plants and water

climate change is such a loaded topic with so much contentious misinformation mixed in with real data that discerning where we are at ( besides the solid data on parts per million of atmospheric CO2 and methane ) through reliance on the media can be confusing if not deliberately misleading...so i have resorted to at least trying to be empirical and becoming native to my back yard in an effort to view what may ( or may not ) be happening in microcosm...i would view the community garden at iun as part of my yard since i have been involved there for seven years now...and the appearance of carolina horse nettle there a couple of years ago coupled with the seeming ability of this non-native plant from the southeastern seaboard to over winter here in sub-zero temperatures ( at least last winter ) and not only survive but expand its range was something of an epiphany about small details

the weather on nay single day is the weather that day and it is what it is...over the longer term some patterns emerge...i began paying direct attention to rainfall in my yard last may which was an extraordinarily wet month by local standards...local precipitation hereabouts averages ( i know...averages lie ) around 39.5 inches a year...well...the the 10.6 my yard got in may set the pace for the last 220 days, never mind the year...there has been 39.6 inches of rain in my yard since may first...the 10.6 in may...

5.75 in june...

5.15 in july...

2.2 in august...

7 in september...

6.75 in october...

1.1 in november...

and 1.1 so far this month ( not taking the traces of snow into account )...climate science tells me that dry areas will become drier and wet areas wetter...so far ( and yes they are limited ) observations out back have supported that...this is a long-term project that meshes in with looking at behaviors in native plants like the jerusalem artichokes and bittersweet nightshade...we will see how it all holds up.

last day of summer

there was three tenths of an inch of rain overnight and there is more forecast for tonight so, once again, i was spared watering in the garden...

my bed was a study in mixed signals today as regards the seasons...

after a shaky transplanted start the alfalfa is robust and, even this late in summer, still blooming for the bees...

one tiller on the zea mays mexicana is still green and full of ripening ears...

while the other side has clearly called it quits...

the husks are beginning to peel back and the ears are preparing to shatter...

i collected some...

and left some lay where it fell just to see what might happen...

the tomato is still green...

and, blurry as the main subject is ( yet the leaves around it are crisply focused..no real explanation why ) this photo proves i was mistaken about the pepper being done for the season...a new one is popping out...

the two maize plants on the west end of the row have been picked clean and something has been at the third one along...

so i pulled the two stunted, ravaged plants out in preparation fro some over winter bed maintenance...i was moved out of the bed i had occupied for a number of years this season and, frankly, one of the reasons i have had such a mixed season is soil quality...i maintained my old bed with additions of compost and by growing green manures as cover crops in fall and turning them under in spring...so after i pulled the maize and hoed the soil...

i spread a mixture of winter rye, yellow peas, hairy vetch, and crimson clover...

along with some sweet clover...

and winter wheat to hold the soil and set nitrogen until i turn it under in spring to feed the worms as the bacteria breaks it down...that and a few bags of compost should help the soil quality improve ( note to me...almost time to plant winter wheat and rye out back )...

finally the guest from the southeastern united states has reproduction as a priority...the spuds failed to fruit...their "wild and weedy" cousin had no such compunctions...it seems to be settling in for a lengthy stay...

august thirty-first

it is the last day of august and things are moving along out back and in the mobile garden...the carolina horse nettle is blooming away and more buds are forming so i have hopes of fruits before frost ( and a look at why it is called "nettle" )...

spud row shows definite signs of finishing up...

the concord grapes in the catalpa tree are ripening...harvest very soon...

peppers are maturing...

there are definite seeds afoot in the ears on the zea mays mexicana...

and the largest plant in the row has two tillers that have keeled over in true zea fashion to spread seed away from the parent plant...we will be letting these go unharvested over the autumn and will see if, perhaps, they will germinate in spring...expectations are low here ( mine anyway )...doesn't mean we won't have a look at what happens...even if it isn't much...

aerial bulbs that have "walked" from the egyptian walking onions have begun to sprout...rooting in for winter...

out in the truck bed the new york import i planted a few days ago is doing well and has begun the significant step of producing a new leaf...there may be a berry truck yet...

and the bush bean back there is continuing to produce as well...another bean had sprouted from a blossom...the all natural truck bed lives on...

the bees are busy as well as they prepare for the winter...

and here's one of the girls putting the final touches on another tube of leaf cutter bee cocoons in the bee house...

and showing us why they are called leaf cutters...then full tubes...bess next season...nest up...a trip to campus tomorrow.