seedheads = bird tape

it just gets weirder and weirder and once again i have no real frame of reference for what's going on...not that it's completely unnatural or unprecedented...just not something i can relate to previous experience...the top photo is of a volunteer potato ( doubtlessly a red nordland...all that i planted last year ) coming up in one of the beds out in the back yard...it's come a long a ways without me noticing it tucked away out there so we'll see what comes of it...no movement in the ones i planed last weekend and with it cooling off like it has they will be taking their time...fine...i have all season...i found yams in the jerusalem artichoke earlier this week..and the second photo is of yams in the wheat...these don't look like plants up from bulbs for their first year...these are vines as big as some from the two three year old plants out there which tells me that some outlaying tubers developed and are working on a second season...startling what can get past em in a hundred and sixty square feet...speaking of wheat ( and the main point of this screed ) i found at least six plant out on campus that are developing seed heads...they didn't start that behavior until late may last year...so we're running a month ahead doubtlessly due to the extraordinarily warm march we had...so it's time to deploy some festive looking bird tape to keep the starlings off my wheat...none of the crop in the back yard...which was planted at the same time as the campus crop...is exhibiting any signs of seed heads...curious...what's the environmental variable?...the bottom photo is of a couple ( out of thirty or so ) hale and hearty jerusalem artichoke plants that are on their way to overshadowing the rest of the garden...more as it comes up.