Container Gardening: Growing my own vegetables on my apartment balcony

I love gardening and have been used to having lots of land to plant, but three months ago I moved into an apartment with two very small 'balconies' (about 3 x 8 feet each) and had to rethink veggie gardening. I'm happy to report that my vegetable container garden is thriving and I have been having fresh veggies everyday for close to two months now. It's definitely possible to grow enough for your own needs in a very small space, as long as the plants get a few hours of sunlight daily (more is better).

View of my 'balcony'

Clockwise (L-R): Long beans, chilly, cherry tomato, slicing tomato, pepper, cucumber (Only the cucumber leaf is visible)

I chose my veggies carefully - growing only what I love to eat, and choosing space-saving plants that could be trained up a string or staked upright. I started one plant each of cucumber, cherry tomato, slicing tomato, long bean, pepper, and some basil and parsley. I put each plant in a big pot with good potting soil. The cucumbers started coming a month after I sowed the seeds and I had one or two everyday until I went on vacation and the vine died (I've just started a replacement and should have cukes in a few weeks). The tomatoes and long beans have been doing well too. The tomatoes came up so quick and are putting out heaps of delicious sun-ripened fruit. I am really enjoying them.

I also have a pot each of kaffir lime (limau purut), curry leaf tree, lemongrass (serai), bird's eye chilly (cili padi or cili api), kalamansi lime (limau kasturi), rosemary... and a pot each of papaya (it's getting quite big!), custard apple (anona), ciku and pomegranate. I'll have to move them to bigger pots when they grow bigger. It will be fun to see if I can get some fruit from potted fruit trees!

Grace