legumes and mooseberry

down in the basement under the lights...

the cowpeas continue to evolve...

as they grow they are shedding lower leaves as they die back...

and all three are evincing good new growth as they do so...eventually there will need to be some sort of trellis erected...i do not want them draping over the container onto the floor since i believe that would complicate lighting...we wil see how the project goes...meanwhile out on the south side...

the mooseberry ( hello frostbite falls ) bush is proving cold hardy...although it looks about ready to go to sleep for the winter...it too would seem to be showing new growth...i will presume that bright bud is preparing for next spring...which, as i recall, is late in coming for this one...which may explain the late november green.

green

i believe i said in a previous post the while bureaucrats are all about rules, plants are working to their own agenda and that the campus asparagus was not nearly ready to end its season...i have a hard line of evidence in this matter...

ninteen days later and after more than a few frosts and two hard feezes the asparagus in my back yard has barely begun to turn...

and the berries are making things look very seasonal...so much for bureaucratic rules as far as these plants are concerned.

wrapping it up

the university insists that beds in the community garden be cleared by tomorrow...so off i went this morning...

it was frosty when i got to the garden...however frost doesn't mean much tot he cold hardy and we will be touching on that soon enough...

over in my bed the alfalfa is still blooming...so i let it be...

i piled the stones from my abortive rock mulch in a corner and raked over the bed with my weeding hoe...

then turned the cut vegitation under...

and covered the bed ( except, obviously, the alfalfa ) with landscaping fabric...

if alfalfa is cold hardy, asparagus is even more so...still, the university insists the plants behave themselves rulewise and so i cut it down...whether it was ready or not ( it is still up and running in my yard and will remain so until it tells me it is done )...

including some late season new spears which came home with me...

after i cut the asparagus i worked the bed with the weeding hoe and turned it as well...

then i mulched the asparagus row with composted manure to feed the plants in the spring...

after which i covered this bed with fabric...literally wrapping up the season...we will see what life is like in four months...

as instructed i left the bags of asparagus cuttings by the alley.