Extreme Balcony Gardening, part 2

The garden is rocking along, my people. We've had an entire week of sun and temperatures over 80; it's frickin' heat wave. Maddy went out to check ont he garden with me Sunday morning, and of course went over to rub her face on the iris leaves. I don't think I've been keeping it damp enough--the tag I got with it says it likes "boggy conditions." Meanwhile, I need to get some kind of trellis for the Viriginia creeper (the tall thing in the middle of the photo below). I bought it to help screen my seating area from the hoi polloi at the neighboring pool below, but I still have its vines tied up. Not very screeny.





The garden in general is enjoying some good growth and morning sun, and it's become even more verdant and productive.




Wh-wh-what? What is that in my corn? Are those the beginnings of cornulence? Squee! It is! Two of my corn stalks have these cornulent things growing in the tops. Down low behind the corn, you can see my bean plants growing. I planted those a few weeks after I got the corn plants into last year's Earthbox, and so far all six plants are growing. We should have beans at some point.




My tomatoes, as usual, are losing their minds and going all feed-me-Seymour in their new Earthbox. You can see some li'l green tomatoes already at the base of one of the two. Both of my tomatoes this year are grape tomatoes. They tend to produce faster/earlier in the season and consistently all the way through the summer even into early October.




In the foreground here, the circular container has carrots, which are progressing nicely but I don't think are ready yet to be picked. The two long boxes beyond the carrots are my lettuce mix, which sprouted from year-old seeds. They're ready to thin a little this week and throw into a couple of sandwiches or salads.


It's really been satisfying to watch stuff grow and produce this year. Guy thinks I may have maxxed out the balcony in terms of weight limit (the balconies on our buildings are cantilevered concrete slabs about 4"-6" thick). But I'd love to keep growing veggies, even if I don't do a lot of decorative plants. I like knowing that I can keep something growing and living in a semi-inhospitable environment, which is rather a metaphor for life sometimes, isn't it?