last day of september out back

some things are getting started and some things, like the month, are finishing up...ready or not...the winter wheat and rye both have produced second leaves which is an signal that their root systems are well established enough for them to overwinter if, 1.) the temperatures are not too cold or, 2.) we get sufficient snow ( four inches plus ) to insulate them...we'll see..last year they did fine...the year before both failed...gasrdening, like agriculture, can be iffy...

the field peas i left have ceased blooming, however the pods they have produced are thickening and lengthening...it would be nice to have some viable seed...

while we are talking viable seed, i have harvested several hundred teosinte seeds so far...however, for the first time i can remember in the years i have grown teosinte, something is gnawing on the green ears...which only makes sense if you are going to gnaw, the green ears are soft and sweet and the mature seed is hard as a rock...still, the gardener is not pleased...

half of the garlic i have planted has broken surface...still waiting on the rest...mulched with straw they will be fine all winter...

there is a new round of dryad's saddle growth on the old elm tree by the alley...

and the behemoth maize is still growing growths...unfortuantely...

despite being supported with bamboos and twine one of the giants snapped off at ground level in fairly gusty north winds today...

from ground level to the tip of its flower my tape measure says it was pushing eleven feet...which means the larger one is at least twelve...it had to happen...it was unrealistically tall for its support roots and in the wild would have toppled long ago...i am not pleased...still, these things happen.

equinox + 3

it's autumn and, as you'd suspect, things are slowing down some out back...they have not stopped though...the winter wheat i planted ten days ago is filling in pretty well...looking for a second leaf soon...

even the berries i tossed into the beds on the equinox have begun to surgace germinate...so the first phase of wheat is a success...

an even dozen of the forty odd garlic cloves i planred have broken surface...their allium cousins the walking onions are up in such profusion i could fill a post without showing the same plant twice...i will refrain...

the field peas continue to bloom and are producing pods...the race with the first frost and seed viability is on...we will see...

while we are talking seed, teosinte ears continue to separate from the stems and mature...the tillers on the plants are laying down away from the parent plants to spread seed at a distance and increase the future colony's range...or, at least, that is what they would do in the wild...i am skeptical of the seed's ability to withstand local cold and be viable in the spring so i imagine we will be germinating and planting come april...we will be leaving some seed out her however, just to see what transpires...

the growths erupting from the behemoth maize continue to expand...they are not soft but rather feel as if there is a cob contained in them...it will be of interest to se what the contents might be when the growth stops...

finally, it is the end of september and the jerusalem artichokes are about finished...so i popped one up and grabbed a few tubers from the root ball...an adjunct to lunch perhaps.

equinoctial transitions

its the first day of autumn and after i took care of a few things around the house i went for a drive into the local exurban landscape of industrial fields and mcmansions...the dense yellow #2 is dying back from the bottom and the stalks have the obligatory ear...ti's still a ways to go before harvest though...

some fields have been fallow all season...and some are mysteriously empty and plowed...native plant control?

the beans are turning and in various stages of maturation...

and this field...

is the subject of an equinox harvest...seems early to me however it may be they were planted early..they are coming in whatever the case is...

out back the teosinte finds itself in varied states of maturity as well...there is a slower harvest going on here...

the eruptionson the twelve footer out there continue to grow...there are no silks so what they could be is anyone's guess ( or, perhaps, someone knows...i will soon enough )...i will leave them be as long as they continue to expand...we will have a look inside later...

the onions i planted two weeks ago did not hesitate in starting and there are a multiplicity of shoots up and running...

a few more of their allium cousins the garlic are showing up as well...in the ground and in containers...

admittedly it has only been five days since i planted rye and wheat...still i had hoped for a few more plants than this...

to err on the safe side i stuck some more ears of wheat in a burlap bag...whacked them with a stick for a while...and brodcast the threshed grain across the beds which i then watered thoroughly without raking the grain into the soil...we will see what surface germination generates...

the chinese yams have generated a fair number of aerial bulbs this year despite the interference of the gourd vines...

there are some gourds...

including a birdhouse gourd that's big enopugh for...well... a bird to nest in...there will be more from deeper into autumn.