I've been learning to grow food by starting small and working with the space I have

A 10 m2 balcony that gets light from just after sunrise to about 2pm. All my food is organic, my approach is to plant quite compactly and I dont always let the plant reach full maturity, just picking them as and when I need them along the way, which thins out some space and allows the ones left to grow bigger. The only fertilizer i'm using is my homemade quick compost tea and I'm regularly adding green matter to my compost bin but not all food from the kitchen because it's on my balcony and I don't want to stink my place out. I don't know if this is the best way to grow but its working for me just to experiment with what its like.

I was really happy to see my kale seed actually sprout and grow into real food! Unlike my tomato seed which didn't do anything at all, i'm not sure if that was to do with the timing, the seeds them self, the soil or these annoying little fungus gnats that have a habit of eating my seedlings.

I'm really excited today because i'm making a salad with 50% ingredients from my garden.

When I first starting growing food on an allotment in England I had this grand idea that I wouldn't ever need to buy food again and I could grow it all. It was a big slap in the face when the reality kicked in. I think it's good to set realistic goals and even just being able to add a touch of homegrown food to my dishes is satisfying for me now.