Okra In Bloom

Over the past couple of weeks, the okra plant in the balcony garden has been in bloom.  On a few select mornings the plant has gone into bloom, which is simply beautiful.  From all we can tell, it goes into bloom only in the morning, done by about ten o'clock, so it's short-lived.  Here's a photo of one of the blooms from last weekend:

First Harvest of the Season

The balcony garden this year features three tomato plants, okra, jalapeno, soy beans, and chard, along with an herb selection (mint, parsley, basil, and rosemary), and the lemon tree.  Not counting the plentiful herbs that we've gotten so far (they grow like weeds!), this morning we harvested the first item:  a small tomato.  

Last year, because of balcony construction at our building, there was no balcony garden.  In 2009, we had a half dozen tomato plants, along with some other stuff, but tomato blight ravaged the plants and only one plant produced anything.  This year two of the three tomato plants are full with green tomatoes, all progressing nicely.

I'm looking forward to having a small taste of tomato for lunch!