not really even a maintenace visit...

...not that much to maintain...but that doesn't mean there's nothing going on here...from the looks of things some bean pods ( top photo ) were left behind when we cleaned out the bean wall...some bean seeds too ( second photo )...these things happen...that's how volunteers are born...we should expect a mix of volunteers i'm thinking...there will be beans...and doubtlessly there will be cherry tomatoes...what else may pop up is part of the mystery and suspense that is gardening in the 21st century...the asparagus has finished pulling in its chlorophyll and is waiting for spring to start up again ( third photo ) while the alfalfa and winter rye are still green as could be ( fourth photo )...everything has its season and the season has moderated a bit since last month so the ground is thawed...so while i was out there i popped up a jerusalem artichoke...the root ball ( fifth photo, with tuber still attached ) rendered thirty tubers ( sixth photo ) and if i had brought some gloves ( see i told you it wasn't a maintenance trip ) the soil would have given up more...these tubers need to come out before spring ( was i saying something about volunteers earlier? there will be rouge jerusalem artichokes all over this bed...you can never find them all...we have replanted some...we will be removing more than we planted i'll wager ) and there are still plants in the ground and tubers in a cache pit we dug...if anyone wants some please help yourself...and if you are unsure of what you're looking at and would like some help let me know and we can meet in the garden...before the ground freezes hard...i have posted about extracting them from frozen ground before...it is not complicated but it isn't exactly easy...sooner the better...these will become a casserole this weekend..after i bring them in from the truck and clean them up...there will be stuff going on all winter and spring is in 97 days...just enough time for a seed potato crop...we are cutting it close.