are so annoying, particularly in an apartment.  By the the end of last week, they were buzzing around every room, despite my efforts to exterminate them.  I realized it was time to take drastic measures.

The greens were big enough to eat, so I harvesting them and made them into an enormous, delicious, home-grown salad.  Then I cleaned out the planter--less dirt for the flies to breed in.

The cucumber and zucchini were not getting enough light in my bedroom, so I've given them to a good home. They'll grow, and hopefully flourish, on a rooftop in Astoria.

Today, the remaining tomato plants and beans got a Raid treatment.  I had been using soap and water to spray the white flies, but there were just too many, and the soap actually killed my eggplants.  So I hope my remaining plants can take it; the seem to still be doing ok this evening.

Needless to say, I won't be participating in the Week; but I am still glad I did this.  I've learned quite a bit about what is possible in a tiny apartment.