backyard stuff II

sixteen days or so later the jerusalem artichokes in my back yard are catching up to the campus group and flowering...still a couple of weeks early even here...back to the which came first climate change or a warm spring conundrum...either way both crops are early compared to 2010 and 2011...they aren't the only bloomers though...the second photo is of a couple of squash buds on vines that grow daily and have attached themselves to the sunflowers ( of which the tallest[54"] is in the third photo ) runner beans and any vertical surface available...speaking of vines the sweet potatoes are beginning to trail across the ground also in search of verticality so i may have to dig out some bamboo poles for them to work with...the last photo is of the chamomile which is spread out with all the other herbs like dill, parsley, borage, and i believe there is cilantro inter-cropped with the kholrabi...the potatoes are almost ready to harvest and there are lamb's quarters springing up everywhere..the teosinte and hopi blue maize are fine ( the maize probably won't survive the squirrels however...the teosinte will...annual teosinte ears are not recognizable as food apparently )...the last stand of winter wheat will be harvested this weekend ( already threshing and winnowing the first bed's worth ) and more cowpeas planted in a rhizobia slurry...the fun never stops and autumn promises to have its own surprises and directional changes...can't wait.