spring moves along

errands took me out today so i used the opportunity to look around a bit...there are still fields with considerable water standing...

while the drainage in others has begun to dry them...

leaving clear signs of erosion behind...

i stopped by the community garden on the way home where the spuds are up and running...the blues are just breaking ground...poking along as usual...it will be time to plant maize soon and beans after that...what else is still undecided...

out back the winter rye is approaching my height...and the ears are proliferating...

the new york imports are blooming away while calyces are closing as berries cook...

the egyptian walking onions are budding and preparing to flower and produce aerial bulbs...

and the relentless jerusalem artichokes are gaining verticality...

as far as the teosinte seed i started germinating four day s ago goes...i am getting the results i expected from the northern tepehuan seeds..which is pretty much inert behavior...

these zea mexicana seeds came from a plant that produced seeds with no husks...i was curious to see if 1.) they would germinate and, 2.) if the plants ( if they thrived ) would produce more huskless seed...so far the first part seems successful...they second will have to wait until august/september...

the dark zea mexicana seed has not been wasting time either and sometime next week it will be time for these to go outside into the real world to create another generation...i'm geeked...

finally, the youthful black capped chickadee that was having a look out of the nesting box yesterday has fledged today...a natural enough thing for a young bird to do...so why am i concerned?

been raining

three inches of rain in my back yard in four days and it is still raining...another sogy may...we will be loking at the industrial fields a bit later...

it's halfway through may and time to start thinking about zea...i collected teosinte seed from the yard last season...froze some..nd kept some out to germinate...

i do not have profound expectations of the northern tepehuan seed...the plants were runts and the seeds are small and light colored which indicates a lack of endosperm...the darker zea mexicana seed will, hopefully, do better...

i did the standard twenty minute soak in a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide and then into brown paper towels soaked in distilled water and into a dark place to germinate...a week or so...

i went out and turned the traditional teosinte bed for the fifth time and put in some compost...i received an early father's day gift from my daughter, anon-in-law, and granddaughter ( thanks! ) which is going to host the sprouts for a time after they are planted...just in case...

in other yard news the winter rye is producing more ears...the wheat still lags...it will catch up...

the egyptian walking onions are taking preliminary steps towards a stroll...i will be pinching some of these off to produce actual onions...and i will leave some to produce more aerial bulbs for propagation...at last count there were forty four clusters of theses out there ( they walk a lot )...i can afford to take some out of reproductive production...

the south bed is cooking away with berries...and escape plans...

there are still wilted, brown leaves on the grape vines in the catalpa tree...

however they are also evincing good new growth...there is hope yet...

and, in another good sign ( for this gardener anyway ) there is another generation of black capped chickadees coming along in one of the locust trees just outside the kitchen window...a bird's eye view from the sink.

more may movement

8.8" of rain so far this month is not really "normal"...then again "normal" has an elusive definition so all we can do i see what happens...

the winter rye seems to have no issues with precipitation..it is booming along...nearly taller than i am which means it is closing in on six feet...

and more ears have been emerging...pleasing...

even more pleasing...one bed over the winter wheat is showing concrete signs of catching up...full fledged ears soon enough...

and on the subject of fledglings...there are nests of black capped chickadees in both bird boxes...

there should be youth emerging soon...

i am uncertain of the diet of black capped chickadees, however if berries are on the menu they are in luck..the new york imports are still blooming but that is winding down as berry production becomes the focus...

stolons are above ground rhizomes and the berries are not stinting on the energy they are putting into that alternative source of reproduction either...they are escaping the beds and laying in tangles inside them...

both the stolon i pinned in a more likely spot and the rest of the plants in the south bed are looking robust...

which is fortunate because they face a rising tide of jerusalem artichokes...

meanwhile the local berries continue to bloom and berry across the back yard...there will be food for some of the bird population...

the ramps have been around for a couple of months now and some are finishing up...we will waiting to see if any of the larger ones bloom and seed...last season six did...we will see what happens in the next month or so...

there is promising growth in both zea mays mexicana and northern tepehuam teocintli...with more germinating and getting ready for planting...likely some today...

the bison spuds i started in the basement are moving right along and the government spuds have all put in appearances as well...i have more seed potatoes to plant as i work towards a cyclical harvest...time to move in that soon...

the seedless grapes are in full leaf..however they are showing no signs of bearing fruit just yet...

the concords in the catalpa and fir trees are not waiting...they have moved ahead and will be blooming soon...more bird treats as the summer wears on...there is more...and it is early days in the season.