Ellen, do you have a problem getting up and down as well, or is it just that you can't put pressure on your knees to kneel? I ask because I have the latter - have never been able to be on my knees for long, even in my youth. (Although I have to admit getting up and down isn't so much fun either, at this point!) But anyway, I've solved that by just sitting on the ground. I have a good quality kneeling pad, and I just sit on it. Then I scoot around as much as I can on my butt, as I weed, plant, mulch, whatever, until I have to get up to move farther distances. For me, sitting on one of those garden seats just doesn't work - doesn't get me close enough to the ground to work. So if you can get up and down, I would suggest just sitting on the ground. Obviously if physical limitations make that up and down difficult, you will need something. I'm sorry I can't help in recommending something, but I hope you find a useful solution! :) Dee

My best idea for this year is to get a large truck load of shredded bark mulch early in the season. Had difficult getting enough last year - one of the drawbacks to living in the boonies is that not everything is easily available. I used to make my own mulch but that's too labor intensive. Still working on/planning a more easy-care garden. Waiting to see what makes it thru the winter as we haven't had great snow cover and I did no winter protection for any plants last fall. May have to find replacements for whatever succumbs but will plan that if/when it happens. Have you heard of using red plastic mulch to help tomatoes ripen faster? Some studies show it works. Silver or blue plastic mulch is also supposed to be beneficial. Of course in cold climates it's necessary to plant in the warmest location. I used to grow tomatoes in large pots on my south facing deck and even here in zone 3 they ripened. I only grew early tomatoes which ripened in about 60 days and always bought plants which I grew indoors until they could be out in sometime in June. I have also always helped the tomato plants develop a good root system whether growing them in the garden or in pots. You do this by gradually removing leaves and adding more soil as the plant grows. This way the plant puts out roots all along the stem and has a much larger root system. The other thing with tomatoes is that they are easily stressed if they don't get enough water and too much is not good either. I quit growing tomatoes as the squirrels ate more than we did and making the pots squirrel proof was just too much extra work when I can easily buy them at the farmers' market.

Interesting about the kinds of seed everyone feeds. I feed primarily black oil sunflower 9expensive at Lowe's, but cheap at Tractor Supply - ($15 for 50 lbs). Black oil seems to be the preferred feed for cardinals, chickadees carolina wren, downy woodpecker, mourning dove, flickers, tufted titmouse,bluebirds, and an occasional jay. Sparrows feed on it, but prefer the hulled seed, as do the chickadees and wrens. An added bonus - the sunflower hull of the black oil seed seems to help the compost, and it mulches nicely in the flower beds! Used to get that weedy flower in GA, when I didn't use the sterile seed. You are also probably getting thistle seed in there. I feed probably 80 pounds of thistle in the winter, for the finches, primarily gold and red, with some buntings showing up in spring. If you feed thistle be very careful to get the sterile seed. its fertile and tends to fall below the feeder (doves and mice will eat it). I actually like the look of thistle, and the fact that it attracts bees, so my thistle feeders at the wood line all are not sterile. Come spring, I will get hundreds of thistle plants, that by summer will be beautiful purple flowers for the bees, and come late summer, natural seed for birds passing through. If you can tolerate the spiny leaves, and thistle 'fluff'(which bluebirds use all winter here for nesting), let it grow, it really is a pretty plant If you want to get rid of that 'smell' below the feeder, avoid seed with corn, when I fed a mix with corn, the corn would sometimes sit and ferment, or, as you discovered, grow. Corn here, whole or cracked, is an attractant of crows. I do throw cracked corn in the woodline to keep them away from the sunflower. Using cracked corn away from my garden, also keeps rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, and racoons at bay! Crack corn doesnt seem to grow into stalks either. It does, however seem to cause my grass to die, so I keep it in areas that I don't have plantings.

What direction are the balconies facing? Do they get full sun? Partial sun? Any vine would be perfect for climbing along the rail, including morning glory, moon flower, or nausturium. Cypress vine would also work. Those geramiums are best appreciate from below the balcony... still, what you can grow depends on light and how frequently you can water the plants (willing to water daily??)