Saturday, June 30, 2012
rhizobia slurry
a day off so what did i do? went to the garden...i mixed up a slurry of rhizobia bacteria to inoculate the cowpeas for nitrogen fixation...the package said that the product was "safe"...it also suggested that prolonged skin contact or inhalation was to be avoided and suggested ppe of latex gloves, safety glasses, and a dust mask...of course i ignored this and went ahead and mixed the powder with some distilled water and let the seeds soak as i drove to campus...i only planted five to begin with since i have maize growing and the potatoes haven't been harvested yet...i think i will limit the cowpeas this season since they tend to take over and vine exuberantly...the third photo is of some shattered gamgrass seed heads i picked up off the ground...there are a lot of seeds this season and the seventy odd proaxes in the fourth photo attest to that...now i begin to understand why the grass is considered invasive...it grows more slowly than say the chinese yams but it invests every bit as much energy into reproduction...it has a reputation for being relentless and may become a handful yet...the last photo is one of the jerusalem artichoke blooms...half a dozen or so up and running...i wonder what this bodes in terms of tuber production...mine always bloomed earlier than the conventional sunchoke wisdom allowed but that didn't stop tuber production...harvest will be a bit earlier this season since i expect a change of direction this autumn so we will know in early september what to expect next time we see an early bloom
photo appendix 6-30-2012
extra photos from today start with the brussels sprouts on top...then there's the improbable zea diploperennis that's thriving in the heat...the third photo is of some fungus growing in the shade of the eastern gamagrass...the fourth photo is an ancestor/domesticate portrait with hopi blue maize on the right and zea diploperennis on the left...rounding the photos out is the annual tesointe northern tepehuan
Thursday, June 28, 2012
still peculiar
the garden continues its accelerated pace this season as the jerusalem artichokes officially begin the process of setting their irregular and innumerable tubers by blooming what, in my experience, is a month early...falling into line with the improbable return of the zea diploperennis and the appearance of seed heads on the winter wheat in april...nine of the ten warmest years on record have occurred since the turn of the century and i can't help but wonder if this is some empirical evidence of climate change...the second photo is of some grasses...that's hopi blue zea mays on the right and a single zea diploperennis plant on the left...the third photo is of some northern tepehuan teosinte against a backdrop of intermediate wheat grass...it will grow taller...as i type this there is thunder in the air and a really disappointingly light rain that will pass quickly into dryness...it is also bloody hot ( except for you coach...and possibly my youngest daughter ) this rain will do little tolift us out of a moderate drought on the palmer drought indices...that will take an all day soaker...you can see in the last photo that the perennial garden project is a spot of green in a fairly parched university lawn...we'll see what the clinate brings throughout the season.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
transpiration II
Labels:
a singular lack of sprouts,
drought,
maize,
teosinte,
transpiration
Sunday, June 24, 2012
160 sq/ft of reproduction
Saturday, June 23, 2012
backyard winter wheat
photos 6-22-2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
perhaps not a singularity...
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
water
Sunday, June 17, 2012
rain!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
backyard stuff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)