Bell pepper season

I don't know what's being harvested in the rest of the world, but on my balcony here in Munich, bell pepper season is in full swing. Given that they live in pots, instead of out in the wild, each of our bell pepper plants had an important decision to make: size or quantity. Some plants, such as the one that produced the green peppers in the photo, went for size. Its peppers approached the dimensions of bell peppers one sees in the grocery store, but there were only three of them growing on the whole plant. Other plants, such as the one which grew these red peppers, shunned size and went for the numbers instead. A couple plants have as many as 12 peppers growing at once, but they are all midget-sized. No matter: all of them are tasty.

As of this weekend it has turned cold in Munich. While I am very excited about the arrival of autumn, I know that this means my balcony garden's days are numbered. I suppose I could harvest the remaining green tomatoes (40 or so) now, before the plants die, and ripen them on the windowsill. The zucchini plants are still alive, but due to a stubborn white mildew seem to be done producing any zucchini. There are some carrots left to be picked, and several more peppers, but otherwise I guess the balcony meal ticket is about to come to an end. Now to figure out how to remove plants while salvaging the pots and soil. Anyone have any tips?

Related reading:

• In which we find a use for our balcony
• Garden update: Felice the Pepper
• Hailstorm in the veggie garden
• More balcony garden talk
• Are tomatoes supposed to have noses?

In which we find a use for our balcony

My husband and I have never been plant people. Given the frequency with which we travel (and move), plants just never seemed to be worth the effort. My attempts to grow things and keep them alive have been limited to basil plants and the odd oregano. That is, until now.


A couple weekends ago we headed to the local Praktiker to pick up some pots and dirt with the intention of growing an extended herb garden. Our new apartment has a small south-facing balcony which gets too much sun for me to ever want to sit on it, so we might as well put something else out there, we reasoned. Then we came across the little seedling plants on display. Tomatoes and peppers and zucchini, oh my! And suddenly the idea of growing my own vegetables sounded like the most awesome thing ever. We bought up a bunch of plants, a few pots, and some dirt, and headed home.

A little internet research revealed how foolish and naive we had been, expecting to fit all those plants into relatively few pots. Who knew tomatoes needed so much space per plant? Not willing to give up on our foolishly-purchased little seedlings so easily, it was back to the store for more pots and dirt. Then an afternoon of planting, and voila!, we had an adorable little balcony vegetable garden underway.

The plants are all growing well, and I couldn't be prouder of them. See that zucchini plant flowering? I did that! And what's this, some teeny tiny strawberries? That was me! OMG, is that the start of a green pepper? Growing? On my balcony? This is the coolest feeling ever. Life, I am a giver of life!

The thing is, now I'm kind of getting addicted. I need more. I came across a big display of seeds in the grocery store yesterday, and I started salivating as I gleefully picked out packets that could be planted in May. Arugula, radishes, carrots, peas, lettuce... I can grow these, too? It was all I could do to keep from jumping up and down and clapping in the store.

So today it was back to the home store for more pots. And a spade and a watering can. Oh yeah, we're getting hard-core now. The cash going into this new little passion is starting to add up, too. But the way I figure it, zucchini flowers sell for up to a euro apiece at the farmers' market; so if our three plants each produce, say, 70 flowers each, we'll have easily made our money back. And we'll be eating a whole lot of stuffed zucchini flowers this summer. Yum.

Floating through the city

After two years of cancellation, Zurich’s annual Limmat River Swim was finally able to take place yesterday. The weather was gloriously sunny, making us oh-so-excited to jump in the cool water for a leisurely float through the city.

The event was extremely well organized (as we should have expected). We purchased our 27-franc tickets near the start and then went to the Frauenbad to get ready to go. We placed all of our clothes and other belongings into numbered plastic bags; these bags went onto a boat that beat us to the finish line, meaning our things were conveniently waiting for us on arrival. We were also given numbered wristbands (so we could retrieve the correct bags) and round floaty things to take with us on our swim.

There was an MC broadcasting over a loud speaker system, narrating exciting stuff such as ‘the next group is getting ready to go’ and interviewing participants about whether it was their first time ‘dabii’. When it was time for our group to start, we took our floaty things and jumped in. The river gently carried us in the right direction, and we were left to enjoy the effort-free ride.

Several spectators looked on from the river banks and bridges in places, but mostly it was a quiet, tranquil journey through the heart of the city. We floated peacefully past the Grossmunster, the Hauptbahnhof, and all of Zurich’s other landmarks. It was a lot of fun to see the city from a new angle (unfortunately we don’t own a waterproof camera, so no swimmer’s-eye-view pics).

At the end (which came all too soon), we collected our things and changed out of our bathing suits in the makeshift changing rooms (public buses with the windows covered over). Then we went to find out what free stuff was waiting for us – a souvenir glass, a bottle of Rivella, and a veggie burger (or sausage). And as if that wasn’t enough, we got to keep our floaty things, too.

All in all it was a really nice way to spend a sunny afternoon (and I’m not just saying that because there was free stuff). It's definitely something I'd do again.

Zurich: upcoming events

Just in case you find yourself in Zurich in the month of August, I figured I'd share some upcoming events we're looking forward to...

Street Parade - Time to break out the peacock-feather pasties, boys and girls! This coming Saturday, downtown Zurich will turn into one great big techno dance party, with floats, costumes, and music thumping louder than your heartbeat. The people-watching is divine. Some more photos from last year's event to whet your appetite...

Limmat River Swim - this elusive event has been canceled due to inclement weather for the last two years. Given the way this summer has been going, it's hard to count on it happening this year, either, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. From what I hear it's really more floating than swimming, and a whole lot of easy-going summer fun.

Lucerne Festival Street Music - not quite Zurich (but not very far away, either), Lucerne will be filled with free music every evening from Aug 21-26 as the "crème de la crème of the world's buskers" perform. I wonder if there will be any mariachis?