my bed

i have claimed a bed in the iuncg as my own ( selfish? maybe...but i am willing to build more for anyone else...a greed offset ) to grow peculiar plants in ways that may run counter to perceived ideas of what a garden should and should not be ( i find the concept of "weeds" disturbing for instance...lamb's quarters are commonly called a weed...but they are quite edible..is an edible plant [and a native to boot] a "weed" or "food"? same goes for purslane...the exploration will go far beyond that if i have my way )...the season has been up and running in it since last month and includes a couple of potato plants ( one is in the top photo )...some robust jerusalem artichokes ( second photo and who am i kidding...a relentless colonizer and a native plant in its own back yard as it were, there's nothing else to call it but robust )...a stand of new zealand white clover ( third photo ) which may or may not be shaded out by the jerusalem artichokes as the hit eight or ten feet in height...hard to tell just yet...i had some spuds from the basement seed potato project in desperate need of planting ( fourth photo )...so i did ( fifth photo )...there will be a couple of more spuds going in on planting day and there will be mashua too ( a member of the nasturtium family with edible tubers ) and as the plants are established i will be adding more new zealand white clover as a "green manure" to add nitrogen to the soil and, if all goes well, boost the productivity of the other plants..as the potatoes die back and come out i will be putting in different crops...brussels sprouts perhaps or some fall root crops in an effort to create a cyclical harvest that will carry on into autumn...and then winter rye to act as a cover crop and to absorb the nitrogen the clover ( a perennial ) will still be setting and be turned under in spring 2016...an effort to create a self fertilizing, organic bed..it will be a learning experience...stay tuned...and by the way...the last photo is of the one hundred and ninety-eighth jerusalem artichoke i have culled form this bed this spring...it was in the way of the newly planted spuds and could not be tolerated...it would have shaded them out...it had to go.