I have good news to report on the hydroponics and wheatgrass front:  Thus far the experiment has been a great success.

It's been about one week since we started the seeds in the MegaGarden (ebb-and-flow hydroponics system).  The wheatgrass is almost 7 inches tall now.  Admittedly, it hasn't filled in completely yet, but that's my fault.  I didn't properly soak the seed (to sprout it) prior to "planting" it in the hydro bed.  Thus, the seeds germinated over the course of a few days.  Some of the blades of grass are younger than others.  I expect that the seed will be fully filled-out within a few days, once the stragglers have a chance to catch up with their older brothers.

Here's a wider shot of the MegaGarden, for comparison with the previous post:

I've learned a few things during the course of this growing session.  In no particular order:

• I've been using the wrong seed.  Even in this batch.  The seed I've been using is commercial wheat seed, not organic seed intended for wheatgrass juice.  From what I've read, the seed that I've been using isn't very uniform (which is in line with my germination results).  I've bought new seed from www.wheatgrassman.com, as they seem to know the most about the seed (and their prices are pretty good).  For the record, I bought the seven pounder as a trial.  I cannot make any comment on it at this point, except that the seed looks quite a bit different than my existing stuff.
• It looks like the compact fluorescent lighting that I've got is working pretty well.  It's rated as 125W draw, which is just over what two normal incandescent bulbs draw normally.  I expect that my use of the lighting system will raise my electric bill by roughly $4 per month.  I can live with that.  However, I plan on using a portable electrical meter to verify (once I find one I like).
• The MegaGarden is pretty easy to maintain.  I've drained it once and replaced the water.  It was pretty painless.  I used the "level indicator" as a drain tube (into a five gallon bucket).  I'd like to claim a more elegant filling method; but I ended up removing the circular plug (in the front-right corner), and simply poured water back into the reservoir.  It worked pretty well.  I checked the ph and added nutrient to the water.
• I've been adjusting the water level to go deeper as the grass grows.  Wheatgrass grows very thick roots (the "wad" is almost 2" thick).  Since some seeds germinated later than others, the "younger" ones are basically "riding the wave" and are suspended above the base level of the flooding area.
• Thus far, I've used water at ph 7.5 for the wheatgrass.  It's worked out pretty well.  If anybody knows better, please let me know.
• I've been thinking about making an NFT-style system for growing wheatgrass.  I haven't yet found containers suitable, so not much progress yet.