The Balcony Garden

Ana lives in a small flat on the third floor. She does not have a garden, but her balcony gets sun all afternoon. On Saturday she went to a garden shop, bought a large pot and chose a packet of tomato seeds.

Every morning before work, Ana gave the plant a little water and looked carefully at the soil. For ten days she saw nothing except brown earth. She began to think that she had done something wrong.

On the eleventh morning, a small green leaf appeared. Ana was so happy that she called her neighbour, Luis, who also grows plants on his balcony. He came to look at the pot and smiled.

“Would you like some advice?” Luis asked. He showed her a corner that had plenty of sun but less wind. They moved the pot together, and he told her to water it in the morning, not in the evening.

By the end of the summer, the plant had three red tomatoes. Ana gave one to Luis and they ate the rest with bread and olive oil. “It is my first garden,” she said, “and it is only two metres wide.”