toad

we had a healthy rain today so after work i went out to campus to check on things...i found my eightieth rouge jerusalem artichoke of the season and a toad basking in the sun that had finally emerged...i can only hope that this amphibian makes itself at home and gorges itself on the mosquito population that will only blossom with the jerusalem artichokes later in the season...last yeat i had mosquitos, monarch butterflies, bees, and dragon flies...this is the first campus toad however ( lots in the backyard here )...there will be lots of damp, shady places for toads to hang out in over the oourse of the summer...a few more wouldn't hurt...one yam has already sent two vines out to the trellis...the other is up and green, but no vines yet...i wonder if it is geting too much shade from the winter wheat...that will be done in a month, but i don't want the yam to get too far behind the other...the gamagrass has gone form greening up to being green and growing...it is about two-thirds of the heighth it was at the end of last season already...a mature bunch of gamagrass can be four feet tall and up to six feet in diameter...that will be next season when it begins producing seed...the seedheads on the winter wheat are still green and intact...the challenge will be to preserve the ripened grain...stay tuned on that one...the last photo is of a well watered garden about five'o clock this evening...plenty of work to do and alot more growth ot come on campus and at home ( more on the home fornt tomorrow...the potatoes are doing well...in fact it's about time to hill them...and so is the teosinte out there ) it will be a fine season if early events are a good indicator.