second dig ( sort of )

i went out to the community garden this morning to do a second dig on the beds i started last weekend and get going on a few others...it may not look like there's much difference between the first two photos but i turned the bed again and broke up more roots with a warren hoe...it will aerate the soil and loosen it so the bacteria and worms can do a more thorough job of breaking the organic matter down...with no clear indication (yet) of when planting day is i was concerned that there might not be time for the rye in the bed in the second two photos to decompose sufficiently to allow planting...so i pulled it instead...after looking at the roots of a couple of alfalfa plants i decided to leave those plants ( more on that in the next post ) and the clover for a bit longer...the garlic in the sixth photo seems happy to have the clover fertilizing it...the asparagus is about four feet tall and ferning...one of the plants has deployed another spear so it seems all is well there...finally the jerusalem artichokes in my bed seem to be under control and confined to the perimeter...which is where they belong...i plan on letting the stand of winter rye in my bed to mature...it will be a small harvest but i am growing grain at home for a project and it will add to the total i can mill into flour...i presume there will be more form the garden...more as it comes up.