[Gardening] The Only Downside to Rooftop Terrace Gardening

Let me start with the conclusion.

The wind is strong, causing planters to tip over and branches to break.

That is it.

Of course, there are many differences compared to gardening in the ground in a yard.

However, even compared to balcony gardening in apartments and the like, gardening on a rooftop terrace is overwhelmingly affected by the wind.

Our home is a small 6-story building, so the rooftop terrace is effectively 7 stories up.

Since we live in a small regional city, there are no buildings around to block the wind at all.

If you look up, a vast, wide sky stretches out.

And the wind that blows at 7 stories up is incomparable to that on the ground.

It feels about 1.5 times stronger, and since there is nothing to block it, it hits you directly.

When a typhoon is forecast, we move things in advance and make an effort to minimize damage.

However, there are also times when gusts of wind blow that don't even appear in the weather forecast.

The day after we were hit by heavy rain, Kaname went to check the roof and said this first thing.

Kaname: "We got hit... Everything is knocked over... orz"

I see. I suppose they couldn't handle the weight of the rain, or maybe a gust of wind blew through.

For him, who carefully observes the plants in the planters, builds supports to keep them from falling over every day, and diligently clips them in place, it must be a shock.

For me, I just think, well, these things happen.

It's like the feeling that "everything that has a form will eventually break."

I guess they must have gotten heavy thanks to the abundant harvest...

A large branch snapped right off at the base (sweat).

Since I have no choice, I'll harvest the fruits, including the immature ones.

I tried making a sweet and spicy stir-fry with minced meat and these small jumbo bell peppers, and it was delicious!
They are perfectly edible.

Conclusion: Rooftop terrace gardening requires protection against strong winds, but if your plants get damaged by the wind, just think of it as 'an everyday occurrence in the natural world' and don't let it get you down.

Well then.

The plants I grew from seeds collected by drying Korean chili peppers harvested last year have successfully produced fruit.

Harvesting Korean chili peppers is so much fun.

The vivid red stands out beautifully against the lush green foliage.

I aim my scissors at that red color.

Korean chili peppers can be used whether they are green or red, but since I can't use this many at once, I remove the stems and put them in a drying basket every time I harvest them.

I'm also drying bay leaves at the same time.
Having two tiers is great because you can use it like this.

It's about time I switched my gardening over to the autumn/winter season.

The other day, I cleared out the bitter melon that had graced our dining table for so long.
Even the small bitter melons are perfectly edible.
The white bitter melon had a mild bitterness and was delicious, so I highly recommend it!

My failure this year was that the 'Trinidad Scorpion' didn't produce a single fruit!

It grew well, had plenty of branches and leaves, and even bloomed a ton of flowers, so why?

I applied fertilizer and even gave it liquid fertilizer, so why?

There is a theory that they only start producing fruit in their second year, so I'm thinking of trying to overwinter it indoors for now. I didn't realize it was a perennial lol

By the way, Korean chili peppers and bell peppers are also perennials, and I tried overwintering them indoors the year before last, but I didn't water them enough and they withered (sweat).

I need to make a watering calendar and manage them properly.

By the way, the rooftop terrace in winter is much colder than on the ground when the wind blows.

That's why gardening on a rooftop terrace is limited to the warmer seasons.

Even so, you can work at your leisure without worrying about the eyes of others.

If you have a rooftop terrace, please, by all means, try greening it!