3.5 years ago, I started my gardening journey with $25 bucks and a tiny apartment balcony. I used upcycled containers, pots and seeds from Dollar Tree, and super clumpy soil. My favorite plant to watch grow were my potatoes that had sprouted in our cabinet. I grew them in a 5 gallon bucket from Dollar General, but we ended up moving before we could harvest anything. I was pretty discouraged and ended up not trying to garden again until 2024.

By 2024, I had learned a lot. I used bigger planters, slightly less- shitty soil, and even bought a few seed starts. While I harvested a few things like a cucumber, some tomatoes, and a strawberry or two... I still had a lot more to learn.

This garden season, I accepted that we still didn't have a yard. I fully embraced it and did the best with what we had. I made our balcony extra cute and cozy by adding lots of string lights, some funky wall decor, and hand-me-down furniture. I planted a mix of container friendly and expiremental plants. I actually used fertilizer?! Yay me! And I focused a lot more on soil quality.

Now, don't get me wrong! My 3rd season of garden has been far from perfect. I have barely harvested anything, have had SO MANY plants die from the heat, and more. But I am still learning... And I am doing on this on a very small budget with very limited space. Sometimes gardening can just be for fun and education!

But look... You're here for the potatoes. Let me stop my rambling.

Back at the end of April 2025, I filled an Aldi's bag with some soil and a couple cut up Russet Potatoes that had sprouted in our pantry. Within a few weeks, they out grew that tiny bag. I then upgraded them to a broken storage bin and added A LOT more soil.

Many weeks and countless pounds of soil later, the potatoes were the star of our balcony garden. Before we knew it, they had flowered and looked beautiful! But, almost as quick as they flowered, they began to die off.. Which is a great thing. 

Once potato plants start to "die back," harvest day isn't too far away. In our case, the only other time we tried growing potaotes, we never saw them past the 2 month mark. I had never harvested a potato before, and neither had Gavin. So, as usual, I was being a little too cautious, because I wanted to be sure the potatoes had fully grown.

However, when we finally dug up the potatoes this afternoon, they were a lot smaller than I expected. But they were OURS, and we grew them on our balcony. So, that alone made up for the little size of the end result. They weren't the tiniest potatoes I could imagine, but they weren't the biggest either. Overall, we had fun expirementing with growing a new food and we had an okay harvest. I am grateful!

What We Will Do Differently Next Time

1. If still planting in containers, we will use grow bags. They are easier to move around and harvest.
2. We will be extra cautious about garden pests. I was out spraying my plants with a diy soapy water spray everytime I saw an aphid or ant on the potatoes. After away, I gave up on this. I think our plants suffered from aphid damage and that could be why the potatoes were on the small size.
3. We will harvest sooner. I think I left them in the ground just a little too long.

What's a plant you want to try growing? Let me know!