November was unusually cold. January feels like winter with lows around 5º C/41ºF highs around 16ºC/60ºF frequent mornings with sunny blue skies followed by mixed weather patterns: clouds, rain, wind. Not weather for sailing but ok for transplanting on the balcony.

After living now for over a year in this new apartment I can say that food gardening is going to be tricky because of the balconies general exposure: SSW with only 4-5 hours of sun on the western half of the balcony.

The first season saw practically no results because of lack of sun and in spite of the constant hot humid weather June through September. Last years bulbs, planted in the sunniest spots, still did poorly for lack of water so I will be watering more often. Balcony planters dry out fast even in a humid climate.

Beginning the 2nd season, I now am planting tomatoes, spinach, lettuce, lamost everything on the front edge or aginst the sunny western wall of the balcony. I now know that only real shade loving plants are going to flourish on the back wall. I received a zebra plant for Christmas and in the Spring will be planting it there as an experiment. I need to look for other shade plants that tolerate high heat to fill the back wall.

I now have my drip watering system completely installed and working manually. I have not been able to get the programmer to work for lack of pressure. There is not even difference in level from the water tank and the planters. I need a way of raising the tank up higher, maybe constructing a platform for it against the back wall.

Possible projects: Construct a high support platform for the water tank to improve water pressure to drip system.