Portfolio: Tips and photos on sowing crops in tight spaces

The Edible Balcony: Growing Fresh Produce in Small Spaces by Alex Mitchell (Rodale Books, $21.99) is a treat to look at - the shelves loaded with pots of lettuce, basil and thyme, the peas and blackberries scrambling skyward, and yes, even the borage blossoms encased in ice cubes for a cocktail on the balcony after dark.

The author, a Londoner and former gardening columnist for the Sunday Telegraph, touches on window boxes, hanging baskets, "10 best easy crops," good pots, salvaged and recycled balconies. She offers ideas and instruction for planting tomatoes and nasturtiums in a colander and herbs in a hanging shoe-organizer. And she explains how to make a salad "cascade" with plastic gutters attached to the wall, or a scarlet runner bean tunnel with bamboo canes, a hanging bottle herb garden, and a planter out of old tires.

Mitchell lists the crops "that just keep on coming" - with succession seed-sowing, of course: things like arugula, beets, lettuce, spinach, bush and snap beans. Just the right scale for small-balcony gardens.

Then there's the "exotic balcony" with an escapist theme. Why not plant a Mediterranean mix of olive trees, lavender, and oleander? Or gin up a tropical feel with bamboos, tree ferns, succulents, and palms?

Then come "cocktails on the roof."

Good stuff beginning to end, with inviting photos. Makes you - me - eager if not for spring, at least for that cocktail on the roof. Pimm's with wild strawberries, mint sprigs and borage blossoms, anyone?

One puzzle: Mitchell spends a lot of time talking about why growing your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs is a good idea - does anyone not know or believe this? I'd love to have read more on "the futuristic balcony" and vertical gardening that are briefly mentioned at the end.

Greenhouse-like, stilt-supported pods atop skyscraper roofs? Now that's one balcony I'd like to explore further. - Virginia A. Smith