Summer at last

My pole beans are coming up fast now. I need to get some kind of structure above them so they have something to crawl onto. I can't be bothered to build anything so bamboo poles and plastic cable ties will have to do. I like to get them to grow up about 7 feet. Beyond that I find it gets harder to manage. And there isn't as much sunlight up high, close to the overhang over my balcony.

The wheat I planted must be stressed out because it's going to seed already. We've been getting a lot of rain so I haven't bothered to water it. And with all the mold on the leaves I figure it's nearly done anyways. It was a nice way to add a touch of green to the balcony, but now it's starting to turn into a touch of brown.

My tomatoes are growing well and the lettuce I keep mowing down is coming up again. It's the gift that keeps on giving. I still have lots of basil growing in the kitchen window I'll need to transplant to a larger container on the balcony soon. And I planted several small "micro" variety tomato plants that I've never grown before.

Wheat Mold

I grew some wheat grass a long time ago and had lots of wheat berries left over. They last forever in the fridge so when spring came around, I planted a handful in this bucket to see how well they would grow and add a bit of green to the balcony.

When growing wheat grass for juicing, you only want it to grow about 6 inches tall before harvesting. But in this case, I'm going to let it grow until it dies off or something kills it. I'm not expecting to be harvesting wheat, I just want to see how tall it can grow. And it seems to be doing ok but I'm noticing spots of mold on the leaves and stems. A good rain every now and then should wash it away temporarily but not much rain hits my balcony and I can't hose it down. If the mold takes over completely I'm going to have to end this experiment prematurely.