Spring is here. When I was sitting on the roof balcony enjoying the cool air, I looked at the empty balcony and thought to myself: "Why not plant something on the balcony?" I thought of my relatives and friends living in the countryside, and every small piece of open space was filled with flowers. We should try our best to make the most of it. Wouldn’t it be a pity to have a balcony of more than thirty square meters empty?
So, I asked my wife and children for their opinions: "Which is better, planting flowers or vegetables?" They all thought it was better to grow vegetables, because flowers are only for looking at, but vegetables can be eaten, and in Taiwan The pesticide problem is so terrible.
The child asked me: "Dad, do you really know how to grow vegetables?"
I burst out laughing after hearing this, of course! Think about it, my father is a farmer’s son and has never grown any crops since he was a child. A little vegetable is nothing!
I had been bragging for a long time, but I also felt a little guilty. My grandfather and father were both farmers. Although I had experience in farming when I was a child, it was already a long time ago when I left home.
To grow vegetables, you first need to prepare the land, and then you have to lay bricks on the balcony to surround the soil. This project is too huge. I discussed with my children: "If we find thirty large flowerpots and plant a kind of vegetable in each pot, and after a month, we harvest one pot every day, we will have vegetables to eat every day."
I found some discarded flower pots when I was growing flowers. There were eighteen pots in total, and I went to the flower market to buy twelve plastic pots. The soil was obtained from the waste soil from the construction site director at a nearby construction site, and the seeds were bought from the market in the countryside by my sister-in-law. People who have never grown vegetables must not have thought that vegetable seeds are very cheap, only 10 yuan per pack, and they can probably grow an acre of land. If you plant a pot, the seeds cost less than a dime.
I will loosen the waste soil at the construction site first. The land in the city has never been cultivated and the soil has not been used. It should be very fertile. Therefore, in the early stages of growing vegetables, you do not need to use any fertilizer. I have already thought about the fertilizers I want to use, such as rice washing water, noodle soup, vegetable leaf peels, leftovers, etc.
Leafy vegetables grow very fast. It only takes three weeks from germination to harvest. You can feel joyful seeing the lush growth of leafy vegetables almost every day, especially water spinach, red phoenix leaves, and sweet potatoes. The leaves can grow an inch long in a day.
I also determined the harvesting and watering methods.
General vegetable farmers harvest leafy vegetables. For the sake of convenience, they pull up the whole plant from the ground. It is extremely difficult for us to grow vegetables on the balcony. We should use scissors to harvest. For example, when picking water spinach, only the tenderest part is picked each time. The rhizome will continue to grow and the harvest can be harvested after a few days.
What about watering? My brother who used to grow vegetables by himself told me that if I use tap water for watering, not only will the vegetables not grow well, but the tap water fee will be higher than the price of the vegetables. I found some big buckets and put them on the balcony to collect water when it rains. I usually ask my wife to help collect water for washing rice, washing vegetables, and even washing hands and bathing. Since I use flower pots to grow vegetables, this amount of water is enough. .
When the first batch of vegetables I planted was about to be harvested, I discovered that some insects, snails, grasshoppers and other small animals had come to the vegetable garden. They seemed to be more interested and eager to harvest my vegetables. This made me feel anxious, because I do not kill animals or use pesticides, and it took too much time to catch the bugs one by one. One day, a friend who grew orchids in Yangmingshan came to visit, and I invited him to visit the vegetable garden on the balcony. He said that he invented a pesticide, which is to soak peppers and garlic in water. There are about ten peppers and ten garlic cloves in a bucket of water, and then put them in a water sprayer and spray them around the flower pots and on the vegetable leaves. It is hygienic. Non-toxic and miraculous. From then on, I sprayed homemade "pesticides" about once a week, and sure enough, there were no more pests.
Since the vegetables I planted can be harvested, every time I have friends over, I pick vegetables to treat them. They find it hard to believe that such sweet vegetables can be grown on the balcony. A friend ate the vegetables I grew and was very impressed: "In Taipei City, there are probably only two big shots who grow vegetables on their rooftops, one is Wang Yongqing and the other is Lin Qingxuan." I laughed after hearing this. I can’t talk about being a big shot, but eating the vegetables you grow yourself is indeed very practical and gives you a sense of accomplishment.
Another time, Ms. Zeng Qingyu, who hosted the "Rose Night" came to visit. She was very excited when she saw the vegetables I planted. She picked a branch of red phoenix and started chewing it on the spot without washing it. I wanted to stop her. Its too late. If you tell her the source of pesticides and fertilizers, her food will definitely taste more "tasty".
Since I started growing vegetables, I no longer worry about vegetable prices. Every time a typhoon comes, I bring the dishes to the wall that is sheltered from the wind, and I get through it safely every time. I really feel that there is happiness and joy in small things.
Every morning and dusk, I take half an hour to weed, water, and loosen the soil. On the one hand, I stretch my muscles and bones that have been sedentary for a long time. On the other hand, I also think of the time when I was farming in the countryside. I feel the joy of life amidst the hard work. Be practical.
I often think that the land on the earth was created by the Creator to support human beings, but today many people use land as a tool for possession and profit, which really fails to live up to the original value of the land.
Thinking about a Japanese who has a piece of land in Ginza, Tokyo, but uses the land to grow rice. Many people find it incredible that he does not build expensive buildings on the land but grows humble rice. That is because people have gradually forgotten the value of land. It makes sense. The copper-smelling land in Ginza, Tokyo, can still grow rice. Isn’t it something worth celebrating?
I have no choice but to grow vegetables on the balcony. I hope that one day I can grow vegetables on real land.
