jerusalem artichokes and spuds

the jerusalem artichoke in the top photo is about three inches tall and will add another nine before it is june...it is doing well...in fact all the sunchokes seem to be thriving ( second photo )...these particular tubers are intercropped with more potatoes...intercropping helps deter pest and disease infestations that a monoculture bed might encourage...it's also not putting all your eggs in one basket...if one variety of plant goes south you aren't likely to lose everything in the bed...a poor anthropogenic mimicking of a natural system...we had thought of using a green manure in this bed, however the space is fairly tigth as it is and the idea is to have the spuds finish their season before the height of the jerusalem artichokes kicks in and they shade everything else out...that is probably the foremost reason why this bed isn't a good candidate for that particular effort at sustainability...a lot went on in the garden today and there is a lot more to come...including planting day on the 20th of the month...mor eon that in eleven days.