helianthis shelter

an upside-down bee in the helianthus...

sheltering from a drizzle...when the rain intensified i went back to look and she was gone.

late august in the back yard

something more than a half inch of rain overnight ( and it is still raining some ) isn't unheard of here in august however the alternating patterns of heat and wet/cool ( last week we got two and a half inches of rain[in my yard anyway]overnight...that is a bit more anomalous ) are not the norm...i have been mowing the lawn at least weekly which is not a usual august activity...usually hotter and drier by far...i have not been doing much watering of late...

alternating patterns of weather are not impacting day length though and some of the plants are taking a cue from that in terms of where their season is...the mashua is beginning to show signs of fall colors and will need to come i before a hard freeze...probably after a frost kills back the plants...

there is maize ripening on the stalks...

there is also maize being eaten on the stalk...how much will actually reach fruition is a matter to take up with the birds and squirrels...we know this was a possibility when we planted...predation is not unexpected...

blossoms continue to transform into beans...

there are tomatoes in varying stages of maturity...

and the hot banana peppers are getting hotter...

the jerusalem artichokes are still blooming and there will be tubers soon enough...

the zucchini is in flower and producing late season squash as well...

the ramps have seeds cooking away...

some are done and i have begun to collect them as they mature..they are small...

and closely resemble onion seeds which is no surprise considering they are both from the allium family...cousins...

the growing numbers of tiers of support roots...

and zea mexicana ears turning from green to maroon and brown are signals that at least some of the teosinte is finishing up...the northern tepehuan has a much longer season and i don't expect ears before late next month and no seed before october...

i have begun to harvest mature zea mexicana seed from some of those maturing ears however...i will test for viability in the spring...

the frog in the corn seems to still be at home there...whether this will persists as the corn begins to die back is uncertain...the benefit of blending in may turn to a cost of standing out...he may pull a houdini...

clearer signals

almost two and a half inches of rain monday night into tuesday morning...

and another three eights in about twenty minutes this morning precluded any need to water during this morning's garden run...

the rain did not lessen the deepening signs of autumn...

the onset of fall has not precluded continuing activity in the garden though and some of it is unfortunate...there are many totally overripe cucumbers that may be good for collecting seeds but are certainly inedible... and the colony of carolina horse nettle has a few robust individuals working hard at producing seed...whether they manage to to not isn't much of an issue...in the absence of an herbicide they are not going anywhere... the other half of the good/bad dichotomy is better represented ( usually is in the garden )...the pollinators are still hard at work helping the squash along to fruition...

the asparagus is still going well and seems to be working both ends of the season...it has put up another august spear...

it is also producing seed "berries" that are rapidly maturing...i have harvested a few to continue establishing an asparagus bed in my back yard...there are more coming along for anyone who might be interested...

the maize has both sides of the dichotomy going on in thirty-two square feet...the plants themselves are showing increased signs of autumn colors...

most of the ears are maturing i unmolested ( so far anyway )...

something has had a look at these dents and rejected them...not surprising...i wouldn't eat them either...all soft starch...the colors are interesting though...this is dense yellow #2 grown from seed i got from the usda...as the name implies it should be yellow...the variation in hue tells me there has been cross pollination going on with the heirloom maize...

clearly this ear was more to someone's liking...well chewed and my community informants tell me the chewers are squirrels..."at first i though it was the wind, but it was those squirrels in the corn making it sway"...the community does pay attention tot he garden...i invited him to help himself to whatever was ripe and appealed to his taste...he mentioned squash...i green-lighted the acquisition...

there has been more than gnawing going on...a few husks have been ripped wide open and the ears have vanished...and in the case of the third photo the ear is gone in its entirety...hopefully no one took it home to eat...these are all dents or flints...they will either be of a poor flavor or impossible to chew...

finally, harvest days are coming up next month...stop by the garden if you can...there should be some interesting conversation.

turnings

if anything the garden looks more like autumn this morning than it did last week...which is only reasonable since august is nearly gone and mod-summer's day has passed as well...as usual though there is ambiguity in this...

the asparagus is till verdant...

and it has sent up an august spear...

there is dichotomy 9in the asparagus though...the berries are ripening ( i took two that were done ) a sure sign the season is late...

around the back of the bed the potatoes are showing signs of finishing up...

and the squash has found a new trellis...

while a less fortunate vine has invaded the garden lawn...

the maize has fall written all over its countenance...

something ( one? ) has been having a look inside the husks and then declining the ears...

except this one which was carried off wholesale...by some critter i should think given the way the husk was ripped open on the stalk rather than the ear removed husk and all...

while other ears that are as far along remain untouched...

the pole bean vines in the maize are blooming and producing...i found some mature beans which i took...

and i found a ripe tomato on the plant in the midst of the maize that someone missed...

another unmistakable sign is the vines framing the overripe cucumbers are dying back from the bottom up...i saw all of two open blooms at the tops of the vines...ans while there may be some buds i missed, they are just about done for the year...in thirty four days autumn is official...unless we're talking meteorological fall...then it's only twelve.