it is warm here for the seventh of october...perhaps not unnaturally so...then again forecast highs are in the mid seventies ( fahrenheit ) through mid month..we'll see...
the last of the ramp seeds have been harvested and the bed was beginning to sprout grasses and other non-ramp denizens so it seemed a good day to rework the bed...
the grasses were not the main reason for digging the bed however...over the course of the summer i had noticed that a network of roots had spread across the bed about two inches below the surface, between the ramps and the soil surface...i was concerned that this might inhibit the ramps' ability to break the surface next march so i wanted to clear as much of it as i could...i was pulling this stuff out by the handful and my suspicion is it came along with some commercial compost i purchased when i moved the bed last year...something short of sterile and an object lesson in working with soil amendments form commercial sources...back to the compost bins, right?
i found ninety-five ramp bulbs and some earthworms as i dug...both were welcome...
the plants took two different reproductive routes...some produced seed like the one in my hand with the stem, and others used the classic allium strategy of bunching...i separated the bunched ones...
i planted the separated bulbs ( along with the rest ) three inches deep and about four inches apart in rows...then i took some of the seed i had harvested and broadcast it into the bed...as leaves begin to fall in earnest here i will cover the bed with a mulch of leaves and net it to keep it in place over the winter and wait for march to see what develops...
the stand of winter rye is doing fine...all the plants have multiple leaves...
some have even begun to tiller which should translate into more seed ears next summer...
finally, you didn't expect to get away with out some teosinte, did you?
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