My Balcony Garden in Fethiye, Turkiye

The first time I traveled to southern Turkiye (specifically Fethiye), I was completely and utterly taken in by how perfectly the botanics, the landscape and the climate appealed to what I had always wanted in a place. All of my adult life (or actually before that), I’ve been completely and utterly obsessed with the Mediterranean lifestyle and all the things that come with it: the great food, the beautiful surroundings, and the near-perfect climate (for me) – except for the very hot summers…

So when I decided to come here for long-term, although not knowing if it would be permanent or not, I knew that I was going toward a dream to put myself in those surroundings, most of which involved things like lemon, orange, olive, and pomegranate trees. They are symbols of the Mediterranean landscape and the food that has become an integral part of this thousand-year old rich cuisine. 

That said, a few months after I came and realized I would be staying at least a little longer, I began to populate my balcony with potted plants to create my own little container garden. Here’s a video describing a little more about my neighborhood and the plants I’ve brought home (although that was last summer). They’re all much bigger now and I’ve moved location after realizing that direction was too hot and harsh for almost all of those plants, but this is how I got started: