Balcony Garden: June's Growth

Taken June 28th:
Balcony garden blossoming

Scarlet Runner Pole Beans - flowering and climbing

Marigolds are making heads and bushing up

Tomatoes are growing strong, becoming more hardy. We bought a Tiny Tim cherry tomato plant from a Farmer's Market in the town near my cottage. It already has many green tomatoes on it.

Romaine and Buttercrunch Lettuces are florishing. They've been great to eat fresh from the garden. I no longer buy lettuce when I do groceries because I'm growing enough to supply us, plus there's no waste from any going bad - I cut only what I need.

The first pea is fattening up!

I love being able to see the vines of the Morning Glory growing across the window from inside the apartment.

Vermicomposting Bin: Pepper Seeds

These yellow sprouts are from putting some red pepper seeds into my bin. I was uncertain of whether I should put them in or not, but did anyway. I'll avoid doing so again, even though I'm sure they'll decompose eventually.

Spinach

The spinach has been great this year. It's so nice being able to cut and eat fresh spinach and lettuce right from my balcony garden and it's so easy to grow.

Below are taken June 6th:

Below: taken today, June 19th. The spinach is getting taller and going to seed. The leaves are not as green and luscious as the younger ones. I think I will cut it back and do a second sewing of seeds.

Balcony Garden: Spring's Growth

I haven't updated in a while. Here are some shots of my balcony garden plants, showing their difference in growth from photos taken on June 6th and on June 19th.

Marigolds June 6th (above), June 19th (below)

Morning Glories

Garlic Chives

Mixed Herbs

Tomato

Peas (First flower is becoming a pod below)

Pole Beans: they're growing quickly!

I put up some strings for the beans to grow across. This will hopefully turn into a green wall.

Lettuce: lush and ready for picking!

Vermicomposting Bin: Eggs & Baby Worms

Yesterday I was digging around in my worm bin checking things out and discovered small yellow balls that looked like worm eggs. After doing some reading, that's sure enough what they are. Here is a photo of some of the eggs I found in my bin.

This article has some good information about red worm cocoons. My first thought was that if the worms are reproducing, they must like their conditions, but after reading this article I became aware that if certain conditions deteriorate (temperature, supply of food, moisture level) then they may reproduce faster in order to ensure the survival of generations in the future. Not having vermicomposted before, it's hard to say whether my worm population is reproducing at an average or above average rate. I'll just have to continue on and see what happens. I can always donate some worms to the park composter if I feel there's too many in my bin.

Here's a photo of a tiny baby worm on a leaf I am holding. Click photo to enlarge.

Apartment Recycling: Action Update

It's been about 2 weeks now since I posted the sign addressing tenants on my floor about dealing with their recyclables properly. Amazingly, the sign is still up and intact. A few days after I initially posted it in the disposal chute room, I saw the maintenance worker on our floor while I was waiting for an elevator. He is the one who takes away any recyclables tenants leave in the garbage chute rooms, so he must've seen the sign and left it up (and why wouldn't he since it does benefit him). I have also noticed less recyclables being left in the garbage chute room as well. These are all good signs!